Pac-10 expansion plans (or a lack thereof) will be solidified by the end of the year. By the end of this week Nebraska and Missouri will state whether they plan to stay in the Big-12 or not. If they leave, the door should be open for several remaining Big-12 teams to join the Pac-10.
In addition to giving Scott the power to negotiate expansion, the conference also has made him the only voice on the matter. A handful of school presidents and chancellors declined comment when asked about the expansion talks as they left the final day of meetings at the Westin St. Francis hotel.
Washington president Mark Emmert, who will take over as the next chief executive of the NCAA in November, described the discussions as "Good. Good, but complicated."
Because the Pac-10 has to work out individual agre ements with each of the schools involved and has to overcome major logistical issues, including complex travel scenarios, it's hard to imagine anything getting done in a matter of days. Scott said it's possible the expansion announcement could come as early as July 27, the first day of the Pac-10 football media days in New York. The new schools wouldn't join the Pac-10 until the 2012-2013 school year, Scott said.
The Pac-10 begins negotiating its new TV agreement at the end of this year and Scott said he needs to know the makeup of his conference before he sits down with TV executives. There are reports that expansion could be worth as much as $20 million per school. Scott hired the Creative Artists Agency to help negotiate the conference's next media deal.
One unnamed Big 12 school administrator told The American-Statesman of Austin, "I've talked to the Pac-10. There is an invitation. When it comes, it'll come fast."
Said Scott: "We absolutely could move more quickly if we needed to, but we're under no pressure to decide anything earlier than the end of the year."
After the jump Cal moves up in the Director's Cup standings, UC Davis becomes an even less intimidating opponent, men's crew captures the IRA National Championship, rugby finishes second in the CCI Championship, and more.
After water polo finished third in the nation, Cal has moved up to 11th in the Director's Cup standings. Cal has finished in the top ten four years in a row. This year's final standings will be announced July 1st.
Cal Football
- Jahvid Best is among three NFL rookies Mel Kiper says will immediately have an impact on their teams' offense.
- Ted Miller calls Mike Mohamed Cal's most irreplaceable player.
- Senior quarterback Greg Denham has quit the UC Davis team. He has decided to pursue a career in ministry.
- Men's crew captured the IRA National Championship by defeating no. 1 Washington in the varsity 8+.
- Rugby opened Pool A play with a 42-0 shutout against Harvard. Dartmouth was the next victim and was shut out 29-0. Cal shut out Tennessee and Arizona to advance to the CCI Championship Game, where they lost their first match in over a year as they fell to Utah 31-26 following a sudden-death overtime.
- Men's golf finished the season by finishing 23rd at the NCAA Championships.
- After coming back from 6-1 and 8-6 deficits, baseball lost 9-8 after Oral Roberts homered in the bottom of the ninth inning.