The latest round of conference realignment saw transformational movement that effectively ended the Pac-12 Conference’s standing as a viable league, and the Big 12 was a major player in that.
The Big 12, of course, reacquired Colorado for the 2024-25 school year before eventually convincing Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to come along amid Oregon and Washington’s move to the Big Ten. When all was said and done, the Pac-12 was left with just four schools for 2024 (Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State).
So, you’d think that the vibe between conference commissioners Brett Yormark (Big 12) and George Kliavkoff (Pac-12) would be incredibly awkward with even some animosity. After all, Kliavkoff was brought in to secure the Pac-12’s future with a media rights deal and failed spectacularly to Yormark’s benefit. But according to Yorkmark, his interactions with Kliavkoff have been fine.
Speaking to Andrew Marchand and John Ourand, Yormark claimed that he had a friendly discussion with Kliavkoff and actually looked forward to seeing him in person in a couple weeks. Via sportsbusinessjournal.com:
Yormark said his main message was to convey that he was sorry to put Pac-12 chief George Kliavkoff in a tough position, “But this was something that we had to do. And this was something that the board and our key stakeholders encouraged. I’m sorry that my gain is your loss,” Yormark said. “We had a very collegial conversation. George was fantastic, and I’ll be seeing him again in a couple of weeks at some industry meetings.”
It would be interesting to hear if Kliavkoff felt the same way. But let’s be honest, Kliavkoff would have done the same thing if roles were reversed. That’s just the nature of conference realignment, and a highly paid commissioner can’t be too upset about how matters played out.
Still, that conversation had to be difficult for Kliavkoff.