Pac-12 Conference

3 2016-17 PAC-12 SOFTBALL PAC-12 CONFERENCE BUILT ON A FIRM FOUNDATION of academic excellence and superior athletic performance, the Pac-12 Conference re- newed its undisputed claim as the Conference of Cham- pions® in 2015-16. At the same time, its accomplish- ments and milestones ex- tended beyond the !elds and courts to the classrooms, and beyond its tradi- tional geographic footprint all the way to Asia. On the !eld, the Pac-12 rises above the rest, claiming an incredible 150 NCAA team titles since 1999-2000, including a nation-leading 10 in 2015- 16, an average of nearly 10 championships per academic year. Even more impressive has been the breadth of the Pac-12's success, with champion- ships coming in 29 different men's and women's sports. The Pac-12 has led or tied the nation in NCAA Championships in 51 of the last 56 years, the only exceptions being in 1980-81, 1988-89, 1990- 91 and 1995-96 when the Conference !nished sec- ond, and only twice !nished third in 1998-99 and 2004-05. For the 11th-consecutive year, the Pac-12 had the most or tied for the most NCAA titles 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 eight times, including a record 14 in 1996-97. Spanning nearly a century of outstanding athlet- ics achievements, the Pac-12 was the !rst confer- ence 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 conference by nearly 200. In all, Conference teams have won 488 NCAA Championships (295 men's, 164 women's, 29 combined). Pac-12 members have won 295 NCAA team championships on the men's side, 77 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, 54 tennis titles, 47 outdoor track & !eld crowns, and 28 baseball titles. Pac-12 members have won 25 of 47 NCAA titles in volleyball, 42 of 47 in water polo, 29 in skiing, and 24 in swimming & diving national championships. Individually, the Conference has produced an impressive number of NCAA individual champions. Over 2,000 (2,248) individual crowns have been won by Pac-12 student-athletes over the years with 1,352 by male student-athletes. Student-athletes have also captured 179 individual titles at combined championships (ie., skiing and fencing). On the women's side, the story is much the same. Since the NCAA began conducting women's cham- pionships 35 years ago, Pac-12 members have claimed at least four national titles in a single sea- son on 26 occasions, including a current streak of 16-consecutive years, dating back to 2000. Overall, the Pac-12 has captured 164 NCAA women's titles, easily outdistancing the SEC, which is second with 99. Pac-12 members have dominated a number of sports, winning 23 softball titles, 22 tennis crowns, 14 volleyball titles, 17 of the last 27 trophies in golf, and 14 in swimming & diving. Pac-12 women student-athletes shine nationally on an individual basis, as well, having captured an unmatched 717 NCAA individual crowns, an aver- age of over 20 championships per season. The Pac-12's excellence is further proven in the annual Division I Lear!eld Sports Directors' Cup competition, the prestigious award that honors the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. STANFORD continued its remarkable run and won a remarkable 22nd-consecutive Directors' Cup in 2015-16 to lead the Conference. Six Pac-12 member institutions ranked among the top-15 Divi- sion I programs, and a remarkable seven institutions were in the top 25: No. 1 STANFORD, No. 4 USC, No. 6 UCLA, No. 10 OREGON No. 11 CALIFORNIA, No. 14 WASHINGTON and No. 25 ARIZONA. 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). 2015-16 REVIEW The Conference's 10 NCAA titles came in the form of four men's and six women's crowns. Half the membership schools claimed at least one NCAA title and, of the seven institutions in the country to have won multiples titles, three were from the Pac-12. OREGON was one of just two teams in the nation to claim three championships, sweeping the men's and women's indoor track & !eld crowns for the sec- ond time in three years, then winning its !rst-ever title in men's golf. STANFORD and USC also took home a pair of titles each. The Cardinal extended its streak of winning a NCAA title to 40 years, hold- ing up the national championship trophy for the !rst time ever in men's soccer, while also adding to its NCAA-record number of national championships in women's tennis, capturing the program's 18th all-time. USC made history winning the inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball title, then won the women's water polo championship where three of the four semi!nal teams were Pac-12 members. WASHINGTON also won its !rst-ever golf title, taking home the women's crown, while UCLA, the nation's leader in all-time NCAA titles, upped its all- time national championship count to 113 after suc- cessfully defending its men's water polo title. CALI- FORNIA won the women's rowing championship, ending a 10-year drought, also giving the Confer- ence a title