George Kliavkoff finally breaks silence on Pac-12 collapse after Washington State and Oregon State regain control of the conference

Years down the road, the Pac-12 collapse will be talked about as a lesson in failure. One of the most successful conferences in college sports lost its sheen and is on the brink of being eliminated entirely. A lot of issues caused the conference to get to this sorry point where 10 of the 12 programs in the conference have officially found new conferences to call home come the 2024 college football season.

For the first time in a while, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff publicly spoke about the Pac-12 collapse and did not take any of the blame for the current stage of the Conference of Champions. Instead, he deflected and placed it at the feet of the schools.

"Happy for the kids. They don't deserve all the nonsense going on around them. We were focused on rebuilding football. Took 2 1/2 years. I wish it would have happened quicker. If some of our schools would have been a little more patient, it would have paid off."

He reflected upon the "what if" of it all as well:

"Surreal. It's surreal. It's upsetting that some of our schools weren't more patient because if they saw what we were building it would have paid off." h/t San Diego Union-Tribune

Currently, the conference is controlled by the two remaining programs, the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington State Cougars.

Who is to blame for the Pac-12 collapse?

Blaming just one person or entity for the entire collapse would not be fair. The issue rests on the teams as well as Commissioner George Kliavkoff.

In order for a media rights deal to be established, the presidents of the universities must agree to the terms before accepting it. It appears Kliavkoff did manage to bring in offers, such as the reported Apple TV deal, but it was not acceptable. That is where the blame falls upon the schools.

For Kliavkoff, the mismanagement of the conference is apparent under his leadership. Understanding the market and instilling the vision for the universities is his job, and it is clear that he failed at it, which led to the Pac-12 collapse.