Pacific Ten Conference
Encyclopedia
The Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12) is a college athletic conference that operates in the Western United States
. It participates in the NCAA
's Division I; its football
teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. The conference's 12 members (which are primarily flagship research universities in their respective regions, well-regarded academically, and with relatively large student enrollment) compete in 22 NCAA sports. It was founded as the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), in 1915, which principal members founded the (Athletic Association of Western Universities) (AAWU) in 1959, and went by the names Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, Pacific-10, becoming the Pacific-12 in 2011.
The "Conference of Champions," the Pac-12 has won more NCAA National Team Championships than any other conference in history; the top three schools with the most NCAA team championships belong to the Pac-12 (UCLA
, Stanford
and USC
, in that order). With Arizona State's softball title in 2011, the conference won its 400th NCAA Championship.
The current commissioner of the conference is Larry Scott
who replaced Thomas C. Hansen, who retired in July 2009 after 26 years in that position. Prior to joining the Pac-10, Scott was Chairman and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association
.
(PCC) was founded at a meeting at the Imperial Hotel
in Portland, Oregon
. Charter members were the University of California (now University of California, Berkeley), the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). The conference began play in 1916.
One year later, Washington State College (now Washington State University) joined the league, followed by Stanford University in 1918.
In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of USC
and Idaho
. Montana
joined the Conference in 1924, and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA
.
For many years, the conference split into two divisions for basketball—a Southern Division comprising the four California schools and a Northern Division comprising the six schools in the Pacific Northwest
.
In 1950
, Montana departed to join the Mountain States Conference. The PCC continued as a nine-team league through 1958
.
interceded and suggested the schools consider creating a "power conference." Nicknamed the "Airplane Conference", the five PCC schools would have played with other big schools including Army
, Navy
, Air Force
, Notre Dame
, Penn
, Penn State, Duke
, and Georgia Tech
among others. The effort fell through when a Pentagon
official vetoed the idea and the service academies backed out.
On July 1, 1959
the new Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed, with Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington as charter members. The conference also was popularly known as the Big Five from 1960 to 62; when Washington State
joined in 1962
, the conference was then informally known as the Big Six.
and Oregon State
joined in 1964. With the addition of the two Oregon schools, the conference became known unofficially as the Pacific-8 (as there already was a Big Eight Conference
). Idaho
was never invited to join the AAWU; the Vandals were independent for four years until the formation of the Big Sky Conference
in 1963
.
In 1968
, the AAWU formally renamed itself the Pacific-8 Conference, or Pac-8 for short.
, the conference added WAC
schools Arizona
and Arizona State
, to create the Pacific-10 Conference or Pac-10.
In the mid-1990s the conference expressed interest in admitting the University of Colorado, as well as the University of Texas
after the collapse of the Southwest Conference. Texas expressed an interest in joining a strong academic conference, but joined three fellow SWC schools (Texas A&M
, Texas Tech
, and Baylor
) to combine with the Big Eight Conference
to form the Big 12 Conference
in 1996
. Colorado elected at the time to remain in the newly-formed Big 12 Conference.
Before the addition of Colorado and Utah in 2011, only one Division I conference, the Ivy League
, had maintained its membership for a longer time than the Pac-10. Commissioner Larry Scott said on February 9, 2010, that the window for expansion by the conference was open for the next year as the conference began negotiations for a new television deal. Speaking on a conference call to introduce former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg as his new deputy, Scott talked about possibly adding new teams to the conference and launching a new television network. Scott, the former head of the Women’s Tennis Association, took over the conference in July 2009. In his first eight months on the job, he saw growing interest from the membership over the possibility of adding teams for the first time since Arizona and Arizona State joined the conference in 1978.
, or possibly Baylor University and Texas A&M University.
On June 10, 2010, the University of Colorado at Boulder officially accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective in the 2012–2013 academic year. The school later announced it would join the conference a year earlier than previously announced, in the 2011-2012 academic year.
On June 15, 2010, a deal was reached between Texas
and the Big 12 Conference
to keep Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the Big 12. Following Texas' decision, the other Big 12 schools that had been rumored candidates to join the Pac-10 announced they would remain in the Big 12. This deal effectively ended the Pac-10's ambition to potentially become a sixteen-team conference.
On June 17, 2010, the University of Utah
officially accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective in the 2011–2012 school year. Utah was a member of the WAC with Arizona and Arizona State before those two left for the Pac-10. The Utes joined the Pac-12 from the Mountain West Conference
. Utah is also the first "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference, having played in (and won) two BCS games beforehand, and one of the first to leave the MWC, of which Utah was a charter member.
On July 27, 2010, the conference unveiled a new logo and announced that the Pac-10 would be renamed to the Pac-12 when two new universities would join the conference. On October 21, 2010 the Pac-12 announced that it would be divided into two divisions for purposes of football, with the North Division consisting of the schools in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California and the South Division consisting of Colorado, Utah, and the schools in Arizona and Southern California. On July 1, 2011 the Pac-12 assumed its current alignment when both Colorado and Utah officially joined as full members.
To this day, the Pac-12 claims the PCC's history as its own. It inherited the PCC's berth in the Rose Bowl, and the eight largest schools in the old PCC all eventually joined the new league. However, the older league had a separate charter.
The Pac-12 is one of the founding members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
, a conference organized to provide competition in non-revenue Olympic sports. All Pac-12 members participate in at least one MPSF sport (men's and women's indoor track and field both actually have enough participating Pac-12 schools for the conference to sponsor a championship, but the Pac-12 has opted not to do so), and for certain sports, the Pac-12 admits certain schools as Associate Members.
These totals do not include football national championships
, which the NCAA does not officially declare at the FBS level. Various polls, formulas, and other third-party systems have been used to determine national championships, not all of which are universally accepted.
Southern California claims 11 national football championships, California claims 5, Washington claims 2, and Colorado, Stanford, and UCLA each claim 1.
