I was 15 years old and unsure of my place in the world, but very clear about my place on the Thousand Oaks High School football team. Just about as far down the bench as it goes. Lucky to be near the bench.

As my dad and I drove down the 118 Freeway that late-October Saturday morning in 1999, passenger-side window rolled down, right hand waving through the air, I could swear I heard my name being shouted from another car. I turned my head to see three of my teammates — the starting varsity quarterback, the starting running back and the starting JV quarterback — driving in the car next to me. They slowed down to meet our speed.

“Gold! What are you doing? We have an extra ticket to the UCLA game, pull over!”

I looked at my dad.

“I gotta go.”

He nodded. Our plans were out the window. The Baseball Card Co. would have to wait for another day. Life-long friendships were built that day. (Two of the guys on the trip? Kevin just celebrated his 40th birthday, and Todd and I were in Mexico to celebrate with him.)

That was the first time I saw the Rose Bowl.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. To that point, I was a huge NFL fan, and a big UCLA basketball fan, but I was not much of a college football fanatic. Then I stepped foot into the most beautiful stadium in college sports.

It was like an artist — or maybe a priest? — walking into the Sistine Chapel for the first time. My neck hurt from craning it so much. I already knew I wanted to be a sportswriter, but this was something new.

UCLA played Arizona that day, and when Cory Paus hit Brad Melsby for a 44-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-19 to take a 7-0 first-quarter lead, I was hooked. They wouldn’t score another point, while the Wildcats scored 33 straight, but it wouldn’t matter. I got it. The sun and the soda and the popcorn and the rivalry and the pageantry.

And now it’s gone.

Arizona, along with Arizona State and Utah, are reportedly set to join the Big 12 conference, the news coming in the same hour that Oregon and Washington’s defection to the Big Ten was official.

The Pac-12, as we know it and as some of us love it, is dead.

There will still be football at the Rose Bowl, of course. But it won’t be the same.

UCLA vs. Rutgers, for all the marbles?

Come on. This is college football, baby, the big bucks. We lost our marbles long ago.

*****

And to think, just this morning, there was one last glimmer of hope.

As the Pac-12 powers-that-be met in one last-ditch effort to save the conference, news broke that Oregon and Washington were having cold feet about leaving for the Big Ten, an 11th-hour reprieve that had the conference potentially saved from the mouth of a crocodile. Make that two — the Big Ten and the Big 12.

Could it be?

Would the conference be saved despite itself, for it was the actions of the Pac-12’s so-called leadership that put it in peril in the first place. First, the gamble by Larry Scott and the previous regime, which bet big on itself with the Pac-12 Network but could never land DirecTV,  fatal flaw the imperiled the league for years. Then, by current commissioner George Kliavkoff, who failed to act decisively after UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big Ten last summer.

Somehow, it appeared that, despite last rites being issued, the Pac-12, in some form, could survive all that. The Bruins and Trojans would be gone, and with them the Buffaloes, but all Kliavkoff would have to do was get the remaining 9 to see it through, even after Arizona appeared all but ready to leave as of late Thursday.

Then, not 2 hours later, The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy dropped the bombshell, his first of the day.

And there it was.

By midday, Oregon and Washington had both announced their departures.

It’s real. It’s happening. And it’s sad. So, so sad.

Here are some more thoughts from arguably the most significant day in college football history.

What’s next for The Core Four?

Cal and Stanford. Oregon State and Washington State.

Two bitter rivals, left in the cold. Two forgotten foils, once thought to be joined at the hip with their more famous in-state schools, forsaken in an age of big business.

All across the college football landscape, the Bears and Cardinal and Beavers and Cougars are getting their platitudes from fans who sympathize with their plight. They are now likely cast into a college football wilderness, relegated to some kind of merger with the Mountain West, who they might be outright forced to join. Once looking at paydays in the $20-to-$30 million range, they could be staring at future deals worth as little as $5 million. It’s a tragedy, really.

