Breaking Down the Pac-10 Conference Online

Each week we will break down a different conference across the D-1 landscape, giving you a look into how they are connecting with fans (and recruits) across their website and social media. Along the way, we'll elevate a few things in each conference that are best-in-class: what we can learn from the schools that make up each conference.

You can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

We break down leagues based on how squads finished last season. Thus far we've checked out the ACC, Horizon, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Atlantic 10, and MVC. It's time to keep moving... The Pac-10 saw Washington catch fire and advance to the Sweet 16, so we'll pick things up here.

Today, we'll start with a look into the Pac-10 Conference. What's inspiring about the Pac-10?

The Pac-10 Provides a Cinematic Experience. As you can find here and below, the home page of the redesigned Pac-10 site is definitely one with a monster image window. As you'll also note, the image focuses your attention on the lead story in a powerful way.

This is the first time I've seen a conference site not quickly elevate schedules or standings. You have really the following choices: Sport, School, Scores, Video, Blog, Championships, and Shop. That's it. I love the simplicity in this structure. The only thing I don't love about the set up is the prominence and size of the gynormous 76 logo.



The News section allows for Quick Access to Your School, Sport, or What's Hot. A visit to the News Page, here, allows you to quickly get into what matters to you. That means any combination of sport, school, and time. Want everything Washington State? Or, anything hoops? Or anything in the past 24 hours? You can get it all by leveraging a simple and intuitive dropdown menu. My only callout is that it would be amazing to allow for subscriptions here -- let me sign up for future updates on my team/sport/time of choice. Don't make us come back to the site to get it!


School pages are elevated. As you'll see on the Oregon page, here, the Pac-10 put a focus on a deep and emotional school page. All stories that launch on the site and are relevant to your school show up here, complete with the same powerful visual window and easy access. You see below that this includes all sports in one spot. Like the news, it isn't easy to sign up for future updates or alerts on your school, but if your school is the primary reason you are hitting the site, it is a pretty cool area! My only other callout is that on this page I'd LOVE to see schedules and standings for my team. It's a simple touch that'd add a lot!



Pac-10 week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the conference is leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found fantastic across the 10-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy