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Hollywood, Calif. • In the wake of the heart-stopping findings on degenerative brain disease reported in the latest study by the CTE Center at Boston University, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott touted the conference's efforts to "be a leader" in researching the concussion crisis that has shook football in recent years.

Scott spoke on center stage to open Pac-12 Media Days at the Hollywood & Highland Entertainment Center in Hollywood, Calif. He was asked specifically about his thoughts on the findings of the Boston University Study — which found the brain disease CTE in 111 of 202 brains of deceased football players.

"It is a significant concern for all of us that are involved in college sports, the issue of brain trauma, traumatic brain injury, and it's something that we have committed ourselves to as a conference to engage in and to leverage the expertise of Pac-12 researchers, medical schools, the outstanding doctors and trainers we have," Scott said. "We're going leverage our expertise to contribute to research in this area."

Scott pointed to the conference co-hosting a national conference on sport-related concussion along with the NCAA on the UCLA campus with doctors and researchers from across the country. He said that as part of the Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Initiative started in 2013, more than $3.5 million annually has gone toward "collective research."

Scott said the conference has made progress being made through the initiative on cardiovascular screening, mental health, injury surveillance, thermal management, overuse injuries and concussion education materials. He also pointed to three new projects related to traumatic brain injury, stress fracture and return to play decisions.

During his remarks to assembled media, Scott also lauded the conference's history of success across all sports and celebrated the conference surpassing 500 national championships this spring as well as Pac-12 current and/or former athletes and coaches winning 55 medals in 12 sports during last summer's Rio Olympic Games.

Other items he addressed in his comments included:

• The conference extending it's deal to have Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., host the Pac-12 championship game through the 2019 season with an option for 2020.

• A new centralized replay officiating command center will debut at the conference office in San Francisco this season. This season, the centralized replay system will include all 12 schools after being rolled out as an experiment with Oregon and Cal during 2016. The central command center will assist in in-game replay officiating and manage the replace process.

• The announcement that the conference will experiment with a "shorter format" for Pac-12 Network games this year during nonconference play. The changes will include fewer commercial breaks and a reduced halftime from 20 minutes to 15 minutes.

Colorado rusher's Ute influence

Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay is a nephew of Tony Lindsay, who rushed for nearly 3,000 yards for Utah from 1977 to 1980 during the Wayne Howard coaching era. Phillip Lindsay played for his uncle at Denver South High School. His father, Troy, was a fullback for Colorado State.

"Both my uncle and my father have been in my life and they've done a lot for me," said Phillip Lindsay, who ran for 1,189 yards as a Colorado junior. "I'm just glad to represent their name and my name. … It's great that I get to share this with them."

The last regular-season game of Lindsay's career with the Buffaloes will come Nov. 25 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Arizona's veteran presence

The performance level of Arizona's quarterbacks may or may not increase in 2017, but the average age of the players at that position is definitely higher. The Wildcats have added Donavan Tate, a former pro baseball player who will turn 27 in September.

Tate was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 draft, taken by San Diego. The outfielder signed for a $6 million bonus and never advanced beyond Class A. So he's giving college football a shot, with a baseball contract provision covering his tuition.

"I don't know what kind of player he's going to be right now. But I know this: The maturity in that quarterback room has changed already," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "Here's a 26-, 27-year-old grown man, married with three kids, and then you have my son [Rhett], who is 19 going on 39, in the room, too, so the maturity level in that quarterback room has changed already. And that's going to help us."

Break for Beavers

Conference media days ordinarily come well before preseason practice begins, but Oregon State's camp is under way. The Beavers already have practiced twice, due to a convergence of factors. The Pac-12 event is later than usual, NCAA rules have changed and OSU opens the season a week ahead of most schools, visiting Colorado State on Aug. 26.

"Times have changed, huh?" OSU coach Gary Andersen said. The Beavers, who took Wednesday off, will have two open dates during the season. OSU's early start is a function of Colorado State's playing 13 games.