Former Pac-12 referee David Yeast feels for those who lost their jobs when the conference went under, but he has no sympathy for the commissioners and general leadership of the conference in the past few decades for allowing it to happen.
"I've always had an appreciation for the Pac-12," Yeast told CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd. "It was truly the conference of champions. It had faded. The leadership, I think, failed. Not just Larry and George ... Our officials were a casualty of it."
Bill Carollo, Big Ten supervisor of officials, likened the Pac-12 officials losing their jobs to those who work at a Fortune 500 company and feel layoffs because of their non-proactive, overpaid and underdelivering C-suites.
"It was devastating," Carollo prefaced before saying, "It wasn't the fault of the officials. They were just put in an unfortunate situation. It was like a Fortune 500 business shutting down."
Lack of TV contract led to Pac-12 losing out to Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC
For all the uncertainty the ACC faces in the future, fans of the conference's now-17 members at least know where they'll be able to watch their teams. The Big Ten and the Big 12 have homes on FOX's multiple channels.
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 network was (unofficially) the least accessible channel in television history. Can you blame Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and ASU for joining the Big 12, with more possibly to join?
You definitely can't blame any program for taking the Big Ten's country-best conference payouts.
The Pac-12 has two years to resurrect itself as a conference. Oregon State and Wazzu have the ability to absorb a portion of the Mountain West. Given the way the Pac-12 was run, specifically, into the ground, is there even much desire for the Beavs and Cougs to bring it back?