Pac-12 Conference

2 // 2013-14 PAC-12 YEAR IN REVIEW CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS® Built on a !rm foundation of academic excellence and superior athletic per- formance, the Conference ushered in a new era on July 1, 2011, of!cially be- coming the Pac-12 Conference with the additions of the University of Colorado and University of Utah. Just 27 days after the Conference of!cially changed its name, Commissioner Larry Scott announced the creation of the Pac-12 Networks on July 27, 2011, solidifying a landmark television deal and putting the Conference on the fore- front of collegiate athletics. The Networks, including one national network, six regional networks, and a robust digital network marked the !rst-ever integrated media company owned by a college conference. In addition, the "TV Every- where" rights allow fans to access Pac-12 Networks outside the home on any digital device, including smartphones and tablet computers. In 2011, the Pac-12 also launched its Globalization Initiative to proactively promote the Conference and member institutions through student-athlete ex- changes and sport. In its !rst three years, Pac-12 student-athletes have en- joyed unique cultural and athletic experiences in China, !elding full university and Pac-12 all-star teams in women's volleyball and men's basketball, with plans to play the !rst-ever men's basketball regular season game in China in November 2015, and the Conference and its member schools have gained signi!cant brand exposure for the future and set a foundation for growth. On the !eld, the Pac-12 rises above the rest, upholding its tradition as the "Conference of Champions ®," claiming an incredible 131 NCAA team titles since 1999-2000, including 10 in 2013-14. That is an average of nearly nine championships per academic year. Even more impressive has been the breadth of the Pac-12's success, with championships coming in 28 different men's and women's sports. The Pac-12 has led or tied the nation in NCAA Championships in 48 of the last 54 years, the only exceptions being in 1980- 81, 1988-89, 1990-91 and 1995-96 when the Conference !nished second, and only twice !nished third in 1998-99 and 2004-05. For the ninth-consecutive year, the Pac-12 had the most NCAA titles or tied for the most of any conference in the country, winning at least six every year since 2000-01. No other conference has won double-digit NCAA crowns in a single year, the Pac-12 doing so seven times, including a record 14 in 1996-97. Spanning nearly a century of outstanding athletics achievements, the Pac- 12 was the !rst conference to reach 400 championships in 2010-11. With the inclusion of Colorado and Utah, the Conference surpassed another major milestone, with league teams capturing 450 titles, outdistancing the next con- ference by nearly 200. In all, Conference teams have won 469 NCAA Champi- onships (287 men's, 154 women's, 28 combined). Pac-12 members have won 287 NCAA team championships on the men's side, 83 more than the next closest conference. Men's NCAA crowns have come at a phenomenal rate for the Pac-12 - 16 basketball titles by six schools (more than any other conference), 54 tennis titles, 46 outdoor track & !eld crowns, and 28 base- ball titles. Pac-12 members have won 25 of 45 NCAA titles in volleyball, 40 of 45 in water polo, 28 in skiing, and 24 in swimming & diving national championships. Individually, the Conference has produced an impressive number of NCAA individual champions. Over 2,000 (2,167) individual crowns have been won by Pac-12 student-athletes over the years with 1,485 by male student-athletes. On the women's side, the story is much the same. Since the NCAA be- gan conducting women's championships 33 years ago, Pac-12 members have claimed at least four national titles in a single season on 24 occasions, includ- ing 14-consecutive years from 2000-2014. Overall, the Pac-12 has captured 154 NCAA women's titles, easily outdistancing the SEC, which is second with 93. Pac-12 members have dominated a number of sports, winning 23 softball titles, 21 tennis crowns, 14 volleyball titles, 15 of the last 25 trophies in golf, and 13 in swimming & diving. Pac-12 women student-athletes shine nationally on an individual basis, as well, having captured an unmatched 682 NCAA individual crowns, an average of nearly 21 championships per season. The Pac-12's excellence is further proven in the annual Lear!eld Sports Di- rectors' Cup competition, the prestigious award that honors the best overall col- legiate athletics programs in the country. STANFORD continued its remarkable run and won its unprecedented 20th-consecutive Directors' Cup in 2013-14. Seven Pac-12 member institutions ranked among the top-27 Division I pro- grams, the most of any conference and !ve were in the top 20: No. 1 STAN- FORD, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 USC, No. 15 OREGON, No. 20 CALIFORNIA, No. 26 ARIZONA and No. 27 ARIZONA STATE. At least !ve member institutions have been ranked in the top 20 in all but one year of the Director's Cup program, with seven appearing in the top 20 on !ve different occasions (1998, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006). 