The Pac-12, in Its Final Year, Is the Greatest Show in All of Sports

In the end, there were tears, a magnificent sea of purple and a kind of joy that rarely finds itself on a football field.

As “Purple Rain” echoed through the speakers at Husky Stadium, the Washington fans swarmed a playing surface that had given so much over the previous four hours. In the aftermath of such a win, why would they be anywhere else?

The football ramifications of such a moment are real and robust. The Huskies beat Oregon in thrilling fashion, dodging a last-second field goal that could have tied the game. As it leaked right, solidifying a final score of 36-33, the reality set in.

For Washington, everything is still in front of it. A Pac-12 championship, a spot in the College Football Playoff and perhaps even more are suddenly all within grasp.

For Michael Penix Jr., the quarterback of the Huskies and the architect of one of the best offenses in the sport, having spent much of the afternoon in pain, a run for the Heisman is very much underway.

By no means is Oregon done in defeat. In fact, the Pac-12 championship, likely the final game the conference will ever produce, could deliver a rematch college football fans would line up to see.

That, more than anything, radiates in the afterglow of one of the greatest college football games in recent memory. In its final months, the Pac-12 isn’t just the most entertaining (and best) conference in college football.

It’s the purest form of entertainment in all of sports.

By this time next year, the funeral will all but be done. The stories will have been written. The Pac-12 will be dead, and its occupants will have found new homes.

Perhaps some zombie form of the conference will still exist with pieces from the Mountain West or beyond. For all intents and purposes, however, this is the end.

And what an end it is shaping up to be.

Less than 24 hours prior, Stanford delivered one of the greatest comebacks of the year against one of the stories of the year. Colorado led the Cardinal 29-0. An outrageous second half from Stanford, however, ultimately resulted in a dramatic win in double overtime.

The game finally ended some time deep in the night, so perhaps it wasn’t celebrated as much as it should have been. But that outcome, like the ones that came before it, showcased just how much depth and excitement the conference has provided this year.

It’s not just the key contenders. Washington, Oregon and USC have obviously been the center of the spotlight before and after the season began. Led by elite quarterbacks with bright NFL futures, these teams (and quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Bo Nix and Penix) have largely performed as advertised.

Thus far, however, seemingly every team in the conference has had its moment. From UCLA to Arizona to Arizona State, the conference has produced a barrage of close games—many of which have been heavy on touchdowns.

Oregon State, Washington State, Utah and UCLA have all produced moments. Even Stanford, in whatever phase the program currently finds itself in, decided it was time to join the action.

True to its roots, many games have finished well after midnight. “Pac-12 After Dark,” long considered a proud staple of a conference not light on weird, has been on full display this year.

Unlike previous years, however, there is true greatness on display. This isn’t just wacky, late-night football. The conference has proved to be so much more.

Perhaps the Pac-12 will cannibalize itself and tap out of the playoff as the weeks progress, which would be familiar. But in the moment, the mix of thrilling outcomes and meaningful results is producing a delightful week-to-week experience.

And, yes, it all feels a little bittersweet. That part is undeniable.

The business of college football ultimately doomed this conference across many years and an avalanche of greed and bad decisions. The outcome of these moments led us to where we are today, with all but two current Pac-12 teams booked for new conferences in 2024.

In fact, it feels almost strange to imagine Oregon and Washington reproducing that in the Big Ten. But that’s where we’re heading.

As we bathe in excellence and the tears and the sea of purple—one of the greatest scenes college football fans will witness this year—it’s hard not to process the lingering reality of what happens next.

How we arrived here is no longer important. Those bad decisions were made, and the future has already been decided.

How we appreciate it before it leaves us, in a year when each Pac-12 game feels more significant than the next, is the only logical way to handle this collection of teams moving forward.

With a slew of brilliant games still to come and many touchdowns still ahead, make a point to celebrate the Pac-12 before it’s too late.

It might require some stamina and perhaps a little caffeine. But with the calendar dwindling and the game seemingly guaranteed to produce, it will be all worth it.