Shots. Fired.

With UCLA and USC lurching off to the Big Ten, and the remainders in the PAC-12 suffering from a sudden case of the heebie-jeebies, CU Buffs athletic director Rick George launched one of the first of many missives at the turncoats.

“So everybody’s clear: we didn’t lose any team that has appeared in a CFP (College Football Playoff) playoff game,” George said.

Nice! So the final two years of UCLA and USC in the Pac-12 could be fun. Let’s make a deal: for every shot fired at the Bruins and Trojans until PACxit, that’s an automatic … Buffs first down!

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“I don’t know that ‘betrayal’ is the right word. But I would say there is a strong air of disappointment,” George said Wednesday of the surprising exits that dumped the PAC-12 into survival mode. “It’s really not in the fact that they are doing something they feel is best for them. But there is a way to do it the right way.”

No one left in the PAC-12 (10?) believes UCLA and USC went about this the right way. But if we’re being honest — and this came before George’s arrival at CU — the league only has a little room to chirp. A dozen years ago the PAC-12 tried to raid the Big 12 of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Only CU made the move from the Big 12.

Difference is, the overtures in 2010 were out in the open. USC and UCLA came out of nowhere, operating like a public health official cashing checks while the little people suffer.

To insulate themselves from the next wave of realignment, because it’s definitely coming, George said the 10 athletic directors (and presidents and chancellors) have met via Zoom “pretty much” every day. The meetings began as group therapy after the bombshell that UCLA and UCLA would be joining forces with the Big Ten and all that TV money that comes with it.

“Those are things that other people will have to live with. They’ll be in our conference two more years and we’ll be respectful,” George said.

“Good luck to them in 2024-25.”

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Now the focus of Pac-12 meetings is reinforcing a circle of trust. To be honest, the league sounds like a teenager who went through his first breakup and just wants to believe in love again.

So what’s next? Is it half the PAC to the Big 12? Stealing a couple Mountain West schools? Oregon joining the NFC North while the Detroit Lions are relegated? When the Los Angeles schools are about to play Rutgers, in New Jersey, “nothing surprises me,” as George said.

The plan for now is a lot more boring, and smart: Hurry up and wait. Between media rights negotiations and confirming allegiances, CU’s future is expected to be murky for a minute.

“Everything’s on the table,” George said. “Our focus has really been keeping the 10 of us together.”

It’s probably more of a romantic notion than a practical one, but I’m holding out hope the Pac-12 sticks together for the sake of west coast athletics as a whole. Anyone who’s sat through freezing rain during a doozy of a rivalry game at the Apple Cup, or a 50-47 after-dark shootout in Corvallis, agrees. There’s too much rich-get-richer in the real world, anyway. 

But the stabilizing move for the Buffs would be jumping back to the Big 12. Sorry, it’s true. Besides, CU football was a lot more successful in the Big 12 than it’s ever been in the Pac-12.

The wrong people are in charge of college sports. They are the TV suits drooling over USC-Michigan while ignoring the USC game is an annual sellout in Corvallis, Pullman and Boulder.

“What’s driving athletics right now is TV exposure,” CU football coach Karl Dorrell said.

Some other Buffs stuff, courtesy of an AD who’s refreshingly transparent on the state of things:

– Dorrell’s seat is hot. That’s my takeaway after George said the football program fell short of expectations last season and must expect a bowl game in 2022. Best wishes finding six wins on one of the toughest Buffs schedules in recent memory: TCU, Air Force, Minnesota, the Pac-12.

“I think one of the hard tickets to get is going to be the Air Force ticket,” George said.

– Add “supply chain issues” to the Buffs bingo card. Upgrading Folsom Field’s speaker system hit a delay, proving COVID restrictions, the lawless introduction of “name, image, likeness” and a packed transfer portal are not alone on the new challenges for an athletic department.

“We’ve had so much happen in the last three years, (expletive), what’s next?” George said.

Good question.

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What’s next? Well, slipping in a few more jabs at the L.A. schools would be one cheap form of entertainment. Keep ’em coming. So would beating USC football for the first time (0-15). And Tad Boyle’s hoopers chipping in a couple sweeps of UCLA. What’s next? The aim is clear.

“Do I feel confident in our 10 (schools)? Yes. Could something change? Yes,” George said.

The final result is murky.