How Pac-12 Conference realignment would look like if Brett Yormark was Commish instead of George Kliavkoff 

The Pac-12 Conference has gone through the wringer throughout the last few years with commissioner George Kliavkoff leading the way. 10 of the 12 members have officially left the Pac-12 Conference beginning next season.

Furthermore, without a media rights deal, the conference is set to become extinct. However, a lot of things could be different with a different commissioner leading the Conference of Champions.

One leader who certainly would have made a difference is current Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. The 57-year-old had experienced a tough situation like the Pac-12 Conference. When he started a little more than a year ago, the Big 12 was in a state of flux. They needed a new rights deal negotiated and it was viewed as the weakest conference in college athletics.

However, the Big 12 is viewed as a thriving conference and if Brett Yormark was in charge of the Pac-12 Conference, things could have been a lot more different than it is today. But how different?

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What would be the same with the Pac-12 Conference if Brett Yormark was commissioner?

In this hypothetical situation, we need to establish some ground rules. He became commissioner on Aug. 1, 2022, so we will be going off that date for the Pac-12 as well. That means the departures of the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins will have already happened.

That is essentially the only major movement before Yormark would have been hired so let's discuss some of the changes.

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What changes would Brett Yormark have done compared to George Kliavkoff?

Brett Yormark and George Kliavkoff have different ways of donning the position of commissioner. Yormark looks to be innovative as instead of football powerhouses, he recruited schools having all-around strong programs to improve multiple sports. Finding those are critical for success going forward.

Then, the next major point would be the media rights deal. George Kliavkoff famously struggled and overvalued the Pac-12 Conference even after losing UCLA and USC. He was asking for $50 million per program and ESPN hung up and ended negotiations.

Yormark secured a six-year, $2.28 billion extension with Fox Sports and ESPN for the Big 12. So expecting a similar number is not out of the question for the Conference of Champions.

Yormark also focused on expanding into newer areas with the Big 12 Mexico so why not take advantage of being close to the Mexico border and doing that with the Pac-12? The conference would certainly be in a better place than it currently is if they had Brett Yormark as commissioner.