in the sport for the !rst time since 2009. In addition to the 10 national championships, the Pac-12 also had runners-up in 11 NCAA Champi- onship events: men's and women's cross country (COLORADO), men's gymnastics (STANFORD), ski- ing (COLORADO), men's swimming (CALIFORNIA), women's swimming (STANFORD), baseball (ARI- ZONA), women's golf (STANFORD), women's track & !eld (OREGON), and women's water polo (STAN- FORD). Overall, the Conference had 38 teams !nish in the top four at 22 NCAA Championship events, including three teams in the top four in men's cross country, women's golf, and men's and women's wa- ter polo. Participation in the postseason was a common occur- rence for the Pac-12 in 2015-16. Of the 23 sports spon- sored by the Conference, 19 witnessed at least half its teams participating in NCAA or other postseason action. The men sent 73 of a possible 103 teams into the postsea- son (70.8 percent), while the women sent 79 of a possible 115 teams (68.7 percent). The Pac-12 had a record number of bowl bids with 10 teams participating in the postseason also producing a 6-4 record, tying the Conference record for bowl wins in a season. Conference Champion STANFORD turned in a convincing 45-16 victory in the Rose Bowl to cap the Pac-12's history-making season. 2015 marked the third-straight year the Pac-12 has sent at least eight teams to bowl games. A record nine teams boasted winning records, best- ing the previous record of eight the previous three years, with 10 squads notching at least six victories. The Cardinal extended the Pac-12 North's undefeat- ed streak to !ve, defeating Pac-12 South Champion USC, 41-22, in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. While the Trojans lost a two-point heartbreaker in the Holi- day Bowl, ARIZONA (New Mexico), CALIFORNIA (Armed Forces), UTAH (Royal Purple Las Vegas), WASHINGTON (Heart of Dallas Bowl) and WASH- INGTON STATE (Hyundai Sun Bowl) each earned wins, along with the Cardinal. ARIZONA STATE (Mo- tel 6 Cactus Bowl), OREGON (Valero Alamo Bowl) and UCLA (Foster Farm Bowl) all took part in bowl games, as well. Eight Pac-12 men's basketball teams earned postseason bids, including a Pac-12-record seven NCAA Tournament bids. OREGON captured the regular-season crown then followed up claiming the Pac-12 Tournament title at the MGM Garden Grand Arena in Las Vegas. The Ducks advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, making the Pac-12 the only con- ference to advance that far in each of the last three years. UO was joined by ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, OREGON STATE, USC and UTAH in the Big Dance. WASHINGTON represented the Con- ference in the NIT, advancing to the second round. Pac-12 women's basketball had its most com- petitive and historic season during the Conference's Centennial. The season was capped by OREGON STATE and WASHINGTON advancing to the NCAA Women's Final Four, the !rst-ever appearances by both teams and also the !rst time ever the Pac-12 had two representatives in the national semi!nal. The Conference won a record 14 NCAA Tourna- ment games, advancing four teams to the Sweet 16 and three to the Elite Eight, both also !rsts for the Conference. OSU earned a share of the Pac- 12 regular-season crown with ARIZONA STATE, the Beavers eventually capturing their !rst-ever Pac-12 Tournament title as the No. 1 seed at KeyArena in Seattle. ASU, STANFORD and UCLA nabbing NCAA Tournament berths with all but the Huskies earn- ing the right to host !rst- and second-round games. OREGON and UTAH combined for six WNIT wins, giving the Pac-12 20 postseason victories, by far a league record. Four teams appeared in the !nal Associated Press poll, the most ever for the Confer- ence, and all appeared in the top 15. Five earned rankings in the USA Today/WBCA poll, the Beavers leading the way with a program-record No. 2 rat- ing. UW was ranked No. 8 in that poll, also a team record, Stanford was No. 11, UCLA was No. 13 and ASU was No. 16. For the fourth time in league history, the Pac-12 crowned co-champions in volleyball. USC won its !fth title in program history while WASHINGTON captured its fourth all-time, including its second in the last three years. Seven teams earned NCAA Tournament berths, the 16th-consecutive year the league has received at least six bids. The Trojans were the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, while UW (No. 5), STANFORD (No. 8) and UCLA (No. 14) garnered one of 16 seeds. ARIZONA and OREGON also participated in the 64-team !eld. A record nine teams appeared in the AVCA Preseason Coaches poll, UW and USC both occupied the No. 1 spot in the polling during the season, and the four seeded teams were in the !nal polling of the season. The Pac-12 has dominated the sport of women's vol- leyball, winning a record 14 NCAA volleyball titles since 1982. Pac-12 baseball also recorded historic moments

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