After five schools leave Pac-12, former administrator hired to explore options for the remaining four schools: Reports

The four remaining universities in the Pac-12 have reportedly hired former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck to explore the options concerning their future. This is according to the report by college football insider Jim Williams, who is familiar with the situation.

The Pac-12 saw five more schools exit the league a few weeks ago after commissioner George Kliavkoff presented a new media deal with Apple. The universities considered the television broadcast deal not lucrative enough and decided on taking the exit door.

The four remaining teams have been in limbo since the mass exodus of the other conference members. With the atmosphere continuing to be filled with uncertainty, Oliver Luck is expected to help find a solution to the future of the conference. Notably, he was a candidate to replace Larry Scott as Pac-12 commissioner.

Pac-12 survival remains the top option

After exploring a couple of options, it's become clear to the Pac-12 teams that keeping the league alive is the best choice available. Oliver Luck will now play a crucial role in the survival of the league, ensuring the teams retain their Power Five status.

The four universities will now work closely together in ensuring this eventually, with strategic input from the retired college football administrator. Luck is expected to explore two key ways of keeping the league alive within the college sports landscape.

The first option is the addition of at least four teams to the Pac-12 through an expansion process. Despite this being considered difficult due to the timing, there's a belief that this could happen.

The other option is exploring a merger with either Mountain West Conference or the American Athletic Conference. Talks initially began with the MWC over a potential merger but haven't progressed. AAC, on the other hand, has indicated it will absorb the four teams.

Oliver Luck's career profile

Oliver Luck served in various sports executive and administrative capacities after retiring from the NFL. He was general manager at two European teams, Frankfurt Galaxy and Rhein Fire, before going to serve as the minor league president for four years.

He was at a time CEO of Houston Sports Authority and also served as the president of general manager of MLS franchise Houston Dynamo.

In college athletics, he served as the 11th athletic director of West Virginia University from 2010 to 2014 before going on to become NCAA executive vice president for regulatory affairs. His last executive role was being the commissioner and CEO of the XFL.