The Pacific-10 Conference
By Matt Shetler
The Pacific 10 conference took its current form in
1978, although the conference has been operating since 1959.
The Pac-10 consists of ten members and competes in twenty-two
Division I sports. All of its schools are located on the
Pacific Coast, with its headquarters being located in Walnut
Creek, California. The conference was founded as the Athletic
Association of Western Universities (AAWU) in 1959, and has also
gone by the names Big Five, Big 6 and Pacific 8 before becoming
the PAC-10 in 1978.
The actual roots of the Pac-10 extend all the way
back to 1915, when the Pacific Coast Conference was founded.
The charter members were: California, Washington, Oregon and
Oregon State. Washington State was added in 1917, followed by
Stanford in 1918. The PCC expanded to eight teams in 1922, by
adding USC and Idaho. Montana was added in 1924 and the PCC
grew to ten members with the addition of UCLA in 1928. Montana
left the conference in 1950 and the PCC operated as a nine
member conference through 1958.
The PCC disbanded in 1959 following a “pay-for-play”
scandal. Later that year, the AAWU was founded, with the
charter members being: Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC and
Washington. The conference was known as the Big Five until 1962
when Washington St joined. The conference was labeled the Big
Six for two years, until Oregon and Oregon St were admitted in
1964. The conference was lab eled the Pac-8, a name it would
keep for the next ten years.
In 1978, Arizona and Arizona St were added creating
the Pac-10 in its current form. The Pac-10 claims all of the
PCC’s history as its own, also inheriting the PCC’s berth in the
Rose Bowl. Only the Ivy League has maintained its current
members longer than the Pac-10.
When it comes to rivalries, each school has its own
in-state rival, making the Pac-10 the only Division I league to
feature this. Among these are: Cal-Stanford (The Big Game),
Arizona-Arizona St. (The Duel in the Desert),
Washington-Washington St. (winner gets The Apple Cup),
Oregon-Oregon St. (The Civil War) and USC-UCLA (winner gets The
Victory Bell).
The Cal-Stanford rivalry produced
one of the greatest moments in NCAA Football history, “The
Play”. November 20, 1982, after the Cardinal took a 20-19 lead
with four seconds left in the game, the Golden Bears used five
laterals on the ensuing kickoff to score the winning touchdown.
Members of the Stanford band had come halfway onto the field
thinking the game was over, adding to the confusion and
folklore. To this day there are disagreements on the legality
of two laterals, adding to the passion of “The Big Game”. The
Pac-10 is also the only conference to play a nine game
conference schedule, allowing each team to play every conference
member.
All of the conference’s football
rivalries carry over to all other sports. In basketball, over
the last decade, UCLA and Arizona have developed a big rivalry,
being the two dominant programs in the conference. Stanford’s
recent success on the court has led to a major rivalry with both
schools as well.
The Pac10 has also maintained
rivalries outside of the conference. USC and Notre Dame
continue to maintain a rivalry in football, while the Fighting
Irish has maintained a basketball rivalry with UCLA that dates
back to the 1970’s. During this time, it was the only
non-conference basketball game the NCAA that was played twice a
season. The most famous of these games was in 1974, when the
Fighting Irish scored the last 12 points of the game to snap the
Bruins 88 game winning streak.
On the diamond, the four southern
schools (Arizona, Arizona St, USC and UCLA) have successful
histories and are all major rivals. The “BaseBrawl” series is
one of the most famous in the country, featuring Arizona St. and
USC.
Throughout its long and storied
history, Pac-10 teams have combined to win an astounding 388
national tiles (as of 2008) in all men’s and women’s team
sports.
