Pac-10 commissioner Scott says he never felt expansion plan was a done deal

Pac-10 commissioner has no animosity toward Texas

NEW YORK — Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott says he has no animosity toward Texas for declining an invitation to join his league and at no point did he think his grand expansion plan was a done deal.

Scott said in a telephone interview Wednesday that he never felt he had an agreement with Texas and the four other Big 12 schools he was trying to add to the Pac-10.

The conference would have become a 16-team league had Texas joined with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. The Pac-10 had already landed one Big 12 school in Colorado.

“In my experience in professional sports and college sports, nothing’s ever done until it’s done,” Scott said in a 45-minute interview with The Associated Press, his first since the Pac-10’s bold attempt to expand failed.

“We developed this plan with our eyes wide open,” he said. “We knew that this would be seen as a very bold stroke and there would be all kinds of reasons why it might not be possible at the end.

“I think there was a sense that this was an incredibly compelling vision and certainly created a lot of excitement among the schools that we were talking to as well as our members. And it captured a lot of other people’s attention as well.”

Hours after Scott spoke to the AP, the Pac-10 announced that it had invited Utah to become its 12th member.

Utah officials have not said what they will do, but the school has announced a news conference for tomorrow and it would be shocking if Utah did not leave the Mountain West for the Pac-10.

Scott said when the news came down that Texas and the rest were not joining Pac-10, he called Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe to congratulate him for saving his conference.

The Big 12 also lost Nebraska to the Big Ten, but will remain as a 10-team league.