Falcons coach Arthur Smith asks if Pac-12 is ‘over’ in response to Drake London, Clark Phillips question

As the Pac-12 Conference faces the specter of a seeming existential crisis — Colorado is off to the Big 12 Conference and others might be soon to follow there or elsewhere — there’ve been no shortage of jokes about the fate of the league. Even coming from unexpected places.

On Thursday, it was Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith getting some humor in at the Pac-12’s expense. It came after wideout Drake London, who played at USC, and rookie corner Clark Phillips, who played at Utah, had some good one-on-one battles in camp.

“That’s an old Pac-12 matchup. Is that over now, the Pac-12?” Smith said, according to The Athletic’s Josh Kendall. His quip came the day after news broke that Colorado was on the verge of leaving the league.

About five hours later, the University of Colorado Boulder board of regents voted unanimously to leave the Pac-12 for the Big 12 in 2024.

Around the same time, the Pac-12 CEO group met, along with conference athletic directors, to get an update on the yet-to-be-announced media deal and discuss a path forward with Colorado on the outs.

Meanwhile, the Big 12 took quite the victory lap with Colorado coming back, releasing a two-word statement reading, simply, “They’re back.”

So, to answer Smith’s question: No — at least not yet. But it might be worth asking again next week.

Colorado athletic director Rick George hinted that the drawn-out Pac-12 media deal process helped grease the skids

Buffaloes athletic director Rick George said the Big 12’s media rights agreement played a huge role in moving on from the Pac-12. Commissioner Brett Yormark has a contract locked in with ESPN and FOX for the foreseeable future.

George sees that as an opportunity for Colorado to grow not just as a football team, but also its potential student body.

“The Big 12 Conference recently signed a media rights agreement extension that will make them partners with the country’s two largest sports media companies, ESPN and FOX, through the 2030-2031 season,” George said. “The national exposure, through linear television and streaming, combined with the Big 12 Conference’s footprint across three time zones, will not only make CU more accessible to alumni and fans nationwide, but introduce the Buffs to countless new potential students and fans.”

The message from George aligns with what ESPN’s Pete Thamel said before the move became official on Thursday. Colorado was “frustrated” with the Pac-12 over their negotiations of a new media rights deal. Nothing was getting done by Commissioner George Kliavkoff.