The Pac-12 has decided not to move forward with any 9 a.m. PT kickoffs this season, but is open to revisiting the idea in the future, a conference spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
Andrew Walker, the Pac-12's vice president for public affairs, said schools needed more time to plan for any potential earlier kickoff slot.
"Our interested schools need more lead time for discussions with all relevant stakeholders," Walker said. "There is interest from Fox and there is interest from some of our schools, but need more time to plan properly."
At Pac-12 media day last month, commissioner Larry Scott said the conference had held preliminary discussions about the potential for playing a couple of league games in that time slot as early as this season. Scott cited fan frustration with late-night kickoffs and the exposure for the Pac-12 in new markets as reasons to consider the change.
Several coaches, including UCLA's Chip Kelly, Utah's Kyle Whittingham and Cal's Justin Wilcox, all expressed an interest in playing an early game when the idea was raised last month.
Multiple schools expressed interest in continuing to explore the concept for 2020, according to Walker.