Each of the 10 schools that were conference members before 2011 has its own in-state, conference rivalry. One is an intracity rivalry (UCLA-USC), and another is within the same metropolitan area (Cal-Stanford). These rivalries (and the name given to the football forms) are:
The two newest members, Colorado and Utah, have a football rivalry as well that had been dormant since 1962 - both were conference rivals previously in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
(now a Division II conference), and later the now-defunct Mountain States Conference (also known as the Skyline Conference). Even after Colorado joined what became the Big 12 in 1948 (the conference was then known popularly as the Big 7 Conference), the two schools continued their football rivalry for over a decade before ending it after the 1962 season. Colorado leads the series with Utah 30–24–3. With the two schools being placed in the same division for football starting in 2011, the rivalry will be revived when the two schools meet for the 58th time during the 2011 Pac-12 season.
There are other notable football rivalries within the Pac-12.
All of the California schools consider each other major rivals, due to the culture clash between Northern and Southern California. For USC, the big game is UCLA. For Stanford, their big game is Cal. But for both Stanford and Cal, their second biggest game is USC. Cal and UCLA have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the top programs within the University of California
system. Stanford and USC have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the only private schools in the Pac-12. Cal and USC also have a long history, having played each other every year in football since 1916.
Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State all consider each other major rivals due to the proximity and long history. The Oregon - Washington rivalry is sometimes referred to as the Border War.
Arizona and New Mexico have a recently renewed rivalry game, based upon when they were both members of the WAC
and both states were longtime territories before being admitted as states in 1912. They played for the Kit Carson Rifle trophy, which was no longer used starting with their meeting in the 1997 Insight Bowl.
USC and Notre Dame
have an intersectional rivalry (See Notre Dame – USC rivalry). The games in odd-numbered years in
Indiana
are played in mid-October, while the games in even-numbered years in Los Angeles
are usually played in late November.
The isolated rural campuses of Washington State and Idaho are eight miles (13 km) apart on the Palouse
, creating a natural border war. Idaho rejoined FBS in 1996; the football rivalry has been dubbed Battle of the Palouse
.
Utah and BYU have a fierce rivalry that goes back to 1896 that until recently was an inter-conference rivalry nicknamed the Holy War
.
With the NCAA
permanently approving 12-game schedules in college football beginning in 2006, the Pac-10—alone among major conferences in doing so—went to a full nine-game conference schedule. Previously, the schools did not play one non-rival opponent, resulting in an eight-game conference schedule (four home games and four away). In 2010, the last season before the arrival of Colorado and Utah, the only other BCS conference that played a round-robin schedule was the Big East. The schedule consisted of one home and away game against the two schools in each region, plus the game against the primary rival.
and Colorado
move from the Mountain West Conference
and Big 12 Conference
respectively, forming the new Pacific-12 conference effective July 1, 2011. Divided into "North" and "South" divisions, each will have the following schools in the divisions only for football--a North Division comprising the Pacific Northwest and Bay Area schools, and a South Division comprising the Mountain Time Zone
and Southern California schools. However, the four California schools (gray background below) will still play each other every season.
A nine-game conference schedule is being maintained, with five matches within the assigned division and four matches from the opposite division. The four California teams will play each other every season. Thus, the four non-California teams in each division will only play one of the two California teams from the opposite division each year, facing the same school every other year on average.
Tie-breaking Procedures
Divisional Champion Tie-breaker
During the 1970s, UCLA and Notre Dame
had an intense men's basketball rivalry. For several years, it was the only non-conference game in Division I basketball that was played twice a season (home-and-away). The most famous game in the rivalry was on January 19, 1974, when Notre Dame scored the last 12 points of the game to nip UCLA and end the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak. This rivalry is now dormant, partly because Notre Dame is no longer independent in sports other than football (Big East
).
In baseball, there are intense rivalries between the four southern schools. Arizona, Arizona State, USC, and UCLA have long and successful histories in baseball and all have won national titles in the sport. The most intense series is widely regarded to be the "Basebrawl" series between USC and Arizona State in 1990. Arizona State swept the series and in the final game a bench clearing brawl spread quickly to the stands and made national headlines. Several were injured and riot police were called to end the fracas.
Washington and California have a longstanding rivalry in men's crew
as the two traditionally dominant programs on the West Coast.
Due to the unique geographic nature of the Pac-12 teams, the teams travel in pairs for road basketball games. For example, on Thursday, February 28, 2008, USC played Arizona and UCLA played Arizona State. Two nights later the teams switched and USC played Arizona State and UCLA played Arizona. Before the arrival of Colorado and Utah, the teams were paired as follows: USC and UCLA (the L.A. teams), Arizona and Arizona State (the Arizona teams), Cal and Stanford (the Bay Area teams), Washington and Washington State (the Washington teams), Oregon and Oregon State (the Oregon teams). Usually, the games are played on Thursdays and Saturdays with a game or occasionally two on Sundays for television purposes. This pairing formula is also used in women's volleyball. To make scheduling simpler for men and women's basketball (a sport in which each conference member uses a single venue for both teams' home games), the schedule for women's basketball is the opposite of the men's schedule. For example, when the Oregon schools are hosting the men's teams from the Arizona schools, the Arizona schools host the women's teams from Oregon schools the same weekend.
This formula has made a tradition in conference play to keep track of how a team does against a particular region; and stats are kept at to how successful a team is against, for example, "the Bay Area schools" at home or away. Effective in the 2011-12 season, with the expansion into 12 teams, a 10 year rotation model has been developed to maintain the existing 18 game conference schedule. Teams remained paired with their regional rival. Each school plays its regional rival and six other teams both home and away, and the other four teams once - two at home and two away. The newest members, Colorado and Utah, are paired with each other. The single play opponents rotate every two years.
Note: Washington will play the 2012 season as well as the 2011 Apple Cup
at CenturyLink Field.
