Commissioner Larry Scott defends Pac-12's terrible bowl season

With a dismal 1-8 record in bowl games last year, there's no sugarcoating the fact the Pac-12's postseason was a disaster.

Commissioner Larry Scott didn't waste any time addressing that during Pac-12 media day this week, tackling the issue during his opening comments to reporters.

"Much was written and discussed about our bowl record last season," Scott said. "From our perspective, a handful of season-ending games are not a key indicator of a conference's overall strength and competitiveness. Nine of our 12 teams qualified for bowls, and we've placed two teams in the six New Year's bowls. At the end of the season, we have four teams among the top 25."

Placing nine teams in bowl games is certainly impressive, but posting a 1-8 record in those contests definitely takes the shine off. The Pac-12 also failed to see one of its members qualify for the College Football Playoff for the second time in four years.

With the addition of big-name coaches Chip Kelly and Kevin Sumlin in the offseason, the Pac-12 was able to garner some headlines on the national scale. However, whether those hires can help solve the conference's woes in the postseason remains to be seen.