Welp… here we are. I shouldn’t be writing this right now. You shouldn’t have to be reading this right now. But sometimes the cookie just crumbles this way. A highly successful conference that enjoyed heaps of success and celebrated so many glorious titles and iconic moments just met its demise. An ominous and truthfully predictable trip down the wrong path. Larry Scott drove this vehicle to the beach. The keys were then tossed to George Kliavkoff, who drove that same vehicle into the middle of the ocean. That’s where we are right now. Don’t fault Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington for taking the life rafts they were offered… albeit Arizona State was a bit hesitant and wanted to stay home and try to make things work with the Conference of Champions. Now is a good time to pour one out for Bill Walton. Someone please check in on him.
How did we get here? Greed. Money. TV networks running the show. And some absolute and utter buffoonery from the Pac-12. Kliavkoff got played like a fiddle by all his peers. Even as an outsider it was easy to read that guy, wasn’t it? That massive media rights deal he bragged about for about a year and kept saying, “it’ll be finalized soon.” Welp. So much for that! Incompetence. That also led us here. To one of the saddest collapses of power we’ve ever seen. The Pac-12 joins the Big East, Rome, and the Targaryen Dynasty. Etched in history forever, remembered for all the wrong reasons.
I’m a diehard college football fan. You all know that. You see how much time I dedicate to @NoContextCFB. But what you may not know is that I’m a West Coast guy, a diehard UCLA fan, and a lifelong fan of the conference formerly referred to as the Pac-12. This one hurts. It just does. It hurt when USC dragged UCLA along to the Big Ten. It hurts seeing Cal, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State straggling behind. Four lost kids who can’t find their parents in Costco. It’s a big world out there, and they need help. Say what you want about these guys but they are four really good programs who bring plenty of value to our scene whether it be football, other sports, or academics. It’s sad. It just is.
I don’t know what the future holds in our great world of college sports. Well… I do. More realignment, more sad collapses, more money. They’ll conduct surgery on the ACC next, and we’ll see plenty more blood shed on the gruesome battlefield that is conference realignment. Although, the big bad Big 12 might get to Gonzaga and UConn before the ACC ship begins to sink.
Heck, maybe in 25 years we’ll just be back to where we were a few years ago. But for now… let’s just reminisce on the Pac-12. A fun, zany, sensational, cannibalistic, unpredictable, must-see show (as long as it wasn’t on Pac-12 Network) with impressively bad reffing that we couldn’t get enough of. Man…
Thank you to all those reading this right now and the hundreds of people that tweeted me memories as well.
Arizona was blasting UCLA 42-7 in the first half of a game between two truly horrific teams. The star of the game was a man who dressed up as a ref and sprinted onto the field with such confidence and grace. His antics quickly turned into a streaking session and somehow started a brawl between the Wildcats and Bruins. It’s an all-time underrated college football moment and perfectly encapsulates what this conference was… especially when we were playing after dark.
If you shed a tear watching this for the first time in a while… I understand.
Pac-10 memories are allowed, especially when it’s this cold flick of Jacquizz Rodgers doing his thing. An icon.
So dope. Loved the Rodgers brothers.
And when it’s MARSHAWN LYNCH DOING HIS THING!!
Stanford haunted UCLA for YEARS and was constantly putting Bruin DBs on posters. Jaleel Wadood got MOSS’D HARD by Francis Owusu here.
41. Point. Underdogs.
The Beavs will always have the last laugh, eh?
The absolute electric factory that was DeSean Jackson.
This Cal-USC game was off its rocker!
Pics that go hard.
Assault.
ASSAULT.
That time the Apple Cup froze over. Wow. Just wow.
I wish we could go back in time and make sure Jahvid Best had a healthy football career.
“They said nice game.”
My dude just threw the whole game up on Twitter for us lol. Look away Wazzu fans… Look away.
UCLA has been in some insane games over the years. To be fair most Pac-12 teams have… Jake Haener will forever be a legend for this performance.
As I said… insane games.
Of course this Vontaze Burfict picture found its way here!
These old SI covers really hit different.
All the feels.
I miss popcorn guy.
Pac-12 After Dark. ‘Nuff said.
“HEISMAN! BETTER THAN BARRY!”
Stanford only played 1940s football. You’d think that’s enough of a résumé to get ‘em into the Big Ten.
I’m always going to feel really really bad for Kaelin Clay. Brutal.
Really gonna miss Coach and all his antics.
A Hall of Fame @NoContextCFB meme.
Just go win ‘em in the Big 12 now 🙁
Very true.
Wish we had peak Twitter for this.
HECK of a call from Joe Tessitore. STELLAR! “STONEWALL!” Elite closing speed from Uchenna Nwosu too.
AWW MAN AN ANDREW LUCK CLIP!!!
LOL! If you know, you know.
Winning at Reser is an impossibly difficult task.
I remember exactly where I was when this happened.
That’s a Big Ten rivalry.
Hey, it’s me.
Classic.
Minshew Mania. A fever dream.
Aww.
There’s a handful of people that understand this and I am proud to be one of them.
Mahalo.
Yeah, this was WILD! And so was the commentary from Mark and Robert all game, lol.
The Stanford Band really went with a Farmers Only show in the Rose Bowl against IOWA!
As I said, Pac-12 After Dark was always must-see TV.
Speaking of must see TV. Reggie.
Going down memory lane like this actually hurts my soul. We witnessed so much greatness.
Josh Rosen and his hot tub. Legendary.
Rip 🙁
Goodnight.
I know there were plenty more iconic and funny moments from our Conference of Champions. I tried to share most of what was tweeted to me. If your favorite moment wasn’t included… it probably wasn’t tweeted to me!
About the author
I am a diehard UCLA fan that has enjoyed (?) mediocrity year after year. My favorite CFB moment was witnessing UCLA comeback from 34 down against Texas A&M. Being at the Rose Bowl for that historic moment is something I’ll never forget. I have written about CFB since I was 14 and my favorite thing to do is give under-the-radar athletes the recognition they deserve. You might know me from @NoContextCFB !
