An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
109-667: The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States . It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of NCAA football competition. The conference currently comprises two members, Oregon State and Washington State . The modern Pac-12 Conference formed after
218-760: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in
327-467: A June 30, 2023, deadline, San Diego State had to rescind its notice of intention to leave the Mountain West. At the start of Pac-12 Media Days on July 21, 2023, Commissioner Kliavkoff was asked about the status of the media rights deal and conference expansion, deflecting most questions on the matter. Having heard enough, Colorado president Rick George left Media Days early to return to Boulder. Less than
436-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;
545-515: A fifth-place finish at the NCAA tourney that season, Troy's best placing in 18 years, and then ninth in 1996, 14th in both 1997 and 2003 and sixth in 2005. His 2001 squad won the Pac-10 title, USC's first since 1986, and Troy repeated in 2002. Three USC golfers have won four NCAA individual championships : Scott Simpson in 1976 and 1977, Ron Commans in 1981, and Jamie Lovemark in 2007. Their best team finish
654-463: A former Trojan player, took over for Borelli in 1989. Richard Gallien , a player and coach at Pepperdine, became head coach in 1996. His 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 teams advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and he got to the NCAA semi-finals in 2006. The Trojans have won an unprecedented 26 NCAA titles (including 9 straight, 1935–43) in the 85-year history of NCAA outdoor track, plus 2 indoor NCAA titles and 35 Pacific Coast or Pac-10 crowns, including
763-502: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although
872-484: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to
981-591: A long history of successful distance running, including 9 Olympians and NCAA champions Julio Marin and Ole Oleson. In 2018, Michael Norman became the first from USC to win The Bowerman , an award that honors collegiate track & field's most outstanding athlete of the year. Lillian Copeland , who received a B.A. in 1928, competed for the Trojans in track and field. She became an Olympic champion in discus throw, and set world records in discus, javelin, and shot put. She
1090-634: A season and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament. The university recently announced major sanctions over player O. J. Mayo 's receipt of improper benefits during the 2007–2008 season. Notably, USC has vacated all regular season wins during that season, dropping their record for the 2007–2008 season to 1-32. In 2021, the Men of Troy made the Elite Eight The USC Trojans women's basketball program, after improving steadily, first reached
1199-749: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans ) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles . While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans , the women's athletic teams are referred to as either
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#17330933365151308-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in
1417-472: A sophomore in 2006, Annie Park as a freshman in 2013, and Doris Chen as a junior in 2014. Other top individuals have included Marta Figueras-Dotti , Denise Strebig , Kim Saiki, Tracy Nakamura, Jill McGill (the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion), Heidi Voorhees (the 1993 U.S. Amateur medalist), Jennifer Biehn (the 1994 Pac-10 champ), Candie Kung (the 2000 Pac-10 champ), Becky Lucidi (the 2002 U.S. Amateur and 2003 Mexican Amateur champion) and Irene Cho. USC captured
1526-472: A string of 15 straight (1936–55). They have had 39 unbeaten and untied seasons, including a string of 16 in a row (1946–61). Since starting track and field in 1900, USC has compiled a dual-meet record of 410-116-4 (.777). Outstanding coaches include Dean Cromwell (1909–48), who won a record 12 NCAA titles and had a dual meet mark of 109–48–1; Jess Mortensen , who never lost a dual meet (64–0) in 11 years and won 7 NCAA titles; and Vern Wolfe , who retired after
1635-432: A team competition; no pairs); USC won the inaugural NCAA title and defended the championship in 2017. The beach volleyball program's only head coach has been Anna Collier, a former three-sport USC athlete (including indoor volleyball) who has posted a career record of 142–15 (.904) through the 2017 season. Coach Stan Wood (1955–79) compiled a career record of 462–37 (.926) and won 14 conference championships. He also guided
1744-505: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with