(AAU): The only FBS conference with more AAU members is the Big Ten
with 11 out of 12 member institutions having AAU membership.
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It participates in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's Division I; its football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A), the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition. The conference's 12 members (which are primarily flagship research universities in their respective regions, well-regarded academically, and with relatively large student enrollment) compete in 22 NCAA sports. It was founded as the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), in 1915, which principal members founded the (Athletic Association of Western Universities) (AAWU) in 1959, and went by the names Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, Pacific-10, becoming the Pacific-12 in 2011.
The "Conference of Champions," the Pac-12 has won more NCAA National Team Championships than any other conference in history; the top three schools with the most NCAA team championships belong to the Pac-12 (UCLA
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
, Stanford
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams...
and USC
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
, in that order). With Arizona State's softball title in 2011, the conference won its 400th NCAA Championship.
The current commissioner of the conference is Larry Scott
Larry Scott (sports administrator)
Larry Scott is an American sports administrator and former professional tennis player who is currently the Commissioner of the collegiate Pacific-12 Conference...
who replaced Thomas C. Hansen, who retired in July 2009 after 26 years in that position. Prior to joining the Pac-10, Scott was Chairman and CEO of the Women's Tennis Association
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...
.
Full members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Endowment | Annual Research | Nickname | NCAA Team Championships (through June 5, 2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arizona University of Arizona The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885... |
Tucson, Arizona Tucson, Arizona Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200... |
1885 | Public | 38,057 | 436,600,000 | 545,869,000 | Wildcats Arizona Wildcats -Athletic program:The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Pacific-12 Conference Arizona participates in the conference's South Division, along with Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah... |
17 |
| Arizona State University Arizona State University Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona... |
Tempe, Arizona Tempe, Arizona Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale... |
1885 | Public | 70,400 | 441,000,000 | 259,503,000 | Sun Devils | 23 |
| University of California, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA... |
Berkeley, California Berkeley, California Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington... |
1868 | Public | 35,843 | 2,340,000,000 | 591,770,000 | Golden Bears California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley... |
30 |
| University of Colorado at Boulder University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado... |
Boulder, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of... |
1876 | Public | 29,952 | 665,442,000 | 454,000,000 | Buffaloes Colorado Buffaloes The University of Colorado Boulder sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's team are called the Buffaloes or Golden Buffaloes . "Lady Buffs" referred to the women's teams beginning in the 1970s, but was officially dropped in 1993... |
22 |
| University of Oregon University of Oregon -Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :... |
Eugene, Oregon Eugene, Oregon Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S... |
1876 | Public | 23,389 | 386,500,000 | 67,378,000 | Ducks Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. With seventeen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and Track and Field... |
18 |
| Oregon State University Oregon State University Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the... |
Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462.... |
1868 | Public | 23,671 | 329,200,000 | 188,056,000 | Beavers Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers are part of the Pacific-12 Conference . Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver... |
3 |
| Stanford University Stanford University The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San... |
Stanford, California Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place in Santa Clara County, California, United States and is the home of Stanford University. The population was 13,809 at the 2010 census.... |
1891 | Private | 19,535 | 12,620,000,000 | 688,225,000 | Cardinal Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams... |
101 |
| University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses... |
Los Angeles, California Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... |
1919 | Public | 39,593 | 1,880,000,000 | 871,478,000 | Bruins UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I... |
107 |
| University of Southern California University of Southern California The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university... |
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... |
1880 | Private | 36,896 | 2,670,000,000 | 519,543,000 | Trojans USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy... |
93 |
| University of Utah University of Utah The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest... |
Salt Lake City, Utah | 1850 | Public | 30,819 | 513,400,000 | 253,891,000 | Utes Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the... |
20 |
| University of Washington University of Washington University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... |
Seattle, Washington | 1861 | Public | 47,361 | 1,650,000,000 | 765,135,000 | Huskies Washington Huskies Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The school is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The athletic program is made up of 9 men's sports and 10 women's sports Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The... |
7 |
| Washington State University Washington State University Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university... |
Pullman, Washington Pullman, Washington Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 24,675 at the 2000 census and 29,799 according to the 2010 census... |
1890 | Public | 18,232 | 619,700,000 | 276,806,000 | Cougars Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars are the athletic teams at Washington State University; the term applies to any of the school's varsity teams. Washington State University is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, which participates in the NCAA Division I... |
2 |
Affiliate members
| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Current Conference | Pac-12 Sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State University Boise State University Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965... |
Boise, Idaho Boise, Idaho Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,... |
1932 | Public | 19,667 | Broncos Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the official athletic program of Boise State University. The Broncos compete in a wide variety of sports. Perhaps the most well-known of these sports is the football program. The program attained a 13-0 season in 2006 capped by a memorable overtime win in the 2007 Fiesta... |
Mountain West Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999... |
Wrestling |
| California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system.... |
San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities... |
1901 | Public | 19,777 | Mustangs | Big West Big West Conference The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped... |
Men's Swimming and Diving, Wrestling |
| California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield is a public university located in Bakersfield, California, United States which was founded in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a campus, becoming the 19th school in the California State University system... |
Bakersfield, California Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively.... |
1965 | Public | 7,493 | Roadrunners CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners The Cal StateBakersfield Roadrunners are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Cal State Bakersfield, located in Bakersfield, California. The university is currently a NCAA Division I school, after previously competing at the Division II level... |
Independent | Wrestling |
| California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs... |
Fullerton, California Fullerton, California Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway... |
1957 | Public | 36,996 | Titans Cal State Fullerton Titans The Cal State Fullerton Titans are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Cal State Fullerton, located in Fullerton, California. The Titans are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I level... |
Big West Big West Conference The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped... |
Wrestling |
| San Diego State University San Diego State University San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system... |
San Diego, California | 1897 | Public | 34,500 | Aztecs | Mountain West Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999... |
Men's Soccer |
| University of California, Davis University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment... |
Davis, California Davis, California Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area... |
1908 | Public | 31,426 | Aggies UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies compete in NCAA Division I sports in the Big West Conference. For football, the Aggies compete in Division I FCS , and are members of the Great West Conference, granting UC Davis the distinction of being one of only three UC campuses to field a football team... |
Big West Big West Conference The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped... |
Wrestling |
| University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los... |
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean... |
1909 | Public | 20,559 | Gauchos | Big West Big West Conference The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped... |
Men's Swimming and Diving |
Former members
No school has left the Pacific-12 since its founding as the AAWU in 1959. Two members of the PCC never joined the AAWU.| Institution | Location | Founded | Type | Enrollment | Nickname | Conference Membership | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Idaho University of Idaho The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state... |
Moscow, Idaho Moscow, Idaho Moscow is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state... |
1889 | Public | 11,957 | Vandals Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Idaho. They participate in NCAA Division I - FBS in the Western Athletic Conference .... |
1922–1959 | WAC Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS... |
| University of Montana | Missoula, Montana Missoula, Montana Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area... |
1893 | Public | 14,921 | Grizzlies Montana Grizzlies Montana Grizzlies is the nickname given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana. The women's basketball team, however, uses the moniker Lady Griz... |
1924–1950 | Big Sky Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,... |
History
Pacific Coast Conference
The roots of the Pac-12 Conference go back to December 2, 1915, when the Pacific Coast ConferencePacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
(PCC) was founded at a meeting at the Imperial Hotel
New Imperial Hotel
The Hotel Lucia is a historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1909-1910 as an extension of the adjacent Imperial Hotel...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Charter members were the University of California (now University of California, Berkeley), the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). The conference began play in 1916.
