The final goodbye: the greatest moments for every Pac-12 school

The end of the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament marked the end of the last Pac-12 sporting event before the conference essentially dies and 10 member schools scatter elsewhere to leave Washington State and Oregon State all alone. A few Pac-12 teams will compete in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, but in terms of Pac-12 competition between Pac-12 schools, the race has been run and the journey is done. It’s time to say goodbye to the Pac-12 here at Trojans Wire, so before we all head off to the Big Ten in several weeks, let’s begin the process of looking back at the history of the Conference of Champions. In this installment, we’ll provide the greatest sports moment for each Pac-12 school:

WASHINGTON STATE: 1997 APPLE CUP WIN

WASHINGTON: 1992 ROSE BOWL WIN

OREGON STATE: 2006 CWS CHAMPIONSHIP

OREGON: 1939 NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

CAL: THE PLAY, 1982

STANFORD: 2021 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

COLORADO: 1990 NATIONAL TITLE

UTAH: 2021 PAC-12 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

ARIZONA: 1997 BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

ARIZONA STATE: 1975 FIESTA BOWL WIN

Arizona State won multiple College World Series championships, but this is a school which basically created its own bowl game, the Fiesta Bowl, and wanted to become — along with the greater Phoenix area — a big-time sports destination. ASU beating Nebraska to finish No. 2 in the nation in 1975 under legendary coach Frank Kush helped elevate the Sun Devils and the Fiesta Bowl game. In 1978, ASU graduated from the WAC to the Pac-10. In 1982, the Fiesta Bowl began its run as a New Year’s Day bowl game. Phoenix was a small city in the 1970s. This game is a story not just of ASU’s success, but the growth of a Southwestern metropolis which is now the fifth-largest city in the United States.

UCLA: BILL WALTON'S MASTERPIECE, 1973

USC: ANTHONY DAVIS KICKOFF RETURN

Why Davis over — let’s say — 4th and 9 or the Bush Push in 2005 in South Bend? Simple: This led to a national title, whereas those other very special USC plays did not. We can debate this one for a long time, but that’s our call.