1853-663: A two-year grace period , until 2026, to meet conference requirements in the NCAA bylaws. On December 5, 2023, Oregon State and Washington State announced that had entered into a football alliance with the Mountain West Conference (MWC) for the 2024 season. With the alliance, both programs will play three home games and three away games against MWC opponents. The West Coast Conference (WCC) has invited both schools to join as affiliate members for basketball and most other non-football sports. Both partnerships are expected to last from
1962-609: A week later on July 27, 2023, Colorado announced it would return to the Big 12 as of the 2024–25 school year. The nine remaining Pac-12 members then demanded an update on the negotiations, including numbers on expected payouts. Kliavkoff came back with a deal from the Apple TV+ streaming service that paid member institutions in the low-to-mid-$ 20 million range, albeit with escalators for meeting subscriber quotas. On August 4, 2023, Oregon and Washington announced they would be following UCLA and USC to
2071-406: Is an all-time best. USC players have been named first team All-American 17 times, with 8 consensus selections and 2 unanimous choices. Football record does "not including 9 overall wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, including 2 vs. UCLA and 1 each vs. WSU, ARIZ, STAN, ORE, CAL, ASU, WASH". The USC Trojans baseball program has a notable history in baseball: With 12 baseball national championships,
2180-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming
2289-714: Is one of college's finest, as witnessed by the program's first-ever NCAA team title in 2003, their second in 2008, and their third in 2013. USC also has had second (twice), third, fourth (twice), fifth, seventh (3 times), ninth, 11th, 12th and 14th-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in the past 21 years. The Women of Troy won the Pac-10 tourney in 1989 and the NCAA Regional in 1999 and 2006. Cathy Bright led USC to 5 Top 10 NCAA finishes in her 12 years as head coach (1982–93). Former Trojan player Renee (Mack) Baumgartner returned as head coach in 1994 and led USC to second place at
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#17330933365152398-587: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of
2507-563: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on
2616-477: Is third place in 1958, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1975, and 2008. The team has won 20 Pac-12 championships: 1962, 1964–1967, 1969, 1971–1973, 1975, 1976 (south division), 1978, 1980, 1984, 1986, 2001–2002, 2007, 2011, and 2018. 1985 U.S. Amateur champion Sam Randolph , who finished as low amateur at the Masters Tournament in 1985 and 1986, was a first-team All-American for the third straight year in 1986 and
2725-400: The 2019 college admissions bribery scandal . Former women's soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin and former assistant women's soccer coach Laura Janke were also indicted, and charged with racketeering . USC sponsors teams in ten men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The USC Trojans football program started in 1888 and has amassed an all-time win–loss record of 793–313–54, giving
2834-682: The Big Eight ). In 1968, the AAWU formally renamed itself the Pacific-8 Conference , or Pac-8 for short. The Pac-8 did not allow a second bowl team from the conference until the 1975 season ; in basketball, participation in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was not allowed until 1973 . Idaho was never invited to join the AAWU; the Vandals were independent for four years until
2943-827: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby
3052-615: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference
3161-535: The Ivy League had maintained its membership for a longer time than the Pac-10 among Division I conferences. Commissioner Larry Scott said on February 9, 2010, that the window for expansion 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
3270-615: The SEC . The alliance included an inter-conference scheduling component for football and men's and women's basketball. In 2021, the Pac-12 paid $ 19.8 million to its member schools, the lowest distribution in the Power Five. Despite the alliance, on June 30, 2022, UCLA and USC announced their departure for the Big Ten Conference beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. As a result of losing two of
3379-642: The United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year. The following table shows revenue specifically from NCAA / Conference Distributions, Media Rights, and Post-Season Football reported by the Knight Commission for the 2021–22 academic year. Since restarting in 1959 as the AAWU, the Pac-12 has had six commissioners: Commissioners of
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3488-411: The major leagues and scores more in the minors. The USC Trojans men's basketball program has a long tradition. The men's program is only one of about 48 schools which have more than 1,000 victories in college basketball. Since starting basketball in 1907, the Trojans have compiled a record of 1,357–984 (.580), winning 14 league championships. Recently, the 2007 team set a school record for most wins in
