The Pac-12 is ending as we know it, with longtime league members Oregon and Washington slugging it out in the final conference title game on Friday in Las Vegas, where all good things go to die.

But there’s still basketball and baseball, and between Oregon State and Washington State and perhaps a merger with the Mountain West to come, the league will remain viable in some fashion going forward.

So a full-blown memorial doesn’t feel quite right.

Instead, we’ll focus on the final remnants of a once-proud league, the dozen-year run of a Pac-12 that included a handful of old standbys and some new blood in the form of Utah and Colorado.

Here’s a look back at some of the best players, performances, highlights and lowlights of the last dozen years of football out west…

June 11 and 17, 2010 — Colorado and Utah enter the fray

It was a joyous occasion as one of college football’s best conferences at the time was only getting bigger, while the Big-12 was thought to be coming apart at the seams. Larry Scott coveted Texas and Oklahoma, but would not fork over a greater revenue split to the 2 legendary football programs, and the Pac-10 “settled” for Utah and Colorado. Heck, one of two ain’t bad.

May 3, 2011 — Larry Scott lands landmark deal

King for a day, at least, the commissioner was a conquering hero when the soon-to-be Pac-12 announced a 12-year television contract with ESPN and Fox that more than tripled its media rights fees and became the most valuable for any conference in college sport, nearly $3 billion over the life of the deal. We all know how that turned out.

April 26, 2012 — The Luck starts here

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, but even that wasn’t lofty enough kudos. He was called the top draft prospect since Peyton Manning, if not John Elway, the definition of can’t-miss after 2 first-team All-American seasons. He’d go on to a productive but brief NFL career, as his legendary trajectory was snuffed out by injuries and a permanently bad offensive line.

Nov. 17, 2012 — The Ducks stop here

Incredible stat: The Pac-12 did not have even one team ranked No. 1 for even one week since Week 12 in 2012. Oregon spent one week at 1 and promptly lost to Stanford, 17-14. No team spent even one week at No. 2 since Oregon in 2014.

Nov. 2, 2013 — All Jacked up

Anyone who saw what Myles Jack did on one brisk Saturday evening in Tucson left Arizona Stadium wondering what it had just witnessed. On a 4th-quarter 3rd-and-1 from the UCLA 34-yard line, Bruins freshman Myles Jack broke off a 66-yard touchdown run en route to a 6-carry, 120-yard day. It would’ve been normally special — but the fact Jack was a linebacker made it doubly so. Jack had been flirting going both ways, but no one expected him to make that kind of impact. He finished the season as the Pac-12 defensive and offensive freshman of the year.

Oct. 3, 2014 — Scooby Snacks become a thing

Tucson is known as a basketball town, but for 1 incredible season in 2014 — and who knows, maybe a decade later — it became football-hungry. And that’s because Scooby Wright feasted all year. The diminutive star linebacker had just 1 offer, from the Wildcats, and he rewarded them with a unanimous All-American season including 163 tackles, 14 sacks and 29.0 tackles for loss. He was a machine all season but never more so than in a 31-24 win at No. 2 Oregon, when his strip sack of Marcus Mariota ended the Ducks’ final drive.

Jan. 1, 2015 — Ducks fly into national championship game

It would go down as one of the most prolific 3rd quarters in Rose Bowl and Oregon history. Florida State running back Karlos Williams’ 10-yard touchdown run cut Oregon’s halftime lead to 18-13 in the CFP semifinal matchup, and it appeared the Ducks would have their hands full. But then Mariota lived up to his Heisman billing and led Oregon to a 27-point 3rd quarter and into the title game, where they’d succumb to 4 Ezekiel Elliott touchdowns in a 42-20 loss to Ohio State.

Jan. 1, 2016 — Run CMC becomes a Rose Bowl legend

The Rose Bowl has had its fair share of heroes, but Christian McCaffrey solidified himself on the Mount Rushmore with one absurd New Year’s party. Run CMC ran all over a stout Iowa defense from the opening snap. Literally. McCaffrey turned a short pass into a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and that was just the start. He became the first player to rush for over 100 yards (172) and have over 100 yards receiving (109), setting a new Rose Bowl record with 368 all-purpose yards in a 45-16 win.

April 28, 2016 — Goff goes No. 1

The Pac-12 was no stranger to No. 1 overall picks, considering it had 3 between 2003 and 2016 (including Luck in 2012), but Goff was by far the most surprising. Unlike can’t-miss Carson Palmer and Luck, Goff was by no means a finished product coming out of Cal and Sonny Dykes’ system. He still may not be. But in 2016, he went No. 1 after setting a Pac-12 record with 4,714 yards and 43 touchdowns, albeit in a 7-5 season.

