Standing in front of a scrum of reporters at the Penny Hardaway Hall of Fame just nine days after AAC commissioner Tim Pernetti did the same thing, Memphis athletic director Ed Scott spent more than 20 minutes breaking down the school's decision to decline an offer to join the Pac-12.

Scott, officially on the job for less than 60 days at this point, was a key figure in the process that led to Memphis ultimately opting to stay in the AAC for the time being.

One of his primary points was emphasizing that the deal the Pac-12 presented to Memphis did not make sense for the school. Scott called it "a bad deal" multiple times.

Here are five takeaways from Scott's media availability Thursday.

Specifics behind Memphis' decision to decline Pac-12 offer

The Pac-12 — which included Washington State, Oregon State, Fresno State, Boise State, Colorado State and San Diego State before Memphis rejected its pitch but has since added Utah State — gave Memphis a matter of "hours" after making a formal invitation, according to Scott.

But Memphis had examined pieces and parts of the conference's proposal already, and Scott went into some of the minutiae that prompted the rejection. That includes the AAC's $25 million exit fee (that the Pac-12 was willing to pay only $2.5 million toward) and what Scott said was only a "speculative" media rights deal.

"So, we've done the math on this. If we owe $25 million (in exit fees), which is precedent by SMU (when it left for the ACC) . . . if it's $25 million to get out, we're getting offered $2.5 (million), that still leaves a gap of $22.5 million, OK?" Scott said. "If we're talking about a five-year deal to get through 2031 . . . that still leaves you $22.5 million you've got to pay back over five years.

"And there's another piece of the deal, without putting all of the information out there, part of the deal was that two of the schools — and you can figure out who those were — would be able to keep all of the College Football Playoff annual distribution money."

Then, Scott said, he had to weigh the added strain on the school's Olympic sport athletes with all of the extra travel.

"Travel-wise, it would be about 20,000 miles that our teams would have to travel in order to compete with the seven schools that are in there," he said. "And that's if everything was a direct flight. Do you know how far it is to go around the circumference of the Earth? Just under 25,000 miles. I just don't think that was the right thing to do based on the finances we had. Now, if there was more money involved . . . that's a different conversation."

Memphis administrators had total support

As Memphis dissected the Pac-12's pitch, weighed its options and came to a decision, Scott said everyone involved was in lockstep.

"I don’t know any coach in our portfolio that thought us making that move was going to put them in a better position to recruit or a better position to get into the postseason right now," he said. "Because our closest competitor, if we would’ve went alone (without Tulane, USF and UTSA), would’ve been Colorado State. Think about that. So every time we’re going to compete against somebody, we’re going all the way out to Colorado Springs. It’s probably not the best decision to make if you want your student-athletes to compete at a high level."

Cato Johnson, chairman of the university's board of trustees, also gave the decision his stamp of approval.

“I am completely and totally supportive of the decision of the president (Bill Hardgrave) and the athletic director," he told The Commercial Appeal. "I have great confidence in them.”

Ed Scott's message to the fans

As much business sense as it made for Memphis to stay in the AAC, it did not mean it sat well with the fans.

And Scott is acutely aware of that. He said that was part of the calculus as Memphis thought everything through.

"If I look at the message boards and all the stuff that was put out there, our fans want to travel because they want to see some of those locations and play against those teams," he said. "And they say they're more likely to buy tickets when those teams come into our stadiums and our arenas."

ED SCOTT: Why did Memphis reject Pac-12 and stay in AAC? It came down to a bad deal, AD Ed Scott says

But Scott added that kind of mindset is counterproductive.

“Not hurting me by not coming to the games, you’re hurting the student-athletes," he said. " . . . If you really cared about Memphis, you'd be supporting us now."

Memphis leaves the door open — to everyone

Just because Memphis turned down the Pac-12's offer — which Scott said is the only formal offer the school has declined since he was hired earlier this year — it doesn't mean the door is closed.

The Pac-12 included.

“Where does this go?" he said. "If y’all haven’t seen the latest reports of what’s going on with the Mountain West and the Pac-6, -7 right now, this is a fluid situation. Listen, they all have my phone number. So if they call, I'm answering. I've never not answered a call when anyone from another school or another conference has called. If they call, I'm going to listen. That's my job."

But Memphis still has power conference aspirations

Scott has been upfront and steadfast since he was hired in his belief that Memphis deserves a spot in a power conference.

That has not changed.

“Our aspirations are to compete at the highest level. I don’t know if that’s going to be in the AAC, the ACC or the Big 12," he said. "I want to compete against the big boys and girls, and I want to beat them."

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Unpacking Memphis AD's comments after declining Pac-12 invitation