A bruin, a sun devil and a husky walk into a room. What do they have in common? They each represent a mascot from the Pac-12 Conference, which announced its dissolution earlier this year.

Comprised of 12 schools along the West Coast, including local favorites Stanford and Cal Berkeley, the Pac-12 boasts a storied history as one of the Power Five: the top five athletics conferences in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In its century-long tenure, it accumulated the highest number of NCAA national championships in the organization, earning the moniker “Conference of Champions.” 

Despite these accolades, warning signs about the Pac-12’s future emerged in June 2022, when powerhouse football schools UCLA and USC announced their imminent departure for the Big Ten, another major conference primarily located in the Midwest. In their statements, both programs cited increased opportunities from the Big Ten’s lucrative media rights deal as major motivations for the shift. Following various failed attempts to negotiate with networks and bring the conference back together, each school bar two — Washington State and Oregon State — finalized plans to join other conferences in the 2024-2025 season. 

“It’s really a shame that an entire conference is dissolving,” upper school Athletic Director and longtime Pac-12 watcher Dan Molin said. “It’s just unfathomable. It’s too bad that the commissioner, or the powers that be, just couldn’t figure it out and get a strong TV deal.” 

In their new conferences, from the Big Ten to the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big 12, each school will enjoy greater financial support as well as improved media visibility for their programs and athletes. The Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) rule in the NCAA, which newly allows athletes to profit off their college fame, only augments these benefits. Still, the details of the shifts can’t be boiled down to just the financials; the move will also have a palpable impact on the day-to-day lives of the students themselves. 

While Pac-12 schools shared geographic proximity, the programs will now find themselves traveling across the country to play the majority of league games, which comprise the bulk of the season. The extensive commute could have a deleterious effect on athletes’ performance and physical health. Stanford beach volleyball 2029 commit Claire Sun commented on the difficulties of Stanford’s move to the ACC. 

“It kind of destroys student-athlete life,” Claire said. “Basically any time you play league, you have to travel across the country, which absolutely sucks. Even the difference between a three hour bus ride and a three hour plane ride is such a difference, especially with the time zone change.”

Apart from the players, the move also impacts fans who faithfully watched the Pac-12 for decades. What once was a beacon of West Coast camaraderie and pride, rich with local rivalries and history, has now been fragmented and scattered across the country. 

Although all 12 schools will no longer be together, some iconic pairs like UCLA and USC, as well as Stanford and Cal, will move together to new conferences. UCLA football fan Rayan Arya (11) views the shift positively, citing the strength of competition in the Big Ten and the preservation of the UCLA-USC rivalry as overall benefits. 

“Overall for both of the programs, it’s going to be really helpful charting more competitive schools,” Rayan said. “One thing I’m happy about is both UCLA and USC are going to the Big Ten, so they’re still going to have that rivalry. We’re going to get to see the UCLA-USC game every year.”

Ultimately, the true effects of the Pac-12 ending hangs in the air until the 2024-2025 season, when schools will first make their transitions. In the meantime, athletes and fans alike will cherish their conference’s final moments, like when all 12 mascots joined each other to attend the final football game of the conference on Dec. 1. This may have been the last time you see the bruin, the sun devil and the husky on the same sideline, but look out for them across the country in coming seasons.