Pac-12 expansion kickstarts with George Kliavkoff's ousting as long-time commissioner parts ways with Oregon State and Washington State ahead of 2024

The Pac-12 Conference had some major news on Saturday, as the conference and commissioner George Kliavkoff mutually agreed to part ways.

The move will be effective on Feb. 29 and is the first significant one that the Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Huskies have made regarding control of the conference.

The departure of Kliavkoff does not come as a surprise, as there were reports earlier this week that he would leave with a negotiated settlement. While there's no official announcement of his replacement yet, Deputy Commissioner Teresa Gould is reportedly being targeted as his replacement.

This will be an interesting transition, as George Kliavkoff had been the face of the Pac-12 implosion, ahead of the 2024 college football season and beyond.

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Does the Pac-12 implosion fall solely on the shoulders of George Kliavkoff?

While a lot of the blame falls on the commissioner for allowing the Pac-12 Conference to collapse, it would be too simplistic and unfair to put the entire implosion of the Power Five conference on one person. However, it does not mean that Kliavkoff isn't to blame altogether.

The Pac-12 media deal was a deciding factor in his ouster, as the conference had to deal with the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins leaving for the Big Ten Conference. However, the inability to land a media rights deal was significant, leading to eight of the remaining 10 teams to leave for another Power Five conference.

They reportedly had ESPN ready to extend their contract. But Kliavkoff wanted $50 million per team annually, which caused the media giant, who is in acquisition mode of rights, to withdraw their offer entirely.

Some blame needs to also go to the Pac-12 presidents for not even accepting the Apple TV+ deal, considering the current state of affairs in the Conference of Champions.