the Pack 12 before it split in 2024 some of the best teams in the country often came out west this was a conference that produced 19 glaim national titles in a 100-year span they produced some legendary teams Pete Carol's USC or Marcus mariota's Oregon Ducks but one team not synonymous with the Pack 12 is the Arizona State sundevils now Arizona state is actually a decent football program and it's had some competitive years but for the most part they spend their time towards the middle of the conference taking it back to the 1990s Arizona state had very little success often finishing around the 500 Mark in 1992 they hired head coach Bruce Snyder from Cal who didn't really seem to resurrect the program to anything beyond being respectable so heading into the 1996 season expectations were not high for the sundevils with them being picked by most experts to have a 5- six record and miss out on a balll game coach Snider as well was on the hot seat as this was now his fifth year as the team's coach given the expectations for the season almost no one in the nation could have predicted what happened next [Music] the Sun Devils had gotten off to a really nice 2 and0 start including an upset win over Washington however their toughest test was Yet to Come their week three matchup was against none other than the Nebraska Corn Huskers the two-time defending national champions and current number one ranked team in the nation but what happened next was something that hadn't happened in the last 40 years I think I'll let Arizona State's defense do the talking [Music] [Music] no get out scream we're back up o [Applause] the after one of the most dominant defensive performances of the Year Arizona State accomplished something that no team had done in the last 40 years shutting out a number one opponent winning by a final of 19 to Z with number one Nebraska out of the way Arizona state had a pre-clear path to the Rose bow all they had to do was finish undefeated so the question was did Arizona State have what it took to reach the rose bow [Music] [Music] oh [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] the [Music] [Music] the Sun Devils had done it a perfect 11 and0 record and a Rose Bowl birth the stakes for this game were extremely high Arizona State could have a share of the national championship with a win as the record would fall to 12-0 adding even more weight to this game Florida State lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Florida Gators which would make the sundevils the only undefeated team in college football if they won making them the Undisputed National champions of 1996 [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] an absolutely brutal way to end the season still despite the close loss Arizona State accomplished a lot that season they shut out number one Nebraska won the pack 10 finished the regular season undefeated and were within 30 seconds of beating the Ohio State Buckey to become the national champions this team had some legitimate NFL Talent also including quarterback Jake plumber and safety Pat Tilman although they didn't win at all this team still deserves recognition as one of the greatest college football teams of all time and with the end of the Pack 12 Conference this past season I thought it would be fitting to give this team some recognition it's true what they say eventually all good things must come to an end but the best part about memories is that they last a lifetime remember me in the same way I remember you for one final time