They first met on June 1, 1785, King George III and John Adams, the jilted sovereign and his former subject, now meeting on equal footing, as diplomats representing their own nations.

The next day, Adams wrote to his close friend and fellow founding father, John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, commemorating the historic occasion. He highlighted one particular part of their encounter, when George, humbled by the defeat from an overmatched and outmanned rebel army, spoke of unification and inevitably.

“I will be very frank with you. I was the last to consent to the separation, but the separation having been made, and having become inevitable, I have always said as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power.”

Well, now the inevitable has come for the Pac-12 and commissioner George Kliavkoff.

At the very least, Arizona and Arizona State appear poised to leave for the Big 12, possibly as soon as Friday. The Arizona Board of Regents will meet Thursday, likely to decide their fates. Utah may join as a Corner Schools package deal.

Oregon and Washington could be headed to the Big Ten not long after.

From King George to Pawn George, it’s time to embrace the inevitable.

The conference is now very likely in a million pieces, and the question is: Can all of Pawn George’s horses and all of his men put the Pac-12 together again?

*****

Of course, it wasn’t always inevitable.

Even after UCLA and USC announced they were leaving to join the Big Ten last summer, the Pac-12 could still pick up their swords. There were still deals to be done, expansion invitations to hand out, promises to keep.

But Colorado’s defection to the Big 12 last week was the Pac-12’s Battle of Yorktown. The war is all but over. The only thing left to do is lay down their swords.

Can the Pac-12 rebuild? Do you trust George Kliavkoff to do it?

There may not be a major sports executive under a more glaring spotlight than Kliavkoff at the moment, save for maybe Vince McMahon, and he’s used to the spotlight and a verbal clothesline or two. We all know what the commissioner said at Pac-12 Media Day in Las Vegas back on July 21, when asked:

Q. In regards to obviously the Big 12, they talked about last year they’re open for business. In terms of them potentially poaching schools, is that a major concern, or has it kind of been nipped in the bud privately?

It’s not a concern. Our schools are committed to each other and to the Pac-12. We’ll get our media rights deal done, we’ll announce the deal. I think the realignment that’s going on in college athletics will come to an end for this cycle.

The truth is we have bigger fish to fry. There are incredible opportunities and also challenges in front of college athletics. I need to be able to work with all of my colleagues in Division I and particularly in the A-5. We’ll do that and move past kind of all the bitter squabbling of the last year and work together to make college athletics better.

Less than 2 weeks later — after media day came and went without a media rights proposal presented to Pac-12 powers-that-be, causing Colorado to jump ship before Kliavkoff even presented his woefully inadequate, Apple TV+-based package earlier this week — those words have become Kliavkoff’s cross to bear.

Losing USC and UCLA was understandable. Losing Colorado was recoverable.

But now, losing Arizona and Arizona State and quite possibly 2-time defending conference champion to a league that is highlighted by Oklahoma State?

Forget inevitable, this is downright embarrassing.

*****

If you’re Arizona and Arizona State, is there really even a question?

The Arizona Board of Regents meeting on Thursday appears to be a mere formality at this point. The Territorial Cup appears headed to the Big 12, which likely adds 2 middling football programs but 1 basketball powerhouse. Even if the financial ramifications weren’t obvious, joining a league led by teams like Kansas and Baylor will keep the Wildcats at the forefront of the national conversation after UCLA’s bounce to the Big Ten threatened to leave Zona Zoo twisting in the wind.

If you’re Utah, is there really even a question?

The Utes would have a chance to regain a natural rivalry with Colorado and BYU, which just joined the Big 12 last year along with Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati.

If you’re Oregon and Washington, is there really even a question?

The Ducks and Huskies are reportedly being courted by the Big Ten, albeit facing a lower revenue share for the foreseeable future, but one that would certainly dwarf the Pac-12’s best offers.

The only question marks, it seems, lie with the Pac-12.

What a strange position. To be facing inevitability and uncertainty, both at the same time.