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4 2018 PAC-12 SOFTBALL // INTRODUCTION CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS has dominated the sport of women's volleyball, win- ning a record 15 NCAA volleyball titles since 1982. OREGON STATE represented Pac-12 baseball in the NCAA College World Series after winning the Pac-12 regular-season crown which marked the program's third title in the last five years. The Beavers were awarded the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but came up short of the champion- ship series despite recording just the fifth .900+ winning season in NCAA history. OSU was joined by Arizona, Stanford and UCLA in the postseason. The Pac-12 has, by far, won the most baseball national titles of any conference in the country, claiming 28 titles dating back to 1947. The Pac-12 Conference has historically domi- nated the sport of softball where league teams have claimed 23 NCAA titles in the 36-year history of the championship. Pac-12 teams captured an un- precedented nine in a row from 1988-1997, then most recently claimed six-straight from 2006-11. Ten teams participated in the tournament in 2017, marking the 21st-straight season the Pac-12 has had five or more teams advance to the postseason, and has had at least three berths every year since the league began sponsoring the sport in 1987. OREGON, UCLA and WASHINGTON advanced to the Women's College World Series. ARIZONA claimed its 11th all-time Pac-12 regular-season title and first since 2007. PAC-12 CONFERENCE HISTORY The roots of the Pac-12 Conference date back more than 100 years, to December 2, 1915, when the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was founded at a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Portland, Ore. The original membership consisted of four schools - the University of California at Berkeley, the Uni- versity of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). All four are still charter members of the Conference. Pacific Coast Conference play began in 1916 and, one year later, Washington State College (now Washington State University) was accepted into the league, with Stanford University following in 1918. In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of the University of Southern Cali- fornia (USC) and the University of Idaho. In 1924, the University of Montana joined the league roster and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA. The Pacific Coast Conference competed as a 10-member league until 1950, with the exception of 1943-45 when World War II curtailed intercol- legiate athletic competition to a minimum. Dur- ing that time, the league's first commissioner was named. Edwin N. Atherton was Commissioner in 1940 and was succeeded by Victor O. Schmidt in 1944. In 1950, Montana resigned from the Confer- ence and the PCC continued as a nine-team Con- ference through 1958. In 1959, the PCC was dissolved and the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) was formed with Thomas J. Hamilton was appointed Commissioner of the new league. The original AAWU membership included California, Stanford, USC, UCLA, and Washington. Washington State joined the membership in 1962, while Oregon and Oregon State joined in 1964. Under Hamilton's watch, the name Pacific-8 Conference was adopted in 1968. In 1971, Wiles Hallock took over as Com- missioner of the Pac-8. Ten years later, on July 1, 1978, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University were ad- mitted to the league and the Pacific-10 Conference became a reality. In 1986-87, the league took on a new look, expanding to include 10 women's sports. Since then, the Conference has been considered the premier league in women's athletics, securing the most NCAA titles in women's sports of any con- ference nearly every year. Thomas C. Hansen was named the Commis- sioner of the Pac-10 in 1983, a role he would hold for 26 years until 2009, when he was succeeded by current Commissioner Larry Scott. The University of Colorado accepted its invita- tion to join the Pac-12 on June 11, 2010, and on June 17, 2010, the University of Utah agreed to join the Conference. The Buffaloes and Utes officially became the 11th and 12th members of the Con- ference on July 1, 2011, the first additions to the league since 1978. It was during the 2010-11 academic year that Scott helped deliver monumental changes that transformed the Conference into a modern 12- team league. In addition to expanding to 12 teams, member institutions agreed to equal revenue shar- ing for the first time in the Conference's history, created two football divisions - the North and the South, and established a Football Championship Game for the first time. He also secured landmark media rights deals with ESPN and FOX that dra- matically increased national exposure and revenue for each school, in addition to establishing Pac-12 Networks which guaranteed enhanced exposure across all sports. Currently, the Pac-12 sponsors 11 men's sports and 13 women's sports, with women's lacrosse a new addition for the 2017-18 academic year and beach volleyball having been added in 2015-16. Additionally, the Conference is a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in four other men's sports and two women's sports. LEARFIELD SPORTS DIRECTORS' CUP The STANFORD Cardinal captured their 23rd-consecutive Directors' Cup in leading the Pac-12 Conference to another impressive finish in the final 2016-17 Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, the Na- tional Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced. Led by four NCAA titles (women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's swimming and diving, and women's water polo), Stanford won its 23rd- consecutive Cup. In all, the Cardinal posted 11 top five finishes in tallying an impressive 1,563.00 points. That's 219.25 points more than runner-up Ohio State. Behind a pair of NCAA titles (women's soccer and beach volleyball), USC finished fourth with 1,251.25 points for its fourth consecutive top 10 finish. OREGON placed ninth overall with 1,027.00 points, the best-ever finish by the Ducks in the Directors' Cup. Oregon collected three NCAA titles for the second straight season as it claimed the triple crown with titles in women's cross country, women's indoor track and field, and women's outdoor track and field. UCLA placed 11th overall with 1,007.00 points, while CALIFORNIA, aided by its men's water polo title, finished 14th with 916.75 points. That gave the Pac-12 five teams among the top 15, more than any other conference. WASHINGTON added an NCAA title in women's rowing, the Pac-12's 500th NCAA title all-time, and placed 22nd with 801.25 points. COLO- RADO finished 34th (641.00), followed by ARIZONA at 42nd (545.50). ARIZONA STATE was right behind the Wildcats at 43rd (543.50), thanks in part to the women's golf program capturing their nation-leading eighth NCAA golf title. UTAH, which picked up its 11th NCAA skiing title, was 54th (459.50), followed by OREGON STATE (69th, 333.75) and WASHINGOTN STATE (101st, 202.50). The success of the Pac-12 in the Directors' Cup was bolstered by the capturing of 13 NCAA titles, most among all conferences. In addition, 10 Pac-12 league members combined to post 39 top-four finishes in 24 NCAA championships. The Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports - 10 women's and 10 men's. CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN Conference* Top 15 Membership Schools Ratio 1. Pac-12 (12) 5 .417 2. Big Ten (14) 4 .286 SEC (14) 4 .286 4. ACC (15) 2 .133 * based on 2016-17 membership WHERE THEY RANKED School ....................................Total Pts 1. Stanford ........................................... 1563.00 4. USC ................................................. 1251.25 9. Oregon ............................................. 1027.00 11. UCLA ............................................... 1007.00 14. California .......................................... 916.75 22. Washington ...................................... 801.25 34. Colorado ........................................... 641.00 42. Arizona ............................................. 545.50 43. Arizona State .................................... 543.50 54. Utah ................................................. 459.50 69. Oregon State .................................... 333.75 101. Washington State .............................. 202.50