'New' Pac-10 aims for nationwide exposure

The countdown to the "new" Pacific 10 Conference is on ... literally.

The conference's website currently features little more than a clock ticking off the seconds to the 2 p.m. PDT Tuesday launch of what it's calling the "new Pac-10."

This is not to be confused with the new Pac-10 that eventually will feature two additional schools (Utah and Colorado). Instead, it is basically a new image for the conference and a new marketing campaign aiming to further the conference's exposure across the country.

According to the New York Times (see, the campaign is working already), the marketing blitz will include interviews on the East Coast with conference coaches, new logos, television commercials and billboard advertisements promoting the Pac-10 in Times Square and elsewhere.

With the Pac-10's television contracts expiring next year, Commissioner Larry Scott and other conference officials say they hope to secure deals in line with other major conferences and potentially start their own cable television network similar to what the Big Ten has done. 

The Pac-10 website promises "up to the minute coverage of Pac-10 Football Media Day activities, starting on Tuesday afternoon in New York City, progressing to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, CT, on Wednesday, and culminating with our West Coast media extravaganza at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on Thursday."

-- Chuck Schilken