Don't Expect Major Changes Under the New Pac-10 Commissioner

LOS ANGELES -- New Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott made it clear Thursday at Pac-10 Media Day: he plans to examine carefully the major criticisms of his predecessor, Tom Hansen, but made no promises about any changes from the status quo.

The Pac-10 may be the most underexposed major conference in the country, has only one New Years Day bowl commitment and -- along with the Big Ten -- has no revenue-producing conference championship game. Critics chided Hansen because he was resistant to change, and there have been hopes that the younger Scott, who arrived from the Women's Tennis Association, would immediately implement improvements. He made no promises Thursday.

Here are some notes from his Q&A with the media Thursday in Los Angeles:

Regarding the possibility for the Pac-10 to gain more international exposure:

"I've spent my whole life in global sports, pursuing opportunities, particularly in Asia. I know there's a tremendous interest on the one hand in Olympic sports, women's sports and basketball. Football? Not quite yet. I know we've got a lot of exchange going on currently. I know our schools have tremendous brand recognition. I know the student populations of Pac-10 schools is high in terms of Asian-Americans. It's a real affinity between the Pac-10 schools and the West Coast with the Asian Pacific region. And I've witnessed and taken advantage of in my prior roles unlocking revenue and unlocking exposure for sport.

"I'm not sure exactly how it would manifest itself yet but that's part of the exploration I'll need to go through but seeing how there's already revenue generated out of Asia by UCLA and others, I know there is potential there and I imagine it will include competitions over in Asia at some time."

About Pac-10 expansion and a potential championship game:

"As most of you know, in order to consider a Pac-10 football championship we need to have at least 12 teams in the conference and that will be expansion. Expansion is a topic that hasn't seriously been looked at as I understand it over the last few years. But it is something that I intend to take a look at, but it's not the first order of business. That's for sure. I think the appropriate time for us to look at that is probably over the next few years as we consider future TV arrangements and think about our television footprint. Think about what our season schedule looks like. Any discussion of expansion, isn't just a football issue and isn't just a sports issue. The issue that's most important for our presidents is the academic affiliation of these universities."

Regarding another Jan. 1 bowl bid:

"In terms of the bowls, as I've started July 1 the discussions with our bowl partners have been very advanced. And I think the table is pretty well set. We've got a very strong bowl lineup. We're very proud of our bowl partners. I like any bowl lineup that starts with the Rose Bowl. We've got a great group of successful bowls and our schools are happy to be participating in them. I don't expect much change. I think you'll find [the lineup] is similar to what we have and something you'll feel good about."

A Pac-10 network:

"A network has been discussed a lot. To me a network is not a end onto itself, there's more overarching goals to look at and to think about TV, including revenue, including exposure and including television as a marketing platform for our Olympic sports and women's sports."