San Jose, Calif. ? His office was thousands of miles from the action, but Karl Benson knew a tsunami when he saw one.

If the Atlantic Coast Conference succeeded in raiding the Big East, Benson knew the Big East would retaliate by raiding Conference USA, and the effects would reverberate across the country — all the way to San Jose.

Three months later, expansion remains the dominant issue in college sports, and Benson, commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference, is in the middle of it.

He’s preparing to expand the WAC and defend it from potential raids by the Mountain West Conference.

“I’m looking at the possible domino effect,” Benson said. “We need more schools in the Central time zone, and there could be a new pool of schools available. That excites us. On the other hand, we have to ward off the Mountain West threat, and I think those things are linked.”

The 10-member WAC stretches from Hawaii to Louisiana, from Texas to Idaho. But expansion would bring cohesion — allowing the conference to form a six-team western division, including San Jose State and Fresno State, and a six-team eastern division. The restructuring would create regional rivalries and decrease travel costs.

Only two things seem certain: the Pacific-10 Conference will not expand, and the NCAA will not stop the poaching.

“The NCAA is a member-driven organization, and conferences have always had the ability to form and realign,” Benson said.

Everything starts with the Big East, which must compensate for the loss of Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC. The Big East is expected to pursue at least one school from Conference USA. Likely targets are Louisville and Cincinnati.

The eight-team Mountain West recently lifted its moratorium on expansion and could invite at least one team from the WAC. Nevada, Hawaii and Fresno State are likely targets.

Elsewhere, officials in Texas are discussing the formation of a new conference featuring small, mostly private schools from the South and Southwest. Potentially, the conference could rob the WAC of its eastern block (UTEP, Tulsa, Rice and SMU).