An ode to an amazing, bittersweet Pac-12 ending

• Kyle Bonagura,

  • ESPN Personnel WriterDec 8, 2023, 09:00 AM ET Close Covers the Pac-12. Joined ESPN in 2014.
  • Participated In Washington State University.LAS VEGAS– This

is what the Pac-12 might have constantly been– both over the last years and in the future.For over 3 and a half hours Friday night, the eyes of the college football world were trained on Allegiant Stadium. They saw 2 national title contenders led by a set of future Heisman finalists– Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix– trade blows in the most high-stakes Pac-12 game of all time.This was the sport at its finest, and more than 11.1 million people tuned in on ABC at its peak as Washington became the first string in conference history to cap an unbeaten season with a win in the conference title game, 34-31. Never mind who– or if anyone– was handing Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer the prize, for these players and this team, the purple and white confetti that fell from the rafters will be a more integral memory for their future selves.But for those without a vested interest in either group’s success, commissioner George Kliavkoff’s presence on that phase functioned as yet another tip of the game’s historic importance: It was the day Pac-12 football was put to rest.While there were others who contributed significantly to the conference’s failure, history will not forget who supervised when all of it came crashing down. That’s why it was awkward to see Kliavkoff associated with the trophy presentation in any capability. There’s nothing that requires a conference commissioner to hand the prize to the winning coach, and any concept that some kind of custom needed to be honored is fantastically paradoxical provided the number of them will fade away.When Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark was booed mercilessly on phase the next day by Texas fans, it was earned offered the adversarial tone he’s taken with the Longhorns with their looming departure for the SEC. He used it like a badge of honor. When his conference was on shaky ground, he charted a course forward. Kliavkoff did not.It needs to be noted Washington and Oregon had the power to stabilize the conference. With college football about to expand the playoff, the Huskies and Ducks would have been well-positioned with the looming 12-team format to be regular individuals, completing the season No. 2 and No. 8, respectively, and had that structure been in place this year, they likely both would have been selected.Yet, regardless of a future in which they could have been the dominant forces on the West Coast, they basically took a look at where the Pac-12 management was taking the conference and

chose they were better off taking 50 cents on the dollar within the Big 10 with the bonus offer of a far more tough course to the playoff. Perhaps the relocation exceeds even their best internal expectations, however there will likewise exist a sense of what might have been?After all, the Pac-12 placed on one of the very best and most amazing overall conference efficiencies this season.Either way, there was Kliavkoff on Friday night to hand off the prize like some kind of going away present.”I’m

questioning why he’s still around, at all,”one longtime Pac-12 employee told ESPN at the game.”If letting your company pass away off isn’t premises to be fired for cause, I do not understand what is.” They were just sort of joking.

AP Photo/Ryan Sun THIS WAS THE kind of season that may have conserved the Pac-12 had it occurred even two years

ago. That certainly would have held true had they had can be found in constant intervals throughout the playoff era.”The league was as tough as– and I’m going based off of what a lot of the people who have actually been around here and a few of the coaches who have been in the league for a long period of time state too, since I have actually only remained in it two years– however they stated it’s the very best that they have actually ever seen it,”DeBoer said.This is a conference that began the year with probably the inmost group of quarterbacks in college football history, had 9 various teams hang out in the AP Top 25 and had not only the very best collective nonconference winning portion (.806 )of any conference in the nation, however the very best gaining percentage (.583 )against Power 5 opposition.It was

