First off, a personal note that I'm off to help the Times cover the Winter Olympics for the next 18 days. It's something I've always wanted to do, and it fell at a good time to be away from UW-related duties with really not much in the way of news expected in the next few weeks.

My being in Vancouver obviously means that the blog will be a lot lighter until I get back. But I don't intend for it to be completely dry (not as dry as the slopes at most of the Winter Games are at the moment, anyway). I'll try to peak in from time to time and post news that comes my way, and I may get a few other things up that have been in the planning stages for a while (namely, some position overviews heading into the spring). But wanted to explain all of that in case you wonder why it may be kind of slow on here for a while.

Now, on to a few news and notes:

--- HB 2912 passed out of the House Committee on Finance today by a 6-3 vote. UPDATE AT 9 P.M. --- However, Times political reporter Jim Brunner, who covered the hearing today, writes that an amendment was placed in the bill excluding Husky Stadium as a possible recipient of money. Obviously not good news for UW in its attempt to raise money for a renovation of the stadium, though as Brunner writes, there's still a chance that Husky Stadium could be returned to the bill by the final vote so this may not be a done deal.

--- Larry Scott's talk today of expansion led to all kinds of stories around the country on the topic. You don't find anything better on the subject than this column from our own Bud Withers, who addresses neatly why Boise State, the other California state schools and BYU are almost certainly non-starters. I don't have much to add that Bud didn't hit on in his piece. (Though I'll say to those who've mentioned it to forget Hawaii --- horrible facilities at that school, way too expensive for trips (you have to remember to think beyond football) and wouldn't add much). Also, UW fans should keep in mind the very real possibility that you'd get home games with USC and/or UCLA only once every three or four should expansion go through, instead of being guaranteed one or the other every year.

--- ESPN's Ivan Maisel made mention of the different approach UW is taking to spring football in this item today. What UW is doing is spreading out spring over five weeks instead of four, going Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday (though Friday on the last week) instead of what was usually Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. UW coach Steve Sarkisian has said in the past it will allow for the team to remain fresher throughout the spring and get more solid work in rather than having to have some light days to make sure guys recover well. UW could have fewer than 10 healthy, scholarship O-linemen for the spring and could have fewer than 10 on the other side, as well (one reason it was so vital that the Huskies loaded up on linemen in recruiting).

--- Maisel also quoted Sarkisian in this story on oversigning, something that could be legislated against here soon.

All for now.

Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott held a conference call with reporters today to discuss the hiring on Monday of Kevin Weiberg as a deputy commissioner.

And the overriding topic of questions was expansion --- Weiberg's history working with other conferences during times of expansion is hard to ignore.

Expansion is not a new topic and Scott has said ever since he was hired last July 1 that it is something he will explore.

What he said new today is that there is something of a defined window of opportunity right now to consider it with the TV contracts expiring in 2012 and negotiations on new media deals set to begin soon.

"Realistically, if we are going to consider this in the forseeable future, it really is in the next 12 months,'' he said.

That only makes sense that the conference would want to have its lineup solidified before finalizing any TV agreements.

Otherwise, it was hard to tell if there is really much new on the expansion front.

Scott said there is "more intriuge, perhaps'' about expansion from some conference presidents, chancellors and athletic directors due to the fact that other conferences are also again considering expansion (notably, the Big Ten).

But he also said there is no pressure to expand just because others are, and he said that the requirements for schools that would enter the conference haven't changed, saying again that any new entry would have to be the proper fit "academically and culturally'' --- which means, I think you can say safely, no Boise State or BYU or California state school (none of which fit either as research institutions or having the total academic and athletic package. Also, TV market will be important, and not just what a school would add but having it be more than what it would also take away as the percentage of the pie for all schools shrinks with every school that is added).

Scott said no schools have been approached about their interest in possibly joining the Pac-10 and said the entire process is in a "very premilinary'' stage of information gathering.

He also discussed a Pac-10 network and frankly, nothing new was really said about that other than that it's a topic they will continue to explore (conference officials seem to do more exploring than Jacques Cousteau).

But again, with the TV agreements ending in two years and new negotiations on the horizon, some decisions will have to be made relatively soon.

UPDATE --- Percy Allen has his own take on the conference call on the basketball blog.

A few notes and links to pass along on a foggy Seattle Tuesday. ...

--- First, as several of you noted earlier, HB 2912, which would give King County the right to extend some tourism taxes and use the money to pay for, among things, a renovation of Husky Stadium, is in an executive session of the House Committee on Finance today. My understanding was that the steps to date had indicated nothing about possible passage one way or the other, so this could be the first sign about which way this is headed. If I hear anything concrete on this I will pass it along as soon as I can. But it's one of just a whole bunch of bills being heard today.

--- The school announced yesterday that UWTV will expand its coverage of athletics, and while there is nothing new specifically related to football, in general I would expect that the network will continue to do what it can to show more football-related programming.

