George Kliavkoff makes bold statement on the possibility of more Pac-12 schools joining the Big Ten

On3 imageby:Chandler Vessels09/20/22

ChandlerVessels

Despite reports earlier this month that Oregon and Washington met with the Big Ten about joining the conference, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is confident they will stay put.

According to a recent article from The Athletic, Kliavkoff doesn’t see any more Pac-12 schools leaving for any conference after USC and UCLA made the move to the Big Ten in July.

“Listen, I think if schools would have left for the Big Ten they would have left already,” Kliavkoff said on West Coast writers Jon Wilner and John Canzano’s podcast.

Asked whether he still “guarantees” none of his schools will join the Big 12, as he indicated in July, Kliavkoff replied, “Yes, that’s still the case.”

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The Pac-12 is several months into negotiations for its next television contract, which is set to begin in 2024. Although the conference is currently partnered with FOX and ESPN, many believe they will sell at least some of the rights to a streaming service such as Amazon or Apple.

UCLA and USC’s exit has caused much speculation about the future of the Pac-12, and it’s a legitimate question if there will be enough support from the remaining 10 schools to get a deal done. However, Kliavkoff is continuing to push forward and keep a positive outlook in spite of all the challenges.

“I don’t feel any sense of urgency at this point,” he said. “No one’s going anywhere, we’re all together, we’re focused on doing this. … We have runway to do it right, as opposed to doing it quickly.”

Washington, Oregon meet with Big Ten

The Big Ten may not be done adding teams to their conference after all, as the Washington Huskies are the latest program to meet with the conference regarding joining the party.

On Thursday, Brett McMurphy of The Action Network revealed the news of the meeting.

“Washington is latest Pac-12 school to meet w/Big Ten about joining the conference, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ,” tweeted McMurphy. “Huskies’ meeting w/B1G comes a week after Oregon met w/BIG. Big Ten targeting 4 Pac-12 schools & Notre Dame as new members, sources said.”

Evidently, Washington could join Oregon and Notre Dame in the Big Ten’s latest haul, among others. Continuing, McMurphy shed some more light on the meeting, stating Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren was absent, but this is how the initial meetings usually go.

“These meetings did not involve university presidents or Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, sources said,” McMurphy wrote. “The meetings were conducted with lawyers and consultants representing the schools and the Big Ten to determine the school’s compatibility with the league, sources said.

“It is among the first steps a potential new member must take to join the Big Ten, a source said.”

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.