Whether it's adding Utah and Colorado, taking an inspired run at luring Texas or revamping the Pac-10's logo and website, commissioner Larry Scott has revitalized a league that has traditionally been perceived as stodgy and stale.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Scott is considering substantial changes to the Pac-12 basketball tournament.
In a news conference with reporters at Oregon State before Saturday's football game, Scott revealed that the tournament may be on the move following the 2011-12 season. It will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles for the next two years, but after that the conference will reevaluate its options.
"I suspect it will be after next year's tournament that we're going to try some new things, try to inject some new excitement and marketing around that event," Scott said. "We're really trying to elevate it from where it's at. I think we're going to take stock after next year's tournament.
"And that'll be about the time we're negotiating our TV deals, and currently the right to decide the location of the basketball championship is with one of our media partners -- FOX. It was licensed to them as part of that TV deal. The first decision we'll make next spring is will we continue to license to one of our media partners the right to place our basketball championship somewhere? Or is that something we're going to take back and control ourselves?"
Holding the Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center every year since 2002 has produced both good and bad results for the conference.
On the one hand, it's advantageous for the league's coaches to be able to promise players a second annual visit to Los Angels, the primary recruiting hotbed for most of the team's in the league. On the other hand, the cavernous Staples Center is often half-empty and devoid of atmosphere in the early rounds, especially last season when UCLA was struggling.
Permanently moving the tournament to another site is certainly an option, but there's no guarantee event-driven cities like Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix or San Francisco would produce more buzz or larger crowds. If Scott is truly convinced that moving the tournament is the best option, perhaps rotating sites would be the best option.
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