--- Bud Withers of our staff wrote this story today on the Pac-10's hiring of Kevin Weiberg yesterday as a deputy commissioner. Most interesting is Weiberg's background in the Big 12 Conference during a time when that conference expanded, and the assumption that maybe he is being brought on board to help the Pac-10 deal with any expansion-related issues. I've been of the mind that Pac-10 expansion is a long way away, at best, but maybe the new leadership of the conference has other ideas. ESPN's Ted Miller had this take on Weiberg's hiring.

All for now.

Interesting item on Rivals.com this afternoon rating the 10 best recruiters in each conference based on who they helped reel in this season.

Making the cut for the Huskies is cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, who helps man UW's efforts in southern California, where Washington was particularly strong this year.

The item says that "recruits love Martin's energy and his enthusiasm.''

Here's Martin's UW bio.

A few notes and links as I try out my spiffy, new laptop for the first time (so if anything looks a little out of sorts, blame that):

--- A nice column on UW alum Mark Brunell finally winning a Super Bowl ring.

--- A reminder that the Husky Classics series on UWTV resumes tonight at 7 p.m. with the 1993 Stanford game, which was the debut for Jim Lambright as head coach (details here).

--- ESPN's Ted Miller names some Pac-10 Newcomers to Watch and picks Deontae Cooper for the Huskies, as good a selection as any. He also names the players who will leave the biggest shoes to fill and picks Daniel Te'o-Nesheim.

--- I continue to get some questions about it means to gray shirt. Here's a good definition with some examples of how the process works. In essence, it's delaying full-time enrollment by a quarter, semester, year, whatever, and then still having five to play four once you enroll.

---Nick Daschel of Buster Sports has a fun list of Pac-10 must-have items

--- Jon Wilner caught up with Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott today and the commish has a few thoughts on a conference network, expansion and TV contracts.

--- Ken Goe writes about Arizona State being forced to schedule Portland State to fill an opening in the 2010 schedule..

All for now.

As the dust finally settled on one of the wilder letter-of-intent days in recent Washington history, many Husky recruitniks were left with one lingering question --- why the rather wide discrepancy between the rankings of Scout.com and Rivals.com?

For some, this might be a "who cares?'' issue --- recruiting rankings are obviously no guarantee of anything (though I would argue that it's pretty obvious that a higher ranking increases the odds of success down the road. It's not a coincidence USC has often had the highest-ranked class in the conference over the past decade).

But for others, it was a definite conundrum, wondering how the two leading recruiting sites seemed to differ so markedly on UW --- Scout.com had Washington's class No. 11 nationally and third in the Pac-10 while Rivals.com had it at No. 28 nationally and sxith in the Pac-10.

(An even more jaw-dropping difference came in the rankings of Washington State --- Scout.com had WSU's class 39th in the country, Rivals.com 89th.)

In case you haven't heard, the Super Bowl is Sunday.

And the Huskies will again be represented, though you may have to look closely --- or it may be the story of the game.

The lone Husky appearing in Sunday's game is 39-year-old Mark Brunell, the backup QB for the Saints. Brunell played at UW from 1989-92.

He also holds on PATs and FGs, so he'll appear in the game in that role, but any other participation would obviously be a major story line if he has to step in for Drew Brees. (Not great odds of that, however, as Brees hasn't missed a game due to injury since 2004).

Here are a few items on Brunell --- a story on the backup QBs, and a Q-and-A from The New York Times and from a local TV station.

Other UW QBs to at least appear on a roster in the Super Bowl, according to past Washington media guides, are Cary Conklin (49ers, XXIX), Chris Chandler (Falcons, XXXIII), Damon Huard (Patriots, XXXVI and XXXVIII) and Marques Tuiasosopo (Raiders, XXXVII). Only Chandler was a starter, losing to the Broncos in what was the last game for John Elway.

UW hasn't had an alum participate on the field in a Super Bowl since Tank Johnson and Olin Kruetz with the Bears against the Colts in 2007 (Roy Lewis was on the roster for the Steelers last year).

By the way, I'm thinking the Colts win this one pretty easily, I'll call it 31-17 Indy.

NOTE TO WINNER OF BOWL POOL --- Also, hoping the guy who won the bowl pool reads this but I need another e-mail from him. Thanks.

Before Steve Sarkisian met with the media Wednesday, there were any number of the 30 players Washington signed this year who could have been considered the most intriguing member of the class.

After it was over, there was really just one --- offensive lineman James Atoe of The Dalles, Ore.

Atoe, listed by UW at 6-6, 339, would have been real intriguing anyway, an almost completely unknown player until just a few days before signing day, visiting the last weekend and then committing quickly.

But his status as one to watch grew markedly after Sarkisian's comments about him Wednesday. Namely, when he said that "this guy is a potential top five NFL draft pick,'' a comment that raised more than a few eyebrows given Atoe's previous anonymity.

I called Atoe's high school coach, Andy Codding, this morning and asked him what he thought of Sarkisian's assessment of Atoe's potential.

"It wouldn't surprise me,'' said Codding, who played at Oregon for a year. "He's got all the tools and he's got a great work ethic. He's a smart, big, powerful lineman with much better feet than you would expect of a 320-pound kid. He needs to improve his strength but when he does that, I don't know what the knock on him would be.''