QuackAttack No. 1 Share Posted July 2, 2022 The PAC-12 has nobody to blame but themselves for the miserable leadership they have had over the past two decades. First Larry Scott screws up television deals and now George Kliavkoff is completely caught off guard. How on earth can he not look out into the landscape and see upheaval about to happen. As soon as Texas and OU bolted, he should have been on the horn with the presidents of the conference members and said, lets try to pick off, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Baylor and TCU. The PAC-12 would have been at 16 at that point and if SC & UCLA left, then the PAC-12 would have been in a position of strength and could have gotten KSU and Texas Tech to get back to 16. This is nothing but a complete failure from the leadership in the conference and the leadership at the institutions as well. It also looks like UDUB and UO got a cold shoulder from the B1G, at least until they hear from ND. It's time for Phil Knight to crack open the wallet and protect his brand. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Ducker1 No. 2 Share Posted July 2, 2022 George Kliavkoff thought he had the alliance behind him, well he was wrong or---was he sold down the river? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kamikaze Kid Moderator No. 3 Share Posted July 2, 2022 I remember threads on this board several months back talking about how the Pac 12 presidents thought of the conference more as their private yacht club instead of a billion dollar business. Now that the yachts are sinking, how will that fine wine and cheese taste paddling around in their dinghies? Failure of leadership indeed. 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Haulin No. 4 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Pac 12 is the first conference to be dismantled and absorbed into other conferences. Pac is the weakest conference due to USC not getting their sh*# together for 2 decades. Some will be absorbed into one of 3. Others will be mid major. Impossible to turn this ship around Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcodgerduck No. 5 Share Posted July 2, 2022 On 7/1/2022 at 7:41 PM, 1Ducker1 said: George Kliavkoff thought he had the alliance behind him, well he was wrong or---was he sold down the river? Or, was he Shanghaied as was a popular practice in many of our "well" established major population centers on the west coast (see underground tours in any of your favorite major cities of the west coast for reference...). Even Pendleton has a formerly Asian underground well versed in selling folks down the river where a "drink" in the wrong place at the wrong time could see you shipped out involuntarily into the merchant marine... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 6 Share Posted July 2, 2022 On 7/1/2022 at 7:41 PM, 1Ducker1 said: George Kliavkoff thought he had the alliance behind him, well he was wrong or---was he sold down the river? I do think that George thought he had more time. Larry Scott left him a huge mess and he has only been on the job a year. I don't blame him for not wanting to try and absorb Big-12 schools a year ago because that would be a huge (and incredibly reactive and not in a good way) action that could have made things better or quite possibly worse when he didn't have a full understanding of what was going on within the conference he just took over. The Pac-12 media deals are up in a year or two and he has begun negotiations by the sound of it. Things were looking up with USC maybe getting their act together and some of the more minor powers were on the rise. I do feel like basement dwellers Oregon State, Arizona, and Cal are all bowl game contenders this year. I think he had more time to get things righted after such a huge mess. Also by the sound of everything I have read, the Athletic Directors and Presidents do actually LIKE him and have believed in his vision. This feels like USC and UCLA saw an opportunity to for money, UCLA is underwater athletically, and they took it. Blame them or not, its what they did. USC and UCLA stabbed the conference in the back with this move. I may sound like a bit of a Pac-12 homer but I do think given the time he needed Kliavkoff would have gotten the PAC back on track, especially with Oregon and USC on the upswing. I think Oregon is a playoff contender this year, USC is a maybe I'm not drinking the koolaid USC pundits are selling though I do think they will be better. In two years i think the Pac-12 is claiming a playoff spot regularly, especially in 2025 with Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC the Big-12 isn't going to be a whole lot messier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuackAttack Author No. 7 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Claiming a playoff spot regularly is a huge overstatement. The PAC hasn't been in since 2016 and have only been in 3 times since it went to four teams. B1G will have one for sure, ACC with either Clemson or Miami (if Cristobal can work his magic) will have one, and the SEC will likely have two. Regularly is a pipedream! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