One year later, Washington State College (now Washington State University) joined the league, followed by Stanford University in 1918.
In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of USC
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
and Idaho
Idaho Vandals
The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Idaho. They participate in NCAA Division I - FBS in the Western Athletic Conference ....
. Montana
Montana Grizzlies
Montana Grizzlies is the nickname given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana. The women's basketball team, however, uses the moniker Lady Griz...
joined the Conference in 1924, and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.
For many years, the conference split into two divisions for basketball—a Southern Division comprising the four California schools and a Northern Division comprising the six schools in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
.
In 1950
1950 college football season
The 1950 college football season finished with the unbeaten and untied Oklahoma Sooners being the overwhelming choice for national champion. On New Year’s Day, the 9-0-0 Sooners were upset by the 10-1-0 Kentucky Wildcats in the Sugar Bowl. The #2 team, the United States Military Academy had been...
, Montana departed to join the Mountain States Conference. The PCC continued as a nine-team league through 1958
1958 college football season
The 1958 college football season was the first to feature the two point conversion. On January 13, 1958, the 11-man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose between kicking an extra point after a touchdown, or running or passing from the 3 yard line for 2...
.
AAWU (Big Five and Big Six)
Following a "pay-for-play" scandal at several PCC institutions (specifically Cal, USC, UCLA and Washington), the PCC disbanded in 1959. When those four and Stanford started talking about forming a new conference, retired Admiral Thomas J. HamiltonTom Hamilton (coach)
Thomas James "Tom" Hamilton was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and naval aviator who rose to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy...
interceded and suggested the schools consider creating a "power conference." Nicknamed the "Airplane Conference", the five PCC schools would have played with other big schools including Army
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, Navy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
, Air Force
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
, Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, Penn
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Penn State, Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, and Georgia Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
among others. The effort fell through when a Pentagon
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
official vetoed the idea and the service academies backed out.
On July 1, 1959
1959 college football season
The 1959 college football season saw Syracuse University crowned as the national champion by both the AP and the UPI wire services. Mississippi , which had outscored its opponents 350-21, finished #2 in both polls, and its only loss during the regular season had been to LSU, which ultimately...
the new Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed, with Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington as charter members. The conference also was popularly known as the Big Five from 1960 to 62; when Washington State
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
joined in 1962
1962 college football season
During the 20th Century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in...
, the conference was then informally known as the Big Six.
Pacific-8
OregonOregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. With seventeen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and Track and Field...
and Oregon State
Oregon State Beavers
The Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers are part of the Pacific-12 Conference . Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver...
joined in 1964. With the addition of the two Oregon schools, the conference became known unofficially as the Pacific-8 (as there already was a Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
). Idaho
Idaho Vandals
The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Idaho. They participate in NCAA Division I - FBS in the Western Athletic Conference ....
was never invited to join the AAWU; the Vandals were independent for four years until the formation of the Big Sky Conference
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...
in 1963
1963 college football season
During the 20th Century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" polls...
.
In 1968
1968 college football season
In the 1968 college football season, the system of "polls and bowls" changed. The Associated Press returned to its pre-1961 system of ranking the Top 20 rather than the Top 10, and voted on the national champion after the bowl games, rather than before. During the 20th Century, the NCAA had no...
, the AAWU formally renamed itself the Pacific-8 Conference, or Pac-8 for short.
Pacific-10
In 19781978 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season was the first season of Division I-A football; Division I-A was created in 1978 from the splitting of Division I for football only. The season came down to a rare #1 vs. #2 post-season meeting as #1 Penn State and #2 Alabama met in the New Year's Day Sugar...
, the conference added WAC
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
schools Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
and Arizona State
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, to create the Pacific-10 Conference or Pac-10.
In the mid-1990s the conference expressed interest in admitting the University of Colorado, as well as the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
after the collapse of the Southwest Conference. Texas expressed an interest in joining a strong academic conference, but joined three fellow SWC schools (Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, Texas Tech
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
, and Baylor
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
) to combine with the Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
to form the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
in 1996
1996 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the Florida Gators crowned National Champions, but not as unanimously as the Bowl Alliance would have hoped....
. Colorado elected at the time to remain in the newly-formed Big 12 Conference.
