Pac-10 Moving Up In The Hoops World? Maybe...

ESPN 360 has announced their schedule for the week, which includes 79 games. For the first time since the start of the league season, the week's list includes a Pac-10 game, Thursday's Washington at Cal game.

So the Pac-10 has finally climbed to the level such basketball power conferences as the Atlantic Sun and the Summit League. Still some work to do to get to where the conference's pull and exposure can match the American East and the Metro Atlantic.

And while the Oregon St.-Arizona St. game is still a radio only game, at least Saturday's game at Arizona has been picked up by Fox College Sports Pacific channel, though many satellite and cable systems do not include this channel.

The desperate need for either a Pac-10 network, of a significantly improved TV deal, continues to be a glaring need; imagine where we would be without Fox Sports's regional channels.

There may be some hope though. The Pac-10 has just announced the hiring of former Big 12 commissioner and Big Ten executive Kevin Weiberg. His title is Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer. So he has the position to make a difference.

Weiberg, who will start April 12, is currently chief executive officer of iHoops, a joint venture between the NCAA and NBA, formed to develop a structure and programs to improve the quality of youth basketball in America.

While with the Big 10, Weiberg was vice president of university planning and development for the Big Ten Network, responsible for expanding the range and scope of network programming, during the early stages of its development. In addition, he served as deputy commissioner of the Big Ten Conference under Jim Delany, from 1989 to 1998, and was instrumental in the integration of Penn State into the conference.

Weiberg served as commissioner of the Big 12 Conference from 1998 to 2007, overseeing its transformation into one of the most competitive and financially successful conferences in the country. Revenues doubled during his tenure.

Clearly, Weiberg knows the ins and outs of conference expansion, is familiar with Colorado, one of the leading candidates for expansion, and knows how to set up a TV network.

This will be another move by Larry Scott and the conference that bears watching closely as an indicator of what we will be able to watch down the road.

And there's already lots of speculation all over the west, and especially on the other SB Nation Pac-10 blogs, plus on the Utah and Colorado sites, the primary obvious candidates to join a Pac-12.