Columbus, OH (KOIN) — The sun is warm on the field in Ohio Stadium. The 102,944 seat capacity stadium is filling to the brim with college football fans for the first time in 658 days. They’re mostly decked in red, but the pockets of green undeniable. With just over an hour until a marquee game between Oregon and Ohio State, the new Pac-12 Commissioner smiles.
“We’re hoping to create something like this every single week,” George Kliavkoff tells KOIN6. “I think it’s great for the fans and particularly for the players . It’s been a long time since we’ve played in front of fans and certainly a long time since we’ve played in front of 100,000 fans.”
If Kliavkoff, his Big 10 counterpart in Kevin Warren and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips have their way, this type of match-up will become commonplace between their three conferences. One of the goals of the newly formed ‘Alliance’ between the three conferences is creating more flexibility to schedule meaningful non-conference games between their programs.
But of his main goal, Kliavkoff left no doubt, soaking in all the glory of a college football Saturday.
“We want [College Football Playoff] invitations. And I’m going to do everything I can at the conference level to ensure we get as many CFP invitations as we can going forward.”