Before the addition of Colorado and Utah in 2011, only one Division I conference, the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
, had maintained its membership for a longer time than the Pac-10. Commissioner Larry Scott said on February 9, 2010, that the window for expansion by the conference was open for the next year as the conference began negotiations for a new television deal. Speaking on a conference call to introduce former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg as his new deputy, Scott talked about possibly adding new teams to the conference and launching a new television network. Scott, the former head of the Women’s Tennis Association, took over the conference in July 2009. In his first eight months on the job, he saw growing interest from the membership over the possibility of adding teams for the first time since Arizona and Arizona State joined the conference in 1978.
Pacific-12
In early June 2010, there were reports that the Pac-10 would be considering adding up to six teams to the conference, including Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, or possibly Baylor University and Texas A&M University.
On June 10, 2010, the University of Colorado at Boulder officially accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective in the 2012–2013 academic year. The school later announced it would join the conference a year earlier than previously announced, in the 2011-2012 academic year.
On June 15, 2010, a deal was reached between Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
and the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
to keep Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the Big 12. Following Texas' decision, the other Big 12 schools that had been rumored candidates to join the Pac-10 announced they would remain in the Big 12. This deal effectively ended the Pac-10's ambition to potentially become a sixteen-team conference.
On June 17, 2010, the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
officially accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective in the 2011–2012 school year. Utah was a member of the WAC with Arizona and Arizona State before those two left for the Pac-10. The Utes joined the Pac-12 from the Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
. Utah is also the first "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference, having played in (and won) two BCS games beforehand, and one of the first to leave the MWC, of which Utah was a charter member.
On July 27, 2010, the conference unveiled a new logo and announced that the Pac-10 would be renamed to the Pac-12 when two new universities would join the conference. On October 21, 2010 the Pac-12 announced that it would be divided into two divisions for purposes of football, with the North Division consisting of the schools in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California and the South Division consisting of Colorado, Utah, and the schools in Arizona and Southern California. On July 1, 2011 the Pac-12 assumed its current alignment when both Colorado and Utah officially joined as full members.
To this day, the Pac-12 claims the PCC's history as its own. It inherited the PCC's berth in the Rose Bowl, and the eight largest schools in the old PCC all eventually joined the new league. However, the older league had a separate charter.
The Pac-12 is one of the founding members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level.-History:...
, a conference organized to provide competition in non-revenue Olympic sports. All Pac-12 members participate in at least one MPSF sport (men's and women's indoor track and field both actually have enough participating Pac-12 schools for the conference to sponsor a championship, but the Pac-12 has opted not to do so), and for certain sports, the Pac-12 admits certain schools as Associate Members.
NCAA national titles
| School | Team | Individual | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total | |
| Arizona | 6 | 11 | 17 | 62 | 84 | 146 |
| Arizona State | 11 | 12 | 23 | 61 | 43 | 104 |
| California | 25 | 5 | 30 | 135 | 62 | 197 |
| Colorado | 20 | 2 | 22 | 106 | 12 | 118 |
| Oregon | 13 | 5 | 18 | 78 | 24 | 102 |
| Oregon State | 3 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 7 | 39 |
| Stanford | 61 | 40 | 101 | 262 | 177 | 439 |
| UCLA | 71 | 36 | 107 | 162 | 100 | 262 |
| USC | 79 | 14 | 93 | 303 | 60 | 363 |
| Utah | 11 | 9 | 20 | 70 | 24 | 94 |
| Washington | 1 | 6 | 7 | 55 | 15 | 70 |
| Washington State | 2 | 0 | 2 | 80 | 6 | 86 |
| Conference total | 302 | 140 | 442 | 1406 | 614 | 2020 |
- through 2010-11 season (updated at end of school year)
- combined championships are counted in the men column
These totals do not include football national championships
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
, which the NCAA does not officially declare at the FBS level. Various polls, formulas, and other third-party systems have been used to determine national championships, not all of which are universally accepted.
Southern California claims 11 national football championships, California claims 5, Washington claims 2, and Colorado, Stanford, and UCLA each claim 1.
Conference champions
- Football
- Men's Basketball
- Women's Basketball
- Baseball
- Softball
- Gymnastics
- Men's Soccer
- Women's Soccer
- Women's Volleyball
Football
- Oregon–Oregon State (The Civil WarCivil War (college football game)The Civil War is the colloquial name for an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Oregon Ducks football team of the University of Oregon and the Oregon State Beavers football team of the Oregon State University...
, the winner's Alumni Association gets the Platypus TrophyPlatypus TrophyThe Platypus Trophy is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Civil War college football game between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The trophy depicts a platypus, an animal which has features of both a duck and a beaver . For three years, from 1959 to 1961, the trophy...
but is not recognized by the Universities). - Cal–Stanford (The Big GameBig Game (football)The Big Game is an American college football rivalry game played by the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley and the Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. It is typically played in late November or early December...
, winner gets the Stanford Axe). - Arizona–Arizona State (The Duel in the Desert, winner gets the Territorial CupTerritorial CupThe Territorial Cup is a trophy that is awarded to the winner of an American college football rivalry game, commonly referred to as "The Duel in the Desert," played annually between the Arizona State Sun Devils football team of Arizona State University and the Arizona Wildcats football team of the...
). - Colorado-Utah (Rumble in the Rockies).
- Washington–Washington State (The Apple CupApple CupThe Apple Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of an American college football rivalry game played annually by the teams of the two largest universities in the U.S. state of Washington: the University of Washington Huskies and the Washington State University Cougars...
game, since 1962 the winner gets the Apple Cup trophy). - UCLA–USC (The Crosstown Showdown, winner gets the Victory Bell).
The two newest members, Colorado and Utah, have a football rivalry as well that had been dormant since 1962 - both were conference rivals previously in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States, mostly in Colorado with some members in Nebraska and New Mexico...
