**Shrugs**
The Pac 12 really lays bare the inherent flaws in letting population drive conference realignment strategies. While the Universities have large enrollments, they are not an order of magnitude larger than Big10/12/SEC schools in line with the population differences. For example, Iowa and Iowa State have a combined enrollment of about 70,000 in a state of 3.1M residents. Washington and Washington State have a combined enrollment of 87,000 in a state of 7.3M people. For the numbers to be in line, UW and Wash St would need to have about 165,000 students. Those people are likely getting their degrees, just elsewhere.
Also, seven of the 12 schools in the Pac 12 (USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Colorado, Arizona State, Washington) share a city or metro area with at least two teams from the NFL/NBA/MLB. In shorts, the sport's fans budget is getting stretched several different ways.
These factors affect where the rubber meets the road: fan engagement. The conference network model relies on getting said channel on a low cable tier to get on as many cable bills as possible. The SEC and Big 10 networks have been very successful on this, while the ACC and Pac 12 have faltered.
I can understand the frustration of the writer, but the issue isn't five schools dragging the conference down. I think, however, they are finding that bigger isn't always better. Are Utah and Colorado earning their keep in the conference? I have no idea, but I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if the answer was no.