Pac-12’s epic collapse picked as story of the year

Jan. 2—The last time Washington State wasn’t a member of a full and functioning Pac-12 Conference, the school was known as Washington State College, Pullman’s population was a paltry 2,500 and World War I was well into its brutal third year.

Then known as the Pacific Coast Conference, the Cougars joined the University of California Berkeley, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in the league in 1917.

Fast forward 106 years, and suddenly the historic conference that later became known as the Pac-12 has collapsed.

In 2022, mainstays USC and UCLA announced they will leave the league. In 2023, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, California, Stanford, Arizona and Arizona State all followed suit. Those 10 will join conferences like the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.

Only WSU and Oregon State remained in the rubble of the West Coast’s premier NCAA sports league, left out of the conference realignment that claimed their former peers.

It’s unprecedented waters for the Cougars and Beavers, who never had to worry about finding a new home during the lifespans of all their current staff, administrators, athletes and fans.

“We belong in the Power Five,” a passionate WSU football coach Jake Dickert said after his team upset Wisconsin on Sept. 9 at Gesa Field — a statement the coach would repeat numerous times over the next four months.

Money makes the world go ’round, and that’s even more apparent in the multi-billion dollar industry that is the NCAA.

The rise of Name Image and Likeness deals for athletes, multi-million dollar contracts for coaches, transfer portal rules that have players leaving in groves in search for greener pastures and universities forming “super conferences” via conference realignment are all products of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pac-12s-epic-collapse-picked-141100309.html

Author : Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho

Publish date : 2024-01-02 14:11:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.