Tick Tock: Pac-12 Fallout Continues While George Kliavkoff Tries To Salvage What's Left, Public Scrutiny Growing Everyday | Wallace

Once labeled as the 'Conference of Champions', the Pac-12 is now treading in the water right after Colorado's move to the Big 12.

Just a year after UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big 10, the once prominent conference on the West Coast finds itself wondering what to do next. A year of commissioner George Kilavkoff assuring members that they would be ok when it comes to a television contract has turned into a running joke.

Hiding behind statements to buy enough time to negotiate a media rights deal that would benefit its remaining members now looks like fools gold. Sure, the Pac-12 will have some type of television deal that will be lucrative, but nowhere near what the SEC and Big Ten have put together. So, while the rest of college football has been flourishing, including the ACC, who has its own problems, and the newly rejuvenated Big 12, the Pac-12 finds itself becoming a pun in the sports world.

It certainly did not have to get to this point either. Kilavkoff passed off on the idea that member schools of the Pac-12 were committed to the future. Just a week ago he stood in a Las Vegas nightclub at their media day proclaiming that everything was fine.

The Pac-12 Has Nobody To Blame But Itself

This all came back to bite the the Pac-12 commissioner in a massive way on Thursday when Colorado decided to jump ship. No, the Buffaloes aren't a major powerhouse, but perception is everything right now in college athletics. After hiring Deion Sanders has its head coach, Colorado has been one of the most talked about football programs of the last seven months.

It's hard to buy that type of publicity, but Colorado AD Rick George had a plan, which has already paid off. So when the Pac-12 learned of this final move by the Buffaloes, its response was to talk about what comes after its current media deal. This was probably not the right tactic in the immediate aftermath.

"We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth,” the Pac-12 said in a statement after Colorado's announcement.“Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the Pac-12.”

There it was again, the old line about a media rights deal. But this time, the Pac-12 punted on discussing its current negotiations, focusing on what expansion could like down the road. Sure, there will be some members of the conference that put out statements that point towards solidarity from the remaining nine schools, like Oregon State did Friday.

"Oregon State Athletics trusts that the Pac-12 will secure a media rights deal that will strongly benefit the institutions that are remaining loyal to this conference," AD Scott Barnes wrote. "All of us at Oregon State will continue to work hard and diligently to continue the long-term."

Sorry, but this just sounds like a school that feels like the only option right now is to wait things out and hope for the best. The Pac-12 also let San Diego State walk-back on joining the conference just under a month ago, which would've been a decent addition if George Kilavkoff was intelligent enough to notice everyone in the conference wasn't happy. Now, it would cost more than $30 million for the Aztecs to leave the Mountain West, so you can scratch that one off for at least a year.

Where Does The Pac-12 Go From Here? Depends On The Commissioner

One thing is for certain, if Arizona or Utah decides to take the Big-12 up on an offer to join, this would be catastrophic. The Pac-12 needs to figure out a way to get a deal done in the very near future, obviously. According to multiple sources, the Big-12 is looking for other teams from the once powerful Pac-12 to add to its roster, whether that be one to three teams.

But the problem lies in the statement that was released yesterday. The conference said they don't expect to expand until its current media deal is up, which gives other teams window to look around, so the clock is ticking.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 10: Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff attends a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on March 10, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 78-59. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

In the meantime, George Killavkoff is still having a hard time landing a television deal that doesn't include a streaming platform. If the conference wants to keep schools like Oregon and Washington happy for the time being, it's time to finish this long-awaited deal.

As for Big-12 commissioner Brett Yormark, his work will continue in finding compatible teams to join the conference. While on the West Coast, the ghost of former commissioner Larry Scott looms over all of the horrible decisions made by the Pac-12 in the last ten years.

Tick tock.