(now a Division II conference), and later the now-defunct Mountain States Conference (also known as the Skyline Conference). Even after Colorado joined what became the Big 12 in 1948 (the conference was then known popularly as the Big 7 Conference), the two schools continued their football rivalry for over a decade before ending it after the 1962 season. Colorado leads the series with Utah 30–24–3. With the two schools being placed in the same division for football starting in 2011, the rivalry will be revived when the two schools meet for the 58th time during the 2011 Pac-12 season.
There are other notable football rivalries within the Pac-12.
All of the California schools consider each other major rivals, due to the culture clash between Northern and Southern California. For USC, the big game is UCLA. For Stanford, their big game is Cal. But for both Stanford and Cal, their second biggest game is USC. Cal and UCLA have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the top programs within the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
system. Stanford and USC have a rivalry rooted in their shared history as the only private schools in the Pac-12. Cal and USC also have a long history, having played each other every year in football since 1916.
Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State all consider each other major rivals due to the proximity and long history. The Oregon - Washington rivalry is sometimes referred to as the Border War.
Arizona and New Mexico have a recently renewed rivalry game, based upon when they were both members of the WAC
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
and both states were longtime territories before being admitted as states in 1912. They played for the Kit Carson Rifle trophy, which was no longer used starting with their meeting in the 1997 Insight Bowl.
USC and Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
have an intersectional rivalry (See Notre Dame – USC rivalry). The games in odd-numbered years in
Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
are played in mid-October, while the games in even-numbered years in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
are usually played in late November.
The isolated rural campuses of Washington State and Idaho are eight miles (13 km) apart on the Palouse
Palouse
The Palouse is a region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of southeastern Washington, north central Idaho and, in some definitions, extending south into northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primarily producing wheat and legumes...
, creating a natural border war. Idaho rejoined FBS in 1996; the football rivalry has been dubbed Battle of the Palouse
Battle of the Palouse
The Battle of the Palouse is an American college football rivalry between the Washington State University Cougars and the University of Idaho Vandals. The name of the rivalry is derived from the "Palouse", the rolling agricultural region in which both schools are located...
.
Utah and BYU have a fierce rivalry that goes back to 1896 that until recently was an inter-conference rivalry nicknamed the Holy War
Holy War (Utah vs. BYU)
The Holy War is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the University of Utah Utes and the Brigham Young University Cougars. The game is part of the larger Utah–BYU rivalry...
.
With the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
permanently approving 12-game schedules in college football beginning in 2006, the Pac-10—alone among major conferences in doing so—went to a full nine-game conference schedule. Previously, the schools did not play one non-rival opponent, resulting in an eight-game conference schedule (four home games and four away). In 2010, the last season before the arrival of Colorado and Utah, the only other BCS conference that played a round-robin schedule was the Big East. The schedule consisted of one home and away game against the two schools in each region, plus the game against the primary rival.
Divisions
On October 21, 2010 the Pacific-10 announced the football divisions that will be used when UtahUtah Utes
The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the...
and Colorado
Colorado Buffaloes
The University of Colorado Boulder sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's team are called the Buffaloes or Golden Buffaloes . "Lady Buffs" referred to the women's teams beginning in the 1970s, but was officially dropped in 1993...
move from the Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
and Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
respectively, forming the new Pacific-12 conference effective July 1, 2011. Divided into "North" and "South" divisions, each will have the following schools in the divisions only for football--a North Division comprising the Pacific Northwest and Bay Area schools, and a South Division comprising the Mountain Time Zone
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time, during the shortest days of autumn and winter , and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn...
and Southern California schools. However, the four California schools (gray background below) will still play each other every season.
| North Division | South Division |
|---|---|
| Oregon Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. With seventeen varsity teams, the Oregon Ducks are best known for their football team and Track and Field... |
Arizona Arizona Wildcats -Athletic program:The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Pacific-12 Conference Arizona participates in the conference's South Division, along with Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah... |
| Oregon State Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers is a name shared by all sports teams at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers are part of the Pacific-12 Conference . Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver... |
Arizona State |
| Washington Washington Huskies Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The school is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The athletic program is made up of 9 men's sports and 10 women's sports Washington Huskies is the nickname of the University of Washington's athletic teams. The... |
Colorado Colorado Buffaloes The University of Colorado Boulder sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's team are called the Buffaloes or Golden Buffaloes . "Lady Buffs" referred to the women's teams beginning in the 1970s, but was officially dropped in 1993... |
| Washington State Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars are the athletic teams at Washington State University; the term applies to any of the school's varsity teams. Washington State University is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, which participates in the NCAA Division I... |
Utah Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the athletics teams of the University of Utah. They are named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the "Runnin' Utes"; the women's basketball team, formerly known as the "Lady Utes," now prefers to be referred to as the "Utes"; and the... |
| California California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley... |
UCLA UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I... |
| Stanford Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.-Nickname and mascot history:Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams... |
USC USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy... |
A nine-game conference schedule is being maintained, with five matches within the assigned division and four matches from the opposite division. The four California teams will play each other every season. Thus, the four non-California teams in each division will only play one of the two California teams from the opposite division each year, facing the same school every other year on average.
Pac-12 Football Championship Game
The Pac-12 Football Championship Game will feature the North Division Champion against the South Division Champion. The Divisional Champions will be determined based on record in all Conference games (both divisional and cross-divisional). The Championship Game will be played at the home football venue of one of the Divisional Champions. The host will be determined based on record in all Conference games (both divisional and cross-divisional).Tie-breaking Procedures
Divisional Champion Tie-breaker
- Two Teams:
- Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams. If no game is played between the two tied teams or that game ends in a tie, the following tie-breaking procedures would be applied:
-
- Record in games played within the division.
- Record against the next highest placed team in the division (based on record in all Conference games, both divisional and cross-divisional) proceeding through the division.
- Record in common Conference games.
- Highest BCS Ranking following the last weekend of regular-season games.
- Total number of wins in a 12-game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of wins:
-
- Only one win against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision or lower division will be counted annually.
