Pac-12 Media Days 2017 Notebook: News and notes from Day 1

Keep track of the happenings from Pac-12 Media Days on Wednesday, including updates from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and more.

The Pac-12 media frenzy known as Pac-12 Media Days opened on Wednesday as conference representatives and media members converged on Hollywood and Highland for the annual event.

The day began with the unveiling of the preseason media poll and will continue with developments from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and remarks from head coaches and players from around the conference.

Here’s what’s happening at Pac-12 Media Days:

Notebook

Pac-12 Media Poll: USC was voted as the favorite to win the Pac-12 in the annual preseason media poll. Read more>>

Opening remarks: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott took the stage for opening remarks at Pac-12 Media Days drumming up the conference’s total NCAA titles and Olympic success. Though media days is focused on football programs, the commissioner invited Washington’s women’s rowing coach to the stage to discuss the Husky’s national title, which was No. 500 for the conference. In fact, it was 15 minutes into the opening remarks before a single reference to football was made — when Scott praised Washington for reaching the College Football Playoff.

There were some notable and football-related updates from the commissioner during his remarks, though…

Centralized Replay: The Pac-12 will institute a centralized replay command center for Pac-12 hosted games in 2017. The concept was tested last season with Cal and Oregon. The command center will “assist with in-game officiating and decision-making,” working together with in-stadium replay officials. Scott said the goal is to achieve more consistency with replay reviews.

Shortened Game Length: Pac-12 Network games in the non-conference season will use a shorter format, with fewer commercial breaks and a reduced half-time from 20 minutes to 15 minutes. The aim is to reduce the Pac-12 average game length from three and a half hours down to NFL length closer to three hours without changing gameplay.

The exact games which will be piloted under that format have not yet been determined. Read more>>

Levi’s Stadium Renewal: The Pac-12 Championship Game will remain in Santa Clara for the time being, as the Pac-12 announced an agreement with Levi’s Stadium to continue hosting the event through 2019, with an option for 2020.

The length of that agreement is noteworthy because two other new west coast stadiums will be opened in 2020 — the Rams’ and Chargers’ LA Stadium at Hollywood Park and the Raiders’ Las Vegas Stadium.

Both sites would be attractive for hosting the Pac-12 title game, particularly Las Vegas as a somewhat central and neutral location.