3597-506: The 1984 season with 7 national titles and a dual meet record of 106-17-1 (.859). Jim Bush , who won 5 NCAA titles while at crosstown rival UCLA, became USC's head coach in 1991. His 1992 Trojans finished third at the NCAAs with only a 6-man team. Ron Allice , who won 11 state titles at Long Beach City College, took over the combined men's and women's programs in 1995 (the men were fourth at the 1995 NCAA meet, 10th in 1996, third in 1997 while winning
3706-492: The 2003 NCAAs), Michelle Ford , Sue Habernigg , Cynthia Woodhead , Sue Hinderaker, Debbie Rudd , Kalyn Keller and diver Blythe Hartley (who won 5 NCAA titles). George Toley (1954–80) guided the Trojans for 26 years before resigning during the 1980 season. His career record was 430-92-4 (.821) with 10 NCAA titles. Dick Leach succeeded Toley and posted a 535-133 (.801) mark in 23 years. His 1991, 1993, 1994 and 2002 teams won
3815-521: The 2003 season, with husband Zenon Babraj serving as director of rowing. At the 1998 NCAA meet, the Women of Troy rowers [Lisa Bartoli (c), Evalina Boteva, Annelisa Gross, Kasey Ryan, Rebecca Moneymaker] captured their first-ever national championship race in the varsity four+. In 2005, USC made its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance as a team, placing 11th. The women's soccer team began competing in 1993 and calls McAlister Field home. Karen Stanley coached
3924-426: The 2008 NCAA Women's Golf Championship at the par 72, 6,424-yard (5,874 m) University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. The Trojans won the event by six strokes over UCLA and claimed their first women's golf national championship since 2003. In 2013, they won by 21 strokes over Duke University at the University of Georgia Golf Course (par 72, 6,372-yard (5,827 m)). The women's rowing team, based at
4033-523: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and
4142-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)
4251-808: The AAWU or its successors. The Pac-12 claims the PCC's history as its own. Not only did it maintain the automatic bid from the Rose Bowl inherited from the PCC, but the eight largest schools in the old PCC all eventually joined the new league. However, the old PCC operated under a separate charter. The Pac-12 is one of the founding members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), 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
4360-594: The Big Ten conference for the 2024 season. Later on that same day, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced that they would follow Colorado to the Big 12 Conference starting in 2024. On September 1, 2023, California and Stanford announced their departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference starting in 2024. In September 2023, Yahoo! Sports reported that the Pac-12 is "expected to operate as a two-member conference at least for [2024–25]" and would be recognized under
4469-500: The NCAA meet. Four-time U.S. Olympic coach Mark Schubert , winner of 2 NCAA titles with the Texas women, succeeded Daland (he also served as the head coach of the Women of Troy). His men's teams placed in the Top-10 at the NCAAs 12 times in his 14 years at USC. Dave Salo was named head coach following for Schubert in both roles in 2007. USC has likewise built a successful swimming program on
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4578-927: The NCAA tourney (his 2002 No. 11-seeded Cinderella team was the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA title and did so a month after Leach announced his retirement) and 8 of his other teams finished fourth or better. He was succeeded by ex-Pepperdine, Fresno State and Long Beach State coach Peter Smith for the 2003 season. His 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 teams have won the National Championship. Overall, USC players have been named to All-American teams 137 times, with many also enjoying successful pro careers, including International Tennis Hall of Famers Stan Smith , Rafael Osuna , Alex Olmedo and Dennis Ralston , as well as Bob Lutz, Raul Ramirez, Butch Walts and Joaquin Loyo Mayo. In 2012, Steve Johnson , Senior, completed his USC career having won 72 consecutive singles matches. Johnson
4687-431: The NCAAs in her first year. Andrea Gaston took over in 1997 (with men's coach Kurt Schuette serving as Director of Golf) and guided USC to 6 NCAA Top 10 finishes, including the 2003 NCAA title. The team has won 8 Pac-12 championships: 1989, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 & 2023. Jennifer Rosales won the 1998 NCAA individual title as a freshman, Mikaela Parmlid won as a senior in 2003, Dewi Claire Schreefel as