- Any games that are exempted from counting against the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules (current Bylaw 17.9.5.2) shall not be included.
- 6. Coin toss.
- Three or More Teams:
- The following procedures will only be used to eliminate all but two teams, at which point the two-team tie-breaking procedure will be applied.
-
- Head-to-head (best record in games among the tied teams).
- Record in games played within the division.
- Record against the next highest placed team in the division (based on record in all Conference games, both divisional and cross-divisional), proceeding through the division.
- Record in common Conference games.
- Highest BCS Ranking following the last weekend of regular-season games.
Bowl games
The following is the current bowl selection order and the teams involved in each bowl:| Pick | Name | Location | Opposing conference | Opposing pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2... |
Pasadena, California Pasadena, California Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet... |
Big Ten Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east... or BCS Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of... |
– |
| 2 | Alamo Bowl Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is a major American college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It matches the second choice team from the Pacific-12 Conference and the third choice team from the Big 12 Conference.Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been... |
San Antonio, Texas | Big 12 Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving... |
3 |
| 3 | Holiday Bowl Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. Beginning with the 2010 playing the bowl will officially be known as the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl after... |
San Diego, California | Big 12 Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving... |
5 |
| 4 | Sun Bowl Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl... |
El Paso, Texas El Paso, Texas El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States... |
ACC Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities... |
4 |
| 5 | Maaco Bowl Las Vegas | Whitney, Nevada Whitney, Nevada Whitney is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 18,273 at the 2000 census.-Background:... |
MWC Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999... |
1 |
| 6 | Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl | San Francisco, California | Army Army Black Knights football The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946.... (2011), Navy Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I-A college football. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007... (2012), BYU (2013) |
1/2/3 |
| 7 | New Mexico Bowl | Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As... |
MWC Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999... |
See also
- Pacific-12 Conference football statistics
- Pacific-12 Conference football awards
Rivalries in other sports
All of the intra-conference rivalries in football are carried over into other sports.During the 1970s, UCLA and Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...
had an intense men's basketball rivalry. For several years, it was the only non-conference game in Division I basketball that was played twice a season (home-and-away). The most famous game in the rivalry was on January 19, 1974, when Notre Dame scored the last 12 points of the game to nip UCLA and end the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak. This rivalry is now dormant, partly because Notre Dame is no longer independent in sports other than football (Big East
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
).
In baseball, there are intense rivalries between the four southern schools. Arizona, Arizona State, USC, and UCLA have long and successful histories in baseball and all have won national titles in the sport. The most intense series is widely regarded to be the "Basebrawl" series between USC and Arizona State in 1990. Arizona State swept the series and in the final game a bench clearing brawl spread quickly to the stands and made national headlines. Several were injured and riot police were called to end the fracas.
Washington and California have a longstanding rivalry in men's crew
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
as the two traditionally dominant programs on the West Coast.
Due to the unique geographic nature of the Pac-12 teams, the teams travel in pairs for road basketball games. For example, on Thursday, February 28, 2008, USC played Arizona and UCLA played Arizona State. Two nights later the teams switched and USC played Arizona State and UCLA played Arizona. Before the arrival of Colorado and Utah, the teams were paired as follows: USC and UCLA (the L.A. teams), Arizona and Arizona State (the Arizona teams), Cal and Stanford (the Bay Area teams), Washington and Washington State (the Washington teams), Oregon and Oregon State (the Oregon teams). Usually, the games are played on Thursdays and Saturdays with a game or occasionally two on Sundays for television purposes. This pairing formula is also used in women's volleyball. To make scheduling simpler for men and women's basketball (a sport in which each conference member uses a single venue for both teams' home games), the schedule for women's basketball is the opposite of the men's schedule. For example, when the Oregon schools are hosting the men's teams from the Arizona schools, the Arizona schools host the women's teams from Oregon schools the same weekend.
This formula has made a tradition in conference play to keep track of how a team does against a particular region; and stats are kept at to how successful a team is against, for example, "the Bay Area schools" at home or away. Effective in the 2011-12 season, with the expansion into 12 teams, a 10 year rotation model has been developed to maintain the existing 18 game conference schedule. Teams remained paired with their regional rival. Each school plays its regional rival and six other teams both home and away, and the other four teams once - two at home and two away. The newest members, Colorado and Utah, are paired with each other. The single play opponents rotate every two years.
