Pac-12 Conference

4 // 2015 PAC-12 TRACK & FIELD MEDIA GUIDE BUILT ON A FIRM FOUNDA- TION of academic excellence and superior athletic perfor- mance, the Conference ushered in a new era on July 1, 2011, officially becoming the Pac-12 Conference with the additions of the University of Colorado and University of Utah. Just 27 days after the Confer- ence officially changed its name, Commissioner Larry Scott an- nounced the creation of the Pac- 12 Networks on July 27, 2011, solidifying a landmark television deal and putting the Conference on the forefront of collegiate ath- letics. The Networks, including one national network, six re- gional networks, and a robust digital network marked the first- ever integrated media company owned by a college conference. In addition, the "TV Everywhere" 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 first three years, Pac-12 student-athletes have en- joyed unique cultural and athletic experiences in China, fielding full university and Pac-12 all-star teams in women's volleyball and men's basketball, with plans to play the first-ever men's basketball regular season game in China in November 2015, and the Conference and its member schools have gained significant brand exposure for the future and set a foundation for growth. On the field, 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 finished second, and only twice finished 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 first conference to reach 400 championships in 2010-11. With the inclusion of Colorado and Utah, the Conference surpassed another ma- jor milestone, with league teams capturing 450 titles, outdistancing the next conference by nearly 200. In all, Conference teams have won 469 NCAA Championships (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 & field crowns, and 28 baseball 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 began 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 aver- age of nearly 21 championships per season. The Pac-12's excellence is further proven in the annual Learfield Sports Directors' Cup competition, the prestigious award that honors the best over- all collegiate athletics programs in the country. STANFORD continued its re- markable run and won its unprecedented 20th-consecutive Directors' Cup in 2013-14. Seven Pac-12 member institutions ranked among the top-27 Division I programs, the most of any conference and five were in the top 20: No. 1 STANFORD, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 USC, No. 15 OREGON, No. 20 CALI- FORNIA, No. 26 ARIZONA and No. 27 ARIZONA STATE. At least five 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 five 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 seven 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 & field, the program's first team title in the sport since 1984, and swept the men's and women's indoor national championships. It is the first 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 fifth in six years on the court. The Bruins won the Conference's third-ever women's soccer title and the pro- gram's first, 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 first 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 run- ners-up in six NCAA Championship events: women's cross country (ARI- ZONA), women's swimming (STANFORD), women's rowing (CALIFORNIA), men's volleyball (STANFORD) and women's water polo (UCLA). Overall, the Conference had 32 teams finish in the top four at 22 NCAA Championship events, including an all-Pac-12 women's water polo final 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 five 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-consecutive year by virtue of a 38-14 win over ARIZONA STATE at the Pac-12 Championship Game. ASU went on to participate in the National Uni- versity 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 OR- EGON STATE (Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl). Six Pac-12 teams appeared in the final Larry Scott Commissioner PAC-12 CONFERENCE

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