4796-545: The PCC disbanded in June 1959. Ten months earlier in August 1958, these four schools agreed to form a new conference that would take effect the following summer. When the four schools and Stanford began discussions for a new conference in 1959, retired Admiral Thomas J. Hamilton interceded and suggested the schools consider creating a national "power conference" (Hamilton had been a key player, head coach, and athletic director at Navy , and
4905-617: The PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA . For many years, the conference split into two divisions for basketball and baseball—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 June 1959. Following "pay-for-play" scandals at California, USC, UCLA, and Washington,
5014-554: The Pac-10 title), fifth in 1998, third in 1999 (just 4 points from first place), second in 2000 (again just 4 points out of first place), third in 2002, seventh in 2005 and second in 2006 (while winning the NCAA West Regional title). The USC women's track team captured the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track & Field title in 2014. Sherry Calvert was a former head coach. Calvert,
5123-438: The Pac-10 title, seventh in 1998, fifth in 1999 while winning the Pac-10 crown, tied for seventh in 2000 while winning the Pac-10 title, tied for 12th in 2001, tied for 11th in 2002, third in 2003 while winning the Pac-10 title, sixth in 2005 while winning the NCAA West Regional crown and tied for ninth in 2006 while winning the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional meets). Sixty USC tracksters have won 88 places on U.S. Olympic teams over
5232-536: The Pac-10's ambition to potentially become a sixteen-team conference. On June 17, 2010, the University of Utah accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective starting July 2011. Utah was a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with Arizona and Arizona State before those two left for the Pac-10 in 1978. The Utes left an expanded WAC with seven other schools in 1999 to form
5341-499: The Pac-12, ACC , and Big Ten announced the formation of a "historic alliance" that would bring their member institutions "together on a collaborative approach surrounding the future evolution of college athletics and scheduling." The formation of this alliance between three of the Power Five conferences was in response to Oklahoma and Texas announcing plans to leave the Big 12 and join
5450-575: The Pacific Northwest and Bay Area schools, and a South Division comprising the Mountain Time Zone and Southern California schools. On July 1, 2011, the Pac-12 assumed its 12-team alignment when both Colorado and Utah officially joined as full members. On August 15, 2012, the conference debuted the Pac-12 Network . It was the third college sports conference to launch a dedicated network, and
5559-513: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following
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#17330933365155668-790: The Trojans are far and away the leader in that category (no other school has more than 6). Since starting baseball in 1924, the Trojans have compiled a record of 2,221-1,093-15 (.669) against college opponents, and have captured outright or tied for 38 conference championships. USC's most notable baseball coach was Rod Dedeaux , coaching from 1942 to 1986, who led the school to 11 of its NCAA crowns, including 5 straight from 1970 to 1974. USC boasts many successful major leaguers such as Ron Fairly , Don Buford , Tom Seaver , Dave Kingman , Fred Lynn , Roy Smalley , Steve Kemp , Mark McGwire , Randy Johnson , Bret Boone , Jeff Cirillo , Barry Zito , Geoff Jenkins , Kent Hadley , Aaron Boone , Jacque Jones and Mark Prior . 100 Trojans have gone on to play in
5777-505: The Trojans have captured 9 NCAA championships, all under coach Peter Daland , who retired in 1992 after 35 years at Troy. USC swimmers and divers have won 110 NCAA meet individual and relay titles (including Erik Vendt , who won 5 individual titles in the 2000, 2002 and 2003 meets) and have earned All-American honors an amazing 562 times. Under Daland, USC won 17 Pac-10 championships and amassed an impressive dual meet record of 318-31-1 (.917). Three of his last 6 squads had runner-up finishes at
5886-448: The Trojans or Women of Troy (the university officially approves both terms). The program participates in the Big Ten Conference and has won 136 team national championships, 112 of which are National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships. USC's official colors are cardinal and gold. The Trojans have a cross-town rivalry in several sports with UCLA . However, USC's football rivalry with Notre Dame predates
5995-525: The Trojans to an NCAA record 51 consecutive dual match wins from 1956 to 1959. His teams finished third in the NCAA tourney six times. Ron Rhoads, a former USC all-American golfer, coached from 1980 to 1983. Under coach Randy Lein (1984–92), USC continued its success, winning the conference championship in 1986. The 1991 Trojans finished seventh at the NCAAs. Former team captain Jim Empey took over as coach in 1993. Kurt Schuette became coach in 1995 and guided USC to
