Commissioner George Kliavkoff -- Pac-12 steady despite USC, UCLA departures

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In the wake of USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten, the conference commissioner hit back at the notion that the league is on shaky ground.

"We're bullish about the future of the conference and our opportunities for long-term growth, stability and success," he said. The conference has 10 of the most famous and innovative brands in all of sports, as well as excellence in academics and athletics, and a half-dozen of the most valuable markets in this country.

Several of the remaining Pac-12 schools have been mentioned as possible expansion targets for the Big Ten and Big 12. The Big 12 is open for business, according to the conference's executive director.

The projected value of the Pac-12 media rights compared to the Big 12 didn't sit well with the man.

The Big 12 is open for business. We don't know if we're going to shop there or not.

During the question-and-answer session, he spoke of his desire for more cooperation among his peers. He was not going to let what was being said in other places go unanswered.

"For the last four weeks, I've been trying to defend against grenades that have been thrown in from every corner of the Big 12 in order to undermine our conference," he said. I am aware of why they are doing it. The relative media value between the two conferences is something I understand. I understand why they are afraid. I understand why they're trying to hurt us, but I'm tired of it.

The Pac-12 has prioritized media value, athletic strength, academic and cultural fit for possible additions.

San Diego State seems to be the most likely school to be targeted by the conference.

"Southern California is important to us, and there are different ways of approaching staying part of Southern California," he said. We may play a lot of football in L.A.

The Pac-12 is in an exclusive 30-day negotiating window with its existing media partners, but doesn't expect anything to be finalized for at least a couple months. The most likely scenario is that the conference's Tier 1 football rights will stay on linear television, while another piece will be sold to a digital partner. The future of the network is not certain.

The Pac-12 is very confident that it will be in the middle of the Power 5 conferences on a per-school distribution basis, but it's not clear how much that will cost.

The Big Ten announced on June 30 that UCLA and USC would leave for the conference in about 100 years.

USC and UCLA are leaving the conference.

USC and UCLA have been proud members of the Pac-12 for over a century. We have a great relationship with their student-athletes, staff, faculty, alumni and fans. I instructed everyone at our conference to make sure that USC and UCLA student-athletes are given every opportunity to compete and succeed as long as they remain in the conference.

UCLA, which has faced public criticism for its handling of the defection, may be able to reverse course and stay in the conference.

UCLA is in a tough position. There are a lot of people who are upset with the decision. Student-athletes, the families of student-athletes, the faculty, the staff, politicians, the fans, the alumni, there's a lot of really, really upset people with that decision.

I can't give you a lot of chances. If they came back, we would be happy to have them back.