such a special year for the Pac-12 that the coach of the worst team in the conference, Colorado’s Deion Sanders, was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year after assisting the Buffaloes to a 1-8 conference record. Not just was Coach Prime’s Stone takeover the greatest story in college football for about a month, it was culturally appropriate in such a way few college sports stories have ever been.It was so deep at quarterback that Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Prize winner and projected No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, was relegated to a respectable mention on the all-conference team. And it wasn’t due to the fact that his play always regressed: Williams ranked seventh in the country in passing backyards(3,633 )and his goal to interception ratio(30-to-5)was amongst the best in the nation. More than anything, Williams’chance to secure extra distinctions was screwed up by the reality that the rest of the Pac-12 offenses made easy work of his group’s defense, which was never ever more apparent than when USC faced Utah.Utah, the two-time safeguarding conference champ, invested the offseason preparing as if two-year starter Webcam Rising– the first-team All-Pac-12 quarterback in 2021– would be back from a gruesome knee injury suffered in last year’s Rose Bowl, but that was not the case. His was one of a number of key injuries that prevented the Utes from mounting a serious bid for a 3rd straight crown, but he will return next season as Utah starts life in the Huge 12. However even a diminished, offensively challenged Utes team without their premier QB stayed USC’s kryptonite as backup quarterback Bryson Barnes outdueled Williams in Los Angeles.”They have actually got a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they’re gon na make some things, and that’s just the way it is,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game. “But we have actually got ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, so we’re proud of that guy, too.”” That’s My Pig Farmer”@UtahCoachWhitt #GoUtes #LighttheU pic.twitter.com/CEumuFfLbz!.?.!— Stevenson Sylvester(@SSylvester55 )November 4, 2023 With Williams’Heisman campaign thwarted(USC finished the season 7-5), Nix’s

and Penix’s campaigns stayed strong as the Pac-12 would end up having a pair of Heisman finalists for the first time considering that 2010, not to discuss the award’s likely winner– LSU’s Jayden Daniels– began his career at Arizona State.Arizona freshman QB Noah Fifita might have likewise gotten Heisman factor to consider had he been the Wildcats’starter from the season opener. Fifita didn’t begin his very first game until the Wildcats’5th

game of the season, however in October and November– as Arizona closed its

season with a six-game winning streak– Fifita was among the best players in the country. In those 2 months, Fifita ranked No. 7 in FBS with 2,214 passing lawns and had 20 touchdown passes to 4 interceptions.Ahead of Arizona’s transfer to the Big 12 next season, coach Jedd Fisch is exuding optimism.”If you just go down the list of guys that played [

in 2023] that belonged of [Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class], there must be an ESPN ’30 for 30′ done about it, “Fisch said. “If all of us remain together and the amount of games that I think they can win this year and next will be a story of college football. “If just that hope could have been for the Pac-12. However for all the on-field highlights, there remains the ongoing claim from Washington State and Oregon State. In September, the conference filed to dismiss WSU and OSU’s claim that would have provided control of the Pac-12 board.

Then, after WSU and OSU were approved control in Washington exceptional court, the conference joined the departing schools– led by UW for jurisdictional reasons– in requesting evaluation in the state supreme court.As that continues to play out in the courts, this season isn’t quite yet done in concerns to the conference’s tradition. AP Photo/David Becker WHILE BOWL SEASON does not bring the very same gravitas as it as soon as did thanks to the transfer portal and pattern for NFL prospects to remain less consequential games, Washington’s efficiency in the playoff will have a major consider how this season is eventually remembered. “United States representing the Pac-12 here in the last year, it’s an honor,”DeBoer said.” It’s something that, clearly, we take a great deal of pride in as far as representing, but we ‘d like to represent the Pac-12 here in this last year in a terrific method.” All year, DeBoer stressed the importance of his players having the ability to enjoy their success.After the Huskies ‘very first win against Oregon this season, DeBoer stated,”This is what coaching is everything about. Trying to have an environment where they can have these kinds of opportunities and experiences and minutes. It’s simply super unique. “It’s difficult to picture something more unique than what the Huskies have the opportunity to do now. They are the first Pac-12 group to make multiple playoff looks having actually been the last team in the conference to do so, in 2016.

Not considering that USC won the BCS Championship game game in 2004 has the Pac-12 declared a nationwide title in football, and while that a person was later on abandoned by the NCAA, how it is officially recognized not does anything to reduce how that Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush-led group is remembered.Starting with Texas in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, Washington is 2 wins far from what total up to Pac-12 immortality.About an hour after Washington cleared the stage and returned to the locker space, Pac-12 conference and network workers collected on the same spot to take photos and share a last moment together.Green Day’s “Good Riddance”

played over the stadium speakers as a montage of Pac-12 minutes used the video board, and the raucous, celebratory atmosphere that filled the building was gone. Rather, there were shared elements of a graduation, a going-out-of-business sale, however mostly, a funeral, at which point, it was more bitter than sweet.