6104-837: The UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. The Trojans also enjoy a rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal . The USC Trojans are considered one of the most successful college athletic programs of all time. In March 2019 USC fired senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel (charged with receiving more than $ 1.3 million in bribes to fabricate athletic credentials of over two dozen students seeking admission to USC) and water polo coach Jovan Vavic (charged with receiving $ 250,000 in bribes) after they were indicted by federal prosecutors in
6213-455: The USC Boathouse, has been active since the early 1970s, but scholarships were first awarded in 1998 and USC has emerged as one of the nation's top programs. The varsity, junior varsity and novice eight teams train all year long for regattas from coast to coast. George Jenkins guided USC to national prominence during his 9 years as head coach (1994–2002). Kelly Babraj took over as head coach for
6322-642: The addition of five schools from the Mountain West Conference and one from the West Coast Conference . The Pac-12 currently has two full-member institutions. The conference was previously split into two divisions , the North Division and the South Division, for football only. On September 12, 2024, the conference announced it would be adding four new members, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State, on July 1, 2026. At that point,
6431-512: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to
6540-407: The collapse of the Southwest Conference . Texas expressed an interest in joining a strong academic conference, but joined three fellow Southwest Conference schools ( Texas A&M , Texas Tech , and Baylor ) to merge with the Big Eight Conference to form the Big 12 Conference in 1996 . Colorado elected to remain in the newly formed Big 12. Before the addition of Colorado and Utah in 2011, only
6649-400: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for
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#17330933365156758-432: 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 A&M, Texas Tech, 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
6867-409: 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. In early June 2010, there were reports that the Pac-10
6976-447: The conference announced that Gonzaga, a non-football college, would be joining as a full member. (Fall 2023) (millions) The Pac-12 has two affiliate member institutions in California and one in Arkansas. All three participate in the Pac-12 for wrestling. No school had left the Pac-12 from its founding as the AAWU in 1959 until 2024, when 10 of its 12 schools left. Two members of the PCC , Idaho and Montana, were not invited to join
7085-423: The conference became informally known as the Big Six . The new league inherited the PCC's berth in the Rose Bowl ; since 1947, the PCC champion had received an automatic bid to the bowl. Oregon and Oregon State joined in the summer of 1964. With their addition, the conference was known unofficially as the Pacific Athletic Conference , and then the Pacific-8 (as there already was a major conference called
7194-421: The conference by publicly declaring their intention to leave, and that if they retain control they might use it to dissolve the league and drain its millions of dollars in assets. On November 14, 2023, Judge Gary Libey of the Whitman County, Washington , Superior Court ruled in favor of the two schools. The University of Washington (UW) filed an emergency motion to keep the two schools from gaining full control of
7303-840: The conference for the 2023–24 academic year; a Washington Supreme Court commissioner granted UW's motion on November 28, 2023. However, this was overturned on December 15, 2023, by the Washington State Supreme Court , giving Oregon State and Washington State sole control of the Pac-12, meaning the departing schools will no longer be able to vote on conference decisions. Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties. Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance. The following table shows institutional reporting to
7412-404: The conference needed to add at least two more members to be recognized by the NCAA as an FBS conference. On September 23, 2024, Utah State accepted an offer to join the league as its seventh member. This gave the Pac-12 the seven members needed to preserve its official "multisport" status, though one more football-sponsoring full member will be needed to preserve FBS status. On September 30, 2024,
7521-409: The conference to sponsor a championship, but the Pac-12 has opted not to do so). For certain sports, the Pac-12 admits certain schools as associate members. Full members Full members (non-football) Other Conference Other Conference Associate members (non-football) The roots of the Pac-12 Conference go back to December 2, 1915, when the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC)
