Pac-10 Commissioner Granted Permission To Expand Conference

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott announced Sunday, on the final day of conference meetings, that he has been given authority by member university presidents and chancellors to expand the Pac-10.

Scott reportedly presented the officials with four possible options for expansion on Saturday. Though no concrete timeline has been given by Scott -only that the absolute deadline remains the end of the year - many believe an arrangement could be finalized within the next month, if not the coming weeks. According to ESPNLosAngeles, Scott said the announcement could come next month at the beginning of conference media days in New York.

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.

With the Big 12 nearly on the verge of collapse, scenarios being floated have six or possibly more new teams joining the Pac-10, including powerhouse Texas. One such possibility would be a complete merger of the two conferences, creating a massive 22-team heretofore unseen in college sports. However, Scott has been said to prefer taking on only six teams from the Big 12, so long it includes Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and either Colorado or Baylor. From there, the prospect of a Pac-10 television network that Scott has desired to see realized since taking the job a year ago becomes much more likely.

Of course, the Big Ten, the conference with the network that would serve as the inspiration for the Pac-10's, also has designs on Texas, so this development should serve to precipitate their overtures to the school.