The last couple of years have been about as tumultuous as could be for the Pac-12 Conference, starting with the defection of USC and UCLA and followed by the slow leaking of oil that ultimately ended in the death of the conference with teams leaving for the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC.
It feels nice to celebrate the conference one last time before the plug is ultimately pulled on July 1st, doesn’t it?
That’s what happened on Thursday night, with the Pac-12 being named one of the biggest winners of the 2024 NFL Draft after eight of the 32 first-round players came from Pac-12 teams, including six of the first 15 picks. After this showing, USA TODAY named the conference one of their biggest winners of the night.
The once-vaunted conference is effectively dead, cannibalized by the expansion of other FBS football leagues. But it went out with a nice bang, eight players – with Williams at the top – tabbed Thursday. It didn’t beat out the SEC, but a nice homage to the once-great West Coast football forum.
Of course, Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix was one of those top-15 picks, going to the Denver Broncos with the No. 12 overall selection in the draft. Fellow Pac-12 quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC), and Michael Penix Jr. (Washington) were also taken in the first round as well.
From now on, we will have to start celebrating different conferences for the draft success that was once owned by the Pac-12, which will take some getting used to. For now, though, we can celebrate the Conference of Champions one final time.
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