The Pac-12 commissioner had a sobering joke about drinking at the media event's open bar

Got to have an open bar when your conference has just two teams left in it.

To say it’s been a rough year for the Pac-12 is an understatement.

It’s more like the Pac-2 with just Washington State and Oregon State left thanks to schools bolting for other conferences, so when commissioner Teresa Gould held a media day, she could only joke about all that.

Per reporters in attendance, she had this to say about the open bar on Wednesday night: “We are drinking tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12.”

That is both very funny and very sad. That and the photos of the two mascots on stage just made it quite rough:

Pac-12 is holding a scaled-down media event with an open bar here in Vegas.

Commissioner Teresa Gould opens the event by gesturing to the bar: “We are drinking tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12.” pic.twitter.com/1L2M0SLeAd

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 11, 2024

“We’re going to drink tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink… it’s the Pac-12,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould.

Pac-12 is holding an “after hours” media event at Bellagio. pic.twitter.com/VX4atvF0X6

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) July 11, 2024

Pac-2 After Hours has an open bar

Commissioner Teresa Gould: "If anybody has earned the right to drink, it's the Pac-12."

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 11, 2024