7630-411: The conference was in question. The Pac-10 began sponsoring women's athletics in the fall of 1986. Women's teams previously competed with other large universities on the Pacific coast in either the Northern Pacific Conference or the Western Collegiate Athletic Association . In the mid-1990s, the conference expressed interest in admitting the University of Colorado and the University of Texas after
7739-424: The conference's tentpole programs (and the entirety of the Los Angeles television market), the conference's ongoing media rights negotiations became much more complicated. ESPN reportedly had made an offer in which the ten remaining schools would receive around $ 30 million per year. This was rejected by member schools, who countered with a demand for $ 50 million per school per year. ESPN responded by walking away from
7848-731: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of
7957-676: The disbanding of the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the principal members of which founded the Athletic Association of Western Universities ( AAWU ) in 1959. The conference previously went by the names Big Five , Big Six , Pacific-8 , and Pacific-10 . The Pac-12 moniker was adopted in 2011 with the addition of Colorado and Utah . Nicknamed the "Conference of Champions", the Pac-12 has won more NCAA national championships in team sports than any other conference in history. Washington 's national title in women's rowing in 2017
8066-505: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in
8175-431: The fall of 2024 to the spring of 2026. Washington State will also participate in the Mountain West for baseball, but Oregon State, a three-time College World Series champion, will become a baseball independent. After the ten schools departed, the conference continued using the Pac-12 name and branding for at least the 2024–25 academic year. Oregon State and Washington State were nicknamed the " Pac-2 " by media outlets, to
8284-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached
8393-633: The first to completely fund and own their own network outright. The conference had been based in Walnut Creek since the late 1970s until August 2014. Since 2014, the conference was headquartered in San Francisco, California , with the conference moving to working remotely once the lease expires in June 2023. The Pac-12 Network and meeting space for headquarters employees are now located at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon , an East Bay suburb. On August 24, 2021,
8502-417: The forerunner PCC Athletic conference The AFL Women's competition used a non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system
8611-866: The formation of the Big Sky Conference in 1963, and were independent in football until 1965 . In 1978 , the conference added Arizona and Arizona State from the Western Athletic Conference , becoming the Pacific-10 Conference or Pac-10 . The invitations to the schools were extended in December 1976, and the expansion formally announced in May 1977. In the mid-1980s, three of the northwest schools (Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State) were having financial difficulties in athletics, primarily with revenue from football, and their long-term membership in
8720-538: The four Heisman winners from 2002 to 2005 were Trojans - Carson Palmer in 2002, Matt Leinart in 2004 and Reggie Bush in 2005. Four other Trojans tailbacks have won the coveted Heisman Trophy as college football's outstanding player: Mike Garrett in 1965, O. J. Simpson in 1968, Charles White in 1979 and Marcus Allen in 1981. Also notable, USC has 12 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame , more than any other university. USC's record against opponents from
8829-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to
8938-526: The negotiating table. Reports began circulating that Commissioner Kliavkoff had been to the San Diego State University and SMU campuses for tours. This was allegedly part of the conference's vetting process for expansion. San Diego State sent the Mountain West Conference a letter notifying it of the school's impending departure. The Pac-12, however, was adamant about securing a media rights deal before expanding. Without an incoming offer before
9047-449: The new Athletic Association of Western Universities was launched, with California, UCLA, USC, and Washington as the four charter members. Stanford joined during the first month. Hamilton left Pittsburgh to become the first commissioner of the AAWU, and remained for twelve years. The conference also was popularly known as the Big Five from 1960 to 1962. When Washington State joined in 1962,