Nov. 25, 2016 — Huskies bounce back, reach College Football Playoff

College football fans out west knew it was only a matter of time until Chris Petersen kicked Washington into high gear. Turns out 3 years was the right number. After going 8-6 in CP’s first year in 2014 and 7-6 a year later, the Huskies went 12-2 and dominated their 3 most important opponents. Against Stanford, Oregon and Washington State, Washington totaled an astounding 159-44 scoring margin, including a 45-17 Apple Cup win over the No. 23 Cougars. That was enough to lift the Huskies into the Playoff, the most recent for the Pac-12.

Dec. 26, 2017 — Leave it to Utah

The Pac-12 did not become an also-ran conference overnight. It just felt that way. One year after league fielded its most recent CFP team, the conference went 1-8 in bowl games. The Utes’ Heart of Dallas Bowl win over West Virginia was the highlight of the 2017 postseason — aside from
UCLA hiring Chip Kelly. Within a half-decade, the Utes were the face of the league while the Bruins were … not.

Oct. 20, 2018 — The constant Gardner

On a clear day in front of almost 40,000 in Pullman, Wash., Mike Leach and the Cougars took it to the No. 12 Oregon Ducks, 34-20, as Gardner Minshew outdueled Justin Herbert. Wazzu shot up to No. 14 in the rankings and the Cougars would go on to finish 11-2 and ranked 10th, the high point of Leach’s tenure. Long live the Pirate.

Jan. 1, 2020 — Herbert goes on a Duck dash

Returning for his senior year as one of the most ballyhooed quarterbacks in the country, Herbert delivered for the Ducks, never more than on New Year’s Day 2020. But instead of using the arm that would make him among the most prolific passers in Oregon history, Herbert scored 3 rushing touchdowns in a 28-27 Rose Bowl win for the Ducks over No. 11 Wisconsin. Hard to believe that’s a conference game next year.

Aug. 11, 2020 — Pandemic prompts Pac-12 to postpone season

With some of the top scientific communities and research institutions in the world residing in the Pac-12, plus league offices in San Francisco, the conference prided itself on being ahead of the curve when it came showing caution to COVID-19. So when the league announced it was postponing fall sports play in August of 2020, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Football would resume with a half-year starting in November, but it was largely a wasted season.

Nov. 26/27, 2021 — Trojans, Huskies fall flat

Two proud programs fell flat on their faces in stunning fashion in 2021 as both USC and Washington finished 4-8, exemplified by Week 13 losses to BYU and Washington State, respectively. The Huskies particularly ranked, falling 40-13 to the Cougars, one of the most lopsided losses in Apple Cup history for Washington. It wouldn’t be all bad, though. Bottoming out led to the hires of Kalen DeBoer and Lincoln Riley.

June 30, 2022 — One B1G move for USC, UCLA

The Pac-12 was dealt a body blow directly to the kidneys with the shocking news that USC and UCLA were taking the coveted Los Angeles media market to the Big Ten in a complete coup. Blame Larry Scott or George Kliavkoff, USC or UCLA, ESPN or Fox — all shared some blame in handicapping the conference and setting it on its current course.

Dec. 3, 2022 — Prime Time in Boulder

The Colorado Buffaloes made the splash of all splashes, bringing the brash and bold Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders to Boulder to helm a program that had become arguably the worst in the Power 5. Prime quickly brought the noise and turned Colorado into arguably the most intriguing team in the country, with the biggest roster overhaul in college football history. Then the Buffaloes got off to a 3-0 start in 2023 and absolutely befuddled the college football community before crashing back to earth with a 1-8 finish. Still, it’s clear the buzz is building in Boulder.

Dec. 10, 2022 — Superman returns Heisman to Heritage Hall

Few programs in the country boast the Heisman Trophy legacy that USC does, and Caleb Williams added to the showcase with his Heisman win in 2022. Riley didn’t come alone from Norman, Okla., he brought an immensely talented quarterback with him.

Aug. 4, 2023 — The Day the Music Died

Don McLean (no, not former UCLA star Don MacLean, but the popular musician) could not have sung it any better. With Oregon and Washington announcing their flight to the B1G to join UCLA and USC, and Arizona, Utah and Arizona State joining Colorado in the Big-12, a death knell was dealt to our beloved conference.

Sept. 1, 2023 — One more kick to the shin

It’s almost possible to imagine a Pac-4 rebuilding from the ashes around Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford. Add San Diego State, Boise State, UNLV, Gonzaga, Colorado State and a few more, and you’ve got something there. But when the Bay Area schools bolted for the ACC, it was all she wrote.