The last couple of months have acted as a drawn-out mourning process when it comes to the Pac-12 and what will be the final season of the conference. With the departure of Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA to the Big Ten, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado to the Big 12, and California and Stanford to the ACC in 2024, there’s a strange somberness that has accompanied Pac-12 viewing this season.
I’m not sure if the fact that the conference is stronger than we’ve seen in recent memory — 6 teams are in the top 25 rankings, with four teams in the top 10 — helps or hurts the grieving process, but it certainly makes for an interesting year.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in saying that the past couple of months for myself have been filled with memories of great Pac-12 moments, or longing for certain matchups to continue into the future.
One thing that didn’t hit me until this past week, however, is the fact that this could be the end of the Oregon Ducks’ rivalry against the Stanford Cardinal — one of the richest and most impactful rivalries we’ve seen in the conference this century.
While there will be concerted efforts made by universities to schedule games between Oregon and Oregon State, or Washington and Washington State, I’m not so sure that the same effort will be there for a recurring matchup between the Ducks and the Cardinal.
That makes me sad, and frustrated.
This rivalry may not get the respect that others do in the conference, but it undoubtedly has played as big of an impact on the outcome of the league as any other over the years.
As a preview to this week’s matchup between No. 9 Oregon and Stanford, and in a way of paying respects to this elite matchup, I want to go back through the numbers and look at some of the best games in this series over the years.