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Larry Scott says latest expansion news will not impact Pac-12

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
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Just when you thought you had your favorite colleges finally matched with their current and future conferences comes word that the landscape is shifting again.

The latest thunderbolt came Monday when Maryland said it will leave the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Big Ten in 2014. That announcement was soon to be followed by the news that Rutgers is bolting the Big East for the Big Ten.

How does Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott see the latest moves affecting his conference?

“I don’t,” Scott said in an email response Monday.

Scott was the man who helped trigger the current push for conference expansion when he twice made a play to lure Texas from the Big 12.

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The first attempt failed to get Texas and Oklahoma but led to the Pac-10 adding Utah and Colorado.

Last year, when rumors of another run at Texas emerged, Pac-12 presidents and athletic directors emphatically told Scott they were happy with the 12-team configuration.

“We have been out in front of this and had seen further consolidation coming,” Scott said. “Last year when presented options for further expansion, our Presidents reaffirmed we are at the optimal size -- validated with our landmark TV deal and ability to launch, operate and control our own network. I’m not surprised to see other Conferences shuffling, but Pac-12 is in a great position and has no plans to change the configuration of our membership.”

Former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, who retired in 2009, lashed out Monday about the frenetic pace at which college conferences are being rearranged.

“We’re all ravaging each other,” Tranghese told former Boston Globe writer Mark Blaudschun, who now runs the blog ajerseyguy.com.

The moves by Maryland and Rutgers will likely force counter moves by the Big East and the ACC. There is also speculation Boise State, set to leave the Mountain West for the Big East next year, might now have reservations.

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In other words, stay tuned.

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