Conference facilities
| School | Football stadium | Capacity | Basketball arena | Capacity | Baseball stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Arizona Stadium Arizona Stadium Arizona Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pacific-12 Conference, and its current seating capacity is 57,803.... |
56,000 | McKale Center McKale Center McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large... |
14,545 | Hi Corbett Field Hi Corbett Field Hi Corbett Field is a baseball stadium located in Tucson, Arizona. The stadium holds approximately 9,500 people. It was the spring training home of the Colorado Rockies, and is currently home to the Tucson Toros... |
9,500 |
| Arizona State | Frank Kush Field at Sun Devil Stadium Sun Devil Stadium Sun Devil Stadium is an outdoor football stadium, located on the campus of Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, United States. The stadium's current seating capacity is 71,706 and the playing surface is natural grass... |
71,706 | Wells Fargo Arena Wells Fargo Arena (Tempe) Wells Fargo Arena is a 10,754-seat multi-purpose arena at 634 E Veterans Way in Tempe, Arizona, USA, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.Constructed in the spring of 1974 as the as the Arizona State University Activity Center and at the cost of $8 million, the facility also plays host to graduation... |
14,198 | Packard Stadium Packard Stadium Packard Stadium is a college baseball stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the home field of the Arizona State Sun Devils of the Pacific 12 Conference. Opened in 1974, the stadium's seating capacity is 7,875.... |
7,875 |
| California | California Memorial Stadium California Memorial Stadium California Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. Commonly known as Memorial Stadium, it is the home field for the University of California Golden Bears of the Pacific-12 Conference... |
63,000 | Haas Pavilion Haas Pavilion The Walter A. Haas, Jr. Pavilion is the home of the University of California's men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, and men's and women's gymnastics teams... |
11,877 | Evans Diamond Evans Diamond Evans Diamond is a college baseball stadium in Berkeley, California, on the campus of the University of California. Opened in 1933, it is the home field of the Cal Golden Bears of the Pac-10, with a seating capacity of 2,500. Evans Diamond is located in the UC sports complex in the southwest corner... |
2,500 |
| Colorado | Folsom Field Folsom Field Folsom Field is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Colorado, at Boulder, Colorado. Opened in 1924, it is the home field of the Colorado Buffaloes of the Pacific-12 Conference; until July 2011, Colorado was a member of the Big 12 Conference. The horseshoe-shaped stadium... |
53,613 | Coors Events Center Coors Events Center Coors Events Center is an 11,064-seat multi-purpose arena on the Boulder main campus of the University of Colorado. The arena opened in 1979, and is home to the Colorado Buffaloes men's and women's basketball teams and the volleyball team.... |
11,064 | No baseball team | |
| Oregon | Autzen Stadium at Rich Brooks Field Autzen Stadium Autzen Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks of the Pacific-12 Conference. Opened in 1967, the stadium has undergone several expansions... |
54,000 | Matthew Knight Arena | 12,541 | PK Park | 3,600 |
| Oregon State | Reser Stadium Reser Stadium Reser Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. on the campus of Oregon State University. It is the home of the Oregon State Beavers of the Pacific-12 Conference. Originally opened in 1953 as Parker Stadium, the stadium was renamed in 1999, and its current... |
45,674 | Gill Coliseum Gill Coliseum Gill Coliseum is a 10,400-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Opened in 1949, the arena is home to the Oregon State Beavers' basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics teams. It is named after famed basketball coach Amory T... |
10,400 | Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is a college baseball stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, on the campus of Oregon State University. It is home to the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 conference... |
3,248 |
| Stanford | Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium Stanford Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the Stanford University campus, the home of Stanford Cardinal college football team. It originally opened in 1921 as a football and track stadium, an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame... |
50,000 | Maples Pavilion Maples Pavilion Maples Pavilion is a 7,392-seat multi-purpose arena in Stanford, California built in 1968. Maples underwent a $30 million renovation in March 2004, which wrapped up in time for conference play in December of that year... |
7,233 | Sunken Diamond Sunken Diamond Sunken Diamond is a college baseball stadium in Stanford, California, on the campus of Stanford University. It is the home field of the Stanford Cardinal of the Pacific-10 Conference.The stadium was built in 1931 and has a seating capacity of 4,000... |
4,000 |
| UCLA | Rose Bowl Rose Bowl (stadium) The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12... |
91,936 | Pauley Pavilion Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams... |
12,819 | Jackie Robinson Stadium Jackie Robinson Stadium (UCLA baseball) Jackie Robinson Stadium is a college baseball stadium in Los Angeles, California, U.S., the home field of the UCLA Bruins of the Pac 10 Conference. Opened in 1981, it is the smallest stadium in the conference, with a seating capacity of just 1,250... |
2,000 |
| USC | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... |
93,607 | Galen Center Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles, it is right across the street from the campus and... |
10,258 | Dedeaux Field Dedeaux Field Dedeaux Field is a college baseball stadium in Los Angeles, California, U.S., and the home field of the University of Southern California Trojans baseball team. The stadium holds 2,500 people and was built in 1974, the year USC won its record fifth consecutive College World Series title... |
2,500 |
| Utah | Rice–Eccles Stadium | 45,017 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Jon M. Huntsman Center Jon M. Huntsman Center is a 15,000-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena opened in 1969 and is named after chemicals entrepreneur and philanthropist Jon M. Huntsman, father of Utah's former governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.... |
15,000 | Spring Mobile Ballpark | 15,500 |
| Washington | Husky Stadium Husky Stadium Husky Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home of the Washington Huskies... CenturyLink Field (2012 temporary home) |
72,500 | Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion | 10,000 | Husky Ballpark at Chaffey Field Husky Ballpark Husky Ballpark at Chaffey Field is a college baseball stadium on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It is the home field of the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 conference.... |
1,500 increasing to 3,200 |
| Washington State | Martin Stadium Martin Stadium Martin Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pullman, Washington, United States, on the campus of Washington State University. It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pacific-12 Conference, and is the smallest football stadium in the conference... |
35,117 | Beasley Coliseum Beasley Coliseum Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena, in Pullman, Washington, on the campus of Washington State University. The arena opened in 1973 and is named for Wallis Beasley, a long-time WSU sociology professor, executive vice president and interim president. Beasley was also WSU's... |
12,058 | Bailey-Brayton Field Bailey-Brayton Field Bailey–Brayton Field is a college baseball stadium in Pullman, Washington, U.S., on the campus of Washington State University. It is the home field of the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10 conference. It is located on the east side of the WSU campus, just southeast of the Beasley... |
3,500 |
Note: Washington will play the 2012 season as well as the 2011 Apple Cup
Apple Cup
The Apple Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of an American college football rivalry game played annually by the teams of the two largest universities in the U.S. state of Washington: the University of Washington Huskies and the Washington State University Cougars...
at CenturyLink Field.
Academics
Eight of the twelve member schools are members of the Association of American UniversitiesAssociation of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
(AAU): The only FBS conference with more AAU members is the Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
with 11 out of 12 member institutions having AAU membership.
- Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- University of ArizonaUniversity of ArizonaThe University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
- University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
- University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los AngelesThe University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
- University of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of Colorado at BoulderThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
- University of OregonUniversity of Oregon-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
- University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
- University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
Pacific-10
- Wiles Hallock 1978–83
- Thomas C. Hansen 1983–2009
- Larry ScottLarry Scott (sports administrator)Larry Scott is an American sports administrator and former professional tennis player who is currently the Commissioner of the collegiate Pacific-12 Conference...
2009–2011