What happened to the Pac-12? Why conference now has only Oregon State, Washington State, but others pending

On Saturday, two of college football’s more bitter regional rivalries will add another chapter to the lengthy histories, with No. 6 Oregon traveling to Oregon State and Washington hosting Washington State.

The games have long been a fixture of college football in the Pacific Northwest and for decades they had a say in helping determine who won a conference championship and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl (or, sometimes, even the national championship game).

This year, however, the Apple Cup and the game formerly known as the Civil War will look a little different. Rather than their customary place at the end of the regular season, the matchups are occurring in Week 3. And, perhaps more notably, for the first time in a long time, these will be non-conference games.

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For generations, the two Oregon and two Washington schools were members of the same western-based conference that went through various names depending on the number of members it had at a given time, going from the Pac-8 to the Pac-10 to, ultimately, the Pac-12.

Now, though, that 109-year-old league is a fraction of what it once was — literally — with Saturday’s pair of rivalry games reflecting that new reality. Washington and Oregon are now in the Big Ten, along with longtime conference mates UCLA and USC. Washington State and Oregon State stand as the Pac-12’s lone two remaining members…for now.

How, exactly, did it get to this point, with a century-old entity crumbling in a matter of weeks? Here’s a closer look at the Pac-12, its history, its disintegration and where the conference stands now:

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Pac-12 history

What became the Pac-12 was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/happened-pac-12-why-conference-070151846.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-14 07:01:51

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