Though the Pac-12 will not live on as it used to, some of its most beloved bowls games will.
The mass exodus of Pac-12 teams to larger and, in many ways, more lucrative conferences already feels like old news. The only two schools that remain in the conferences are Washington State and Oregon State, creating what some have facetiously referred to as the “Pac-2.”
But bowl games with connections to the Pac-12, such as the Alamo, Holiday, Las Vegas, Sun, Los Angeles, and Independence Bowls, will continue to feature former Pac-12 teams. With the deal set to continue until 2025, there will still be some recognizable Pac-12 faces in historically Pac-12 bowls for the time being, per Brett McMurphy of The Action Network.
The 10 schools leaving the Pac-12 likely will still play in Pac-12 affiliated bowls the next two seasons and not in bowl tie-ins with their new conferences, sources told Action Network.
The former Pac-12 schools are not expected to play in bowls with their new conferences for multiple reasons, conference and bowl sources told Action Network.
The six Pac-12 bowl tie-ins in 2024 and 2025 are the Alamo, Holiday, Las Vegas, Sun, Los Angeles, Independence (in 2024)/ESPN event bowl (in 2025). The Rose Bowl, now part of the College Football Playoff rotation, is no longer tied to the Pac-12.
Omitted from the list is the Rose Bowl, which now resides in the College Football Playoff.
How this shakes out in the future, however, after 2025 remains to be seen.
With programs in the Pac-12 still likely interested in maintaining their stake in certain bowls, things could get prickly when the contract expires. With Pac-12 teams now spread across the BIG 10, BIG 12, and ACC, untangling their alignments will be no easy chore.
And for UCLA, given the current state of the team and the daunting task of taking on BIG 10 foes, it could be a while until they see a former Pac-12 bowl in the future.