A Pac-12 Retrospective | Outside The Lines

[Music] with the first [Music] pick Caleb Williams quarterback Southern California there is nothing unusual about the top pick in the NFL draft hailing from The Entity originally known as the Pacific Coast Conference First Choice in the draft quarterback John ELO of Sanford Troy Aman quarterback UCLA Drew bledo quarterback Washington State Andrew Luck quarterback Stanford 14 first overall selections from the pack 11 Heisman Trophy winners you want greatness the pack has had it Excellence yes programs that elevated their Sports and the conference no doubt in my opinion it was two things it was UCLA basketball and it was USC football UCLA the NCAA iions for 1967 USC beat the Buckey and one of The alltime Thrillers of the Rose bow but the conference of Champions encompassed much more than its cornerstones in Los Angeles and much more than Hoops in football national titles you've come to the right meaning Left Coast 560 national titles and Counting over 200 more than the next best conference and yes football and basketball too including argu arguably the most important and dominant program ever you see La basketball represents a standard of Excellence that will never ever ever ever ever ever ever again be duplicated but look across the landscape and you'll find Legends everywhere tears of joy for the Stanford Cardinal they've won the national Crown I was really proud to win a National Championship being a representative of the pack 10 Jackie Robinson Arthur Ash Tiger Woods Barry Bonds John mackenro Lisa Fernandez Fernandez not only the best pitcher in the country she's the leading hitter he goes the opposite field and deep one nothing you see the Pack 12 has been dominant I mean when you look at the amount of national championships and the plethora of sports but I love that the pack has always owned the sports a lot of people don't you know talk about all the time can you say Dynasty USC can a four piece Stanford now stands Head and Shoulders Above the Rest and he has taken home the title for the cow Bears the Olympic sports you know I mean nobody's had more Olympians uh than the pack and you were able to see it at basball you were able to see it in track and field there are so many that were Olympians Ashton Eaton Jenny Finch and Otto Balden all called The Pack 12 home so did Alex Morgan Simone Manuel and Katie Lei and we haven't even mentioned arguably the greatest athlete in the annals of the conference arguably the greatest athlete ever period Jackie Joiner curing but it's not just Excellence that separated the pack from the pack the vibrations were different too it's a wonderful day it's Oregon the sun was out come on greatness of life that is California the Golden State the wild cats yeah the West Coast vibe in the conference is something that's super unique like as much as Sports meant so much there was also a casual understanding of of life and appreciating you know looking around just being like how how blessed are we you know there is something about showing up and somebody's got a tan and by the way you don't have a tan because you're in Wisconsin and the campuses are all so beautiful and they're in beautiful places you know you have the mountains you have the Ocean Take Pasadena for instance the setting the climate the Majesty the rose bow this is football Eden it's one of the few places that you think about that day you see a parade and then you see the game hit hard by Ronnie lot after a gain of a couple I don't know of anywhere that that happens I mean that was the very peak of what you could achieve at that time and there was no play off there's no anything the rose bow was the absolute Pinnacle of what you can do Brunell to the corner of the end zone Bailey touchdown but geography both benefited and diminished the pack it was always running behind because 80% of Americans live east of the Rockies we were annoyed when things started started too early in the morning on a Saturday morning for college football like who's getting up at 700 a.m. like you're crazy I think we always kind of felt like we were a little bit Outsiders you know you guys are sleeping on the east coast and we're still playing you know we never got the respect so we stuck together seismic news in college athletics USC and UCLA are expected to leave the pack 12 Conference after More Than A Century of Excellence the end came suddenly schools Bound by tradition and history cleaved by the pursuit of Revenue and relevance the bigger schools making common cause with leagues on the other side of the continental divide the smallest schools left to fend for themselves we just kind of got left out to wander the Wilderness I don't know where it lands for them it just sucks man I think it's just really sad when you think about this portion of the country not being represented Ed in a power conference I mean it feels like the death of these schools and the schools will still be there but it's just it's not the same I walked into Maples today and they put the ACC on the floor I was like well it's over I mean sometimes you need that physical reminder that this is really going to happen as richest a pack 10 pack 12 pack 8 was the Big 10 even more so so I I'm really excited about this opportunity for you to see iconic brand to finally align itself I think with a conference that's going to be worthy of that brand yes Time Marches On Empires fall allegiances Fray but we will always have our memories of the pack at its peak all the bandits out on the field and they're mobbing Johnny Wood oh yeah there we go storic mark C first ever national championship 12th national championship NCA record 16th National Championship no one has won more games in the history a college basketball [Music]