Pac-12, Commissioner George Kliavkoff Agree to Part Ways After Exits of Oregon, More

After nearly three years in the role, George Kliavkoff is out as Pac-12 commissioner.

According to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, the Pac-12 board of directors announced Friday that Kliavkoff and the conference mutually agreed to part ways, and Feb. 29 will be his final day on the job.

Kliavkoff presided over a tumultuous time in Pac-12 history, as USC, UCLA, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, California and Stanford all decided to leave the conference within the past year.

With the Pac-12 struggling to find a significant media rights deal, USC and UCLA were the first schools to announce they were leaving, opting to make the move to the Big Ten.

Later, Oregon and Washington opted to join the Big Ten as well, while Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah all chose to make the move to the Big 12.

Finally, longtime rivals Cal and Stanford announced a move to the ACC, leaving Oregon State and Washington State as the only remaining Pac-12 member schools.

Since the new alignment will be in place for the 2024 college football season, Oregon State and Washington State reached a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference.

While Oregon State and Washington State won't be official members of the Mountain West and won't be eligible to win the conference in 2024, the in-conference portion of their schedules will be against MWC teams.

The agreement could also set the stage for Oregon State and Washington State to join the Mountain West Conference officially in the future, provided the Pac-12 is unable to rebuild.

The Pac-12 was founded in 1915 as the Pacific Coast Conference, was renamed the Athletic Association of Western Universities from 1959 through 1968 and then the Pac-8 from 1968 to 1978, the Pac-10 from 1978 to 2011 and the Pac-12 ever since.

Now, the Pac-12 has until 2026 to satisfy NCAA conference requirements, or else it could be officially dissolved.

As the Pac-12 searches for answers and potentially attempts to expand back to 10 or 12 teams, it will be under new leadership.