9156-552: The new Mountain West Conference . Utah became the first " BCS Buster " to join a BCS conference, having played in (and won) two BCS games beforehand. On July 27, 2010, the conference unveiled a new logo and announced that the Pac-10 would be renamed the Pac-12 when Utah and Colorado formally joined in July 2011. On October 21, the Pac-12 announced that its football competition would be split into two divisions —a North Division comprising
9265-526: The old Pac-10 is 367–153–29 (.695), and the Trojans have winning records against all nine other members. As of 2017, 501 Trojans have been taken in the NFL Draft , more than any other university. Since 1959, the Trojans have won the conference championship 18 times and tied for the title on 6 other occasions. USC has the nation's best bowl winning percentage (.660) among the 65 schools which have made at least 10 bowl appearances and its 34 Rose Bowl appearances
9374-495: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following
9483-457: The pinnacle of success in women's basketball in 1983 and the Trojans have been near the top almost ever since, winning national championships in 1983 and 1984 and playing in four Final Fours. The Women of Troy have made the NCAA tourney 6 of the past 14 years, including advancing to the regionals 3 times. Lisa Leslie , who became an Olympic and pro star, won the Naismith Award in 1994 (she
9592-548: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to
9701-547: The point that a game between the two teams during the 2023 football season was jokingly dubbed the "Pac-2 Championship Game" by fans. On September 8, 2023, Oregon State and Washington State filed a lawsuit against the Pac-12 and Commissioner George Kliavkoff in Washington State Superior Court for control of the conference and its assets. They contended that the departing schools, under the conference constitution, forfeited their right to participate in governing
9810-504: The program a .707 winning percentage. A December 1998 SPORT magazine ranking listed USC as the No. 4 all-time college football program of the 20th century. In 2009 ESPN ranked USC the second best program in college football history. The USC football team has been voted National Champions 11 times. USC is also known for its Heisman Trophy winners. USC is second in Heisman winners at 7. Three of
9919-465: The second round in the NCAA tournament before the 2007–2008 season. The Trojans won the national title on December 9, 2007, with a 2–0 win over Florida State University . Since 2014 the head coach has been Keidane McAlpine . On December 4, 2016, USC defeated West Virginia 3–1 to win their second NCAA Championship. USC forward Katie Johnson was named the outstanding offensive player of the tournament. The type of dominance USC has had in this sport
10028-549: The team for the first three seasons. Jim Millinder took over in 1996 and guided seven of his squads (1998–2003) into the NCAA tourney (USC won the 1998 Pac-10 title). Isabelle Harvey, the 1998 Pac-10 Player of the Year, was USC's first All-American first teamer (in 2000). On December 7, 2007, 2-seed USC defeated 1-seed UCLA by a score of 2–1 to reach the College Cup final for the first time in its history. USC had never previously passed
10137-616: The time, the NCAA considered it an "emerging sport" for women, recognizing it as an official sport but not conducting an official championship. Through the 2015 season, national championship play was conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). The Trojans won an AVCA national team title in 2015, with a USC team claiming the AVCA pairs championship in each of the 2013–2015 seasons. The NCAA began sponsoring an official national championship in 2016 (only
10246-481: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for
10355-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as
10464-542: The women's side. In fact, the Women of Troy have finished in the top 10 nationally 25 of the last 30 years – including winning the NCAA title in 1997 – and have produced 233 All-Americans in that span. They have won conference championships in 1979, 1980, 1982 and 1985. Among USC's more famous women's swimmers are Kristine Quance (who won 9 NCAA titles), Lindsay Benko (who won 5 NCAA titles), Katinka Hosszú (who won 3 NCAA titles), Kaitlin Sandeno (she won 2 races at
10573-563: The years, including World War II hero Louis Zamperini . Trojans have won 26 individual Olympic titles and shared in 8 relay wins. Gold medal winners include long jumper Randy Williams , pole vaulter Bob Seagren , sprinter Charles Paddock , sprinter Quincy Watts and hurdler Félix Sánchez . Since 1912, 61 USC track men have equaled or bettered world records, and there have been 110 NCAA outdoor individual or relay winners from Troy—including 2005 and 2006 NCAA high jump champ Jesse Williams (he also won indoors both years). The Trojans also have
