As this article is published Thursday morning (just after 10 a.m.) in Los Angeles, the door hasn’t officially closed on the Pac-12. However, all indications are that the conference is about to suffer a crippling blow at some point in the next 30 hours. Colorado is expected to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12, as Buffaloes Wire has noted.
One week ago, Pac-12 insiders were super confident not only that a deal would be reached, but that it also would be very competitive with the Big 12’s price point for its member schools. Sources said the Pac-12 CEO Group’s “patience is about to pay off.” Sources said “it will be worth the wait.”
Waiting was viewed as necessary and good. Commissioner George Kliavkoff said the longer the process went on, the better it was for the Pac-12.
Well, here we are. It should have been a warning sign — an indication of trouble — when Colorado’s athletic director, Rick George, stormed out of the Pac-12 media day event on Friday after George Kliavkoff’s disastrous press conference and public remarks.
USC fans, knowing they have a safe and lucrative home in the Big Ten next year, are feeling quite affirmed. They escaped the sinking ship just in time. They never had to worry about their future — not when the move to the Big Ten was announced one year ago. They and other West Coast college sports fans reacted to the news of the Pac-12’s possible implosion and extinction: