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When asked what the future holds for the Pac-12, Commissioner George Kliavkoff decided to ignore all the current talk about the conference's dissolution. Instead, he decided to focus on the possibility of the Pac-12 winning a national championship this year.
This was reported by the Athletic's Nicole Auerbach on Wednesday afternoon:
Pac-12 title chances
The conference seems like a fairly competitive conference this year, with five schools ranked in the AP poll right now: USC No. 6, Washington No. 10, Oregon No. 15, Utah No. 14, and Oregon State No. 18.
The best bet for a football national title this year for the Kliavkoff has to be the USC Trojans. Led by Heisman winner Caleb Williams, USC is back to its heavy-weight status. USC won its first encounter of the season 56-28 versus San Jose State.
Caleb Williams again showed why he is such a highly-rated signal caller, throwing for 4 touchdowns. A second straight Heisman Trophy isn't out of the realm of possibility for the USC quarterback.
Fan Reactions to George Kliavkoff's Comments
Football insiders seemed to laugh at Kliavkoff's suggestion:
Baylor's fans were more graphic in their reaction:
Sports writer Jeff Gardenour pins his hopes on the SEC and the Big Ten:
Others were left wondering which sport was he talking about:
Others asked the poignant question of what would happen next year:
State of the Pac-12
To close out, we would like to recap the state of the conference and how many members are left. Currently, only four schools (Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford, and California, Berkeley) are left in the Pac-12.
There's a caveat to that, which is that Cal and Stanford are actively seeking a new home in the ACC. Negotiations have stalled, but the great majority of experts seem to think it's a done deal. There have been reports that Oregon State and Washington State have started toying with the idea of joining the AAC.
That conference would be interested in accepting new schools, to upset the possible loss of its more influential program, SMU, to the ACC expansion.
USC, Oregon, UCLA, and Washington have already confirmed they are leaving for the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah all announced they are joining the Big 12.
