Did Larry Scott kill the Pac-12? The answer is more complicated than you might think.
The anger was immediate, arising just minutes after news broke that USC and UCLA were headed for the Big Ten Conference. Fans tapped out posts on social media, one after another, invoking the name of Larry Scott.
A year had passed since the former Pac-12 commissioner stepped down, yet people blamed him for the loss of two marquee programs. They labeled him "destructive" and "a fraud," predicting that business schools would someday teach about his "leadership failures."
Larry Scott single-handedly destroyed the Pac-12, they wrote.
This vitriol emanated from a decision Scott made shortly after taking charge in 2009. At a time when other Power Five conferences were partnering with ESPN and Fox to launch dedicated networks — deals that would generate billions of dollars — Scott persuaded his universities to roll the dice.
The Pac-12, he insisted, should build its own network. The venture might need time to gather momentum, but it would allow the conference to keep all the control, all the profits.
