Pac-12 announces new divisions
The Pac-10, soon to be the Pac-12, has announced the two divisions that the conference will adopt in the 2011 season.
The Pac-10 is set to add two new teams in Colorado and Utah and have decided to split the 12 team league into two divisions, much like the Big 12.
Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott announced that the North Division would be made up of Stanford, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State and Washington. Meanwhile the South Division will feature UCLA, University of Southern California, Arizona,
Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.
Scott was excited when he addressed the media in San Francisco, noting that the Pac-12 will be one of the strongest conferences in the country.
“Our key objective was to transform the Pac-10 to a modern 12-team conference that has long-term strength, increased value, competitive balance and is fan friendly and we have done that with these monumental decisions today,” said the commissioner. “By unanimously
adopting a plan for equal revenue sharing we have created a conference with a strong foundation for long term success. It’s an exciting day for the Pac-12 and all of our fans.”
However, not all Pac-10 teams are excited about the decision to divide the League as they have. The California teams, specifically USC, are concerned with their long time rivalries being erased by the separation.
Under the new conference there will be no crossover play, therefore keeping USC from playing Stanford and California, who they have played every year since 1946 and 1929 respectively.
USC athletic director Pat Haden has battled against the divisions. “I told [the rest of the athletic directors] my alumni will kill me if we don’t play the Northern California schools.” Haden told the media last week.
The decision to divide into divisions was expedited when Colorado decided to join the conference a year early.
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