2013-14 REVIEW The Conference's 10 national titles came in the form of six men's and four women's crowns. Six different league schools claimed NCAA titles and, of the sev- en NCAA institutions to have won multiples titles, three were from the Pac-12. No other conference in the country had more than one team win multiple NCAA titles. OREGON was one of three teams in the country to win three NCAA titles this academic season. The Ducks took home the hardware in men's outdoor track & !eld, the program's !rst team title in the sport since 1984, and swept the men's and women's indoor national championships. It is the !rst time ever UO has won three NCAA titles in one academic year. An additional four teams in the country had two NCAA titles, including USC and UCLA. The Trojans continue to dominate the sports of men's water polo and men's tennis, winning a sixth-straight title in the pool and a !fth in six years on the court. The Bruins won the Conference's third-ever women's soccer title and the program's !rst, while also taking home the women's tennis crown. COLORADO kicked off the year for the Conference winning its fourth NCAA men's cross country title. CALIFORNIA was !rst in men's swimming, the pro- gram's third national championship in four years, and STANFORD won its third women's water polo crown in four years, extending the school's streak of at least one NCAA team championship to 38-consecutive years. In addition to the 10 national championships, the Pac-12 also had runners- up in six NCAA Championship events: women's cross country (ARIZONA), women's swimming (STANFORD), women's rowing (CALIFORNIA), men's vol- leyball (STANFORD) and women's water polo (UCLA). Overall, the Conference had 32 teams !nish in the top four at 22 NCAA Championship events, includ- ing an all-Pac-12 women's water polo !nal four. Participation in the postseason was a common occurrence for the Pac-12 in 2013-14. Of the 22 sports sponsored by the Conference, 19 witnessed at least half its teams participating in NCAA or other postseason action. The men sent 79 of a possible 100 teams into the postseason (79.4 percent), while the women sent 83 of a possible 115 teams (72.2 percent). For the second-straight year, a record number of league teams participated in college football bowl games. After earning a then-league record eight bowl bids in 2012, Conference teams bested that with nine teams making bowl trips in 2013, producing a 6-3 record. A Pac-12 record !ve teams posted 10 or more wins during the season, a feat no other league in the country accomplished. STANFORD represented the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl for the second-consec- utive year by virtue of a 38-14 win over ARIZONA STATE at the Pac-12 Cham- pionship Game. ASU went on to participate in the National University Holiday Bowl. Also joining the Cardinal and Sun Devils in postseason play were OREGON (Valero Alamo), UCLA (Hyundai Sun Bowl), USC (Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl), WASHINGTON (Fight Hunger Bowl), WASHINGTON STATE (Gildan New Mexico Bowl), ARIZONA (AdvoCare V100 Bowl) and OREGON STATE (Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl). Six Pac-12 teams appeared in the !nal Associated Press poll marking the sixth time in league history that six teams were in the !nal ranking. The teams in the top 25 were: Oregon (9th), Stanford (11th), UCLA (16th), USC (19th), Arizona State (21) and Washington (25th). Also receiving votes was Arizona. It was also a record-breaking season for Pac-12 men's basketball with a league-record eight teams posting 20 wins during the 2013-14 campaign. ARIZONA captured its 13th regular-season crown, while UCLA won its fourth Pac-12 Tournament title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, its !rst since 2008. The highly-competitive Pac-12 season was rewarded with a re- cord-tying six teams (Arizona, ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO, OREGON, STAN- FORD, UCLA) earning NCAA Tournament bids. The Wildcats obtained one of the four No. 1 seeds in the postseason tournament, the Conference's !rst since 2008. Pac-12 teams went 8-6 in tournament play, with UA, Stanford and UCLA reaching the Sweet Sixteen, while the Wildcats were just one point short of the NCAA Final Four, advancing to the Elite Eight. The eight NCAA Tournament wins were the most by the league since it posted an identical 8-6 mark in 2008. An additional three teams participated in postseason action with CALIFORNIA and UTAH receiving NIT bids and OREGON STATE playing in the CBI. Pac-12 women's basketball also saw tremendous success with !ve teams earning NCAA Tournament bids, the most since 2006. USC captured its !rst-ev- er Pac-12 Tournament title, securing its !rst NCAA Tournament bid since 2006. STANFORD claimed its 14th-consecutive regular-season crown, then advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the sixth time in seven years. Its trip to the national semi!nals was also the seventh-straight year a Pac-12 team has advanced that far. OREGON STATE also ended a long NCAA Tournament drought, earning its !rst invitation to the Big Dance since 1996; CALIFORNIA made a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament; and ARIZONA STATE returned to the postsea- son event after a two-year absence. COLORADO, OREGON, WASHINGTON and WASHINGTON STATE also all participated in the WNIT, making it the most-ever teams to participate in the postseason in the history of the league. Three teams were ranked in the !nal Associated Press poll: Stanford was No. 6, Cal was No. 24 and USC was No. 25, its !rst appearance in the !nal poll in 20 years. Pac-12 volleyball also recorded an unprecedented season with a league- record nine teams earning NCAA Tournament bids, also the most in the coun- try, with three receiving a top-16 seed. After winning the Conference regular- season crown for the !rst time since 2005, WASHINGTON advanced to its !rst national semi!nal since 2006 marking the 14th time in 16 years a Pac-12 team has advanced that far. With 14-straight years of at least six Conference teams earning NCAA bids, the Pac-12 has dominated the sport, winning a record 14 NCAA volleyball titles since 1982, including 12 in the last 23 years.

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