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, Oregon. The original membership consisted of four schools - the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University).
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 California (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 intercollegiate athletic competition to a minimum. During 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 Conference and the PCC continued as a nine-team Conference through 1958.
In 1959, the PCC was dissolved and the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) was formed with Thomas J. Hamilton 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 Commissioner of the Pac-8.
Ten years later, on July 1, 1978, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University were admitted to the league as it became the Pacific-10 Conference. Thomas C. Hansen was named the Commissioner of the Pac-10 in 1983, a role he would hold for 26 years until 2009, when he was succeeded by Larry Scott who held the role from 2009 to 2021.
On June 11, 2010, the University of Colorado accepted its invitation to join the league, followed by the University of Utah on June 17, 2010. The league became the Pac-12 and officially began competition as such on July 1, 2011. A year later, the conference established Pac-12 Networks which launched on August 15, 2012 and enhanced exposure across all Pac-12 sports for 12 years through the 2023-24 season. Scott was succeeded by George Kliavkoff who was announced on May 13, 2021 and formally assumed the role on July 1, 2021.
Pac-12 Networks went on to set the industry standard for at-home production, making numerous advancements in broadcast engineering and production while producing award-winning content, coverage and programming thanks to a dedicated staff of talented individuals. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, the Pac-12 opened its current production facility in San Ramon, Calif. at Bishop Ranch, which now operates the league's production services business, Pac-12 Enterprises.
Current Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, a 35-year leading college sports administrator with a track record of success in supporting student-athletes and members, became the first-ever Autonomy Five conference female commissioner when she began her tenure on March 1, 2024.
For the 2024-25 season, the Pac-12 includes two members with Oregon State and Washington State and will sponsor five sports, including baseball, football, track & field, women's gymnastics and wrestling. Both Oregon State and Washington State will compete as affiliate members of the West Coast Conference across 12 sports (men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, women's rowing, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, women's tennis and women's volleyball) over a two-year period, while Washington State will compete as a Mountain West Conference affiliate member in two sports, including baseball and women's swimming, and Oregon State will compete in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) for men's rowing.
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