10682-523: Was a back-to-back NCAA Singles Champion from 2011 to 2012 and has a career-high ATP ranking of 21. Daniel Cukierman , from November 13, 2019, until the close of competition in 2020, was ranked No. 1 in the US in singles among men's college tennis players in the 2019-20 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Men's Individual National Rankings. Those national crowns all came under Dave Borelli, who coached USC from 1974 to 1988. In duals, Borelli's record
10791-595: Was also the first Trojan woman in Olympics. She joined the USC track & field team in 1924. While at USC, she won every track event she entered. The women's track program at USC has developed into one of the nation's finest. The Trojans have placed in the Top 10 of the NCAA Championships 12 times, including winning the program's first-ever NCAA team title in 2001. The Women of Troy also finished third in 1987, seventh in 1996 (while winning
10900-534: Was best exemplified by Troy's performance in the 1976 Olympic Games, when Trojan swimmers won more golds and more total medals than any country in swimming except the United States. Over the years, USC men's swimmers have made Olympic teams 122 times, winning 38 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze medals. Gold medal winners have included Lenny Krayzelburg , John Naber , Bruce Furniss , Murray Rose , Wally Wolf , and Oussama Mellouli . Since beginning swimming in 1929,
11009-482: Was considering adding up to six teams to the conference: the University of Texas, Texas A&M University , Texas Tech University , the University of Oklahoma , Oklahoma State University , and the University of Colorado. On June 10, 2010, the University of Colorado Boulder accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference, effective starting with the 2012–2013 academic year. The school later announced it would join
11118-662: Was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from the other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,
11227-511: Was founded at a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Portland, Oregon . Charter members were the University of California (now University of California, Berkeley), University of Washington, University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). An official of Stanford University also attended the meeting but declined to join right away because, unlike the other schools, it
11336-846: Was named college golf's Player of the Year. Kevin Stadler was the 2002 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year (USC's first honoree since 1986). Trojan golfers who have found success at the professional level include Al Geiberger (11 PGA Tour wins including 1966 PGA Championship ), Brian Henninger (2 PGA Tour wins), John Jacobs (1 Japan Golf Tour win), Bob McCallister (2 PGA Tour wins), Mark Pfeil (1 PGA Tour win), Sam Randolph (1 PGA Tour win), Tony Sills (1 PGA Tour win), Scott Simpson (7 PGA Tour wins including 1987 U.S. Open ), Craig Stadler (13 PGA Tour wins including 1982 Masters Tournament ), Kevin Stadler (1 PGA Tour win and 1 European Tour win), and Dave Stockton (10 PGA Tour wins including 1970 and 1976 PGA Championships ). The USC women's golf team
11445-432: Was not going to sponsor a football team in the coming year and it was not willing to prohibit freshmen from competing in sports. The PCC 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,
11554-435: Was phenomenal: his teams went 300-43 (.875). Five times Trojans have won national singles titles, along with a doubles champ and 74 All-Americans. Prominent USC stars have included Barbara Hallquist , Lea Antonoplis , Sheila McInerney , Stacy Margolin , Anna-Maria Fernandez , Cecilia Fernandez-Parker , Kelly Henry , Beth Herr , Jewel Peterson , Lindsey Nelson , Maria Sanchez , and Sabrina Santamaria . Cheryl Woods,
11663-440: Was the 500th NCAA championship won by a Pac-12 school. The Pac-12 holds a 200-plus championship lead over the second-place conference. On August 2, 2024, 10 of the 12 members departed from the conference. The Pac-12 is operating as a two-team conference through the 2025–26 academic year, sponsoring five sports—baseball, football, track and field, women's gymnastics, and wrestling. In 2026, the Pac-12 will expand to eight members with
11772-455: Was the MVP of the first WNBA All-Star Game). Tina Thompson was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 WNBA draft. Cynthia Cooper was twice an Olympian and WNBA MVP . In 2009, USC hired Mary Wooley as their assistant coach for women's basketball. The USC Trojans women's beach volleyball team, a women-only sport at the collegiate level, first became a varsity sport in the 2012 season (2011–12 school year). At
11881-399: Was the current athletic director at Pittsburgh ). Nicknamed the " Airplane Conference ", the five former PCC schools would have played with other major academically-oriented schools, including Army , Navy , Air Force , Notre Dame , Pitt , Penn State , and Syracuse . The effort fell through when a Pentagon official vetoed the idea and the service academies backed out. On July 1, 1959,
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