Cal and Stanford have to hope that their academic reputations — and, in Stanford’s case, at least semi-recent success on the football field — make them attractive expansion candidates once the Big 3 (sorry ACC, there is no longer a Power 5, and that includes you) decides to go to 20 or 24 teams.

The Bay Area media market is sizeable, even if turnout for home games is not, and that makes those schools more attractive than the Cougars and Beavers, who boast better fan bases.

With ESPN currently having little presence on the West Coast, maybe Wazzu and OSU are thrown a bone by the Big 12 at lesser shares.

Jilted, but motivated

I absolutely loved what Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith and Washington State coach Jake Dickert had to say Friday.

“I understand business, I understand change. Everyone’s gotta change and everyone has to adapt,” Dickert told the media Friday. “Wazzu will find its way. We have for 100-some years and we will again. … I want to double down on this team. Our coaching staff, these players, we’ve poured everything we possibly have into these guys. I wanna give them every ounce of everything I possibly have.”

And Smith …

“What we have in front of us is certain. These guys have built this program and worked so hard. To allow this to be a huge distraction, we’re not going to do it,” Smith said. “Guaranteed awesome home schedule. Big time opponents on the road this season. That’s where we’re locked in on. Obviously, there are plenty of questions … at this moment, I’m not going to have many answers. This team is locked in and excited about the idea of playing a 2023 schedule with a roster that has worked so hard. Couldn’t be more excited. And the idea of going into Reser Stadium that is going to be brand new. It’s going to be rocking like never before. We’re looking forward to that.”

Now that is leadership.

Coach Prime makes a point

Deion Sanders is one of the most shameless self-promoters in the game and certainly one to play college football’s current rules in his favor, but he made a great point on Friday.

When the players are the subject of such ire when they transfer, why aren’t the schools and administrators being held so accountable?

“Man, I don’t care nothing about no different teams moving,” Sanders said during his press conference Friday. “We’re trying to win, man. I don’t care what we play. I don’t care what conference, who we’re playing against. We’re trying to win. All this is about money. You know that. It’s about a bag (money). Everybody is chasing a bag. Then you get mad at the players when they chase it. How’s that? How do the grown-ups get mad at the players when they chase it when the colleges are chasing it.”

Once again, Prime is the only adult in the room.

A sigh of relief

Luckily for fans of all 4 Oregon and Washington schools at the heart of the matter, the Ducks and Huskies have pledged to uphold the traditional Oregon/OSU and Apple Cup rivalries of the past, including on the football field.

“The Big Ten is a thriving conference with strong athletic and academic traditions, and we are excited and confident about competing at the highest level on a national stage,” Washington President Ana Mari Cauce said in a release Friday. “My top priority must be to do what is best for our student-athletes and our University, and this move will help ensure a strong future for our athletics program.”

The UW is committed to preserving the rich tradition of the Apple Cup rivalry with Washington State University in all sports, including football.

“We are proud of our rich history with the Pac-12 and for more than a year have worked hard to find a viable path that would keep it together. I have tremendous admiration and respect for my Pac-12 colleagues. Ultimately, however, the opportunities and stability offered by the Big Ten are unmatched,” Cauce said. “Even with this move, we remain committed to the Apple Cup and to competing with WSU across all of our sports.”

She was joined in her sentiment by Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens.

In coming years, the UO will prioritize the long-held traditions, including competition across all sports with Oregon State University. The alliance puts UO student-athletes on a national stage, said UO Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Rob Mullens.

“Accepting membership into the Big Ten Conference is a transformational opportunity for the University of Oregon to change the short and long-term trajectory of our university and athletics department,” said Mullens. “The stability and exposure of joining the Big Ten is of great benefit to the University of Oregon, and we are grateful to the Big Ten presidents and chancellors for accepting our application to join the conference. We look forward to the opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in this conference, which includes many of the best programs in the nation in every sport.”

With UCLA and USC joining the Big Ten and Arizona and Arizona State joining the Big 12, two important rivalries will be maintained, while Utah rejoins Colorado and adds primary rival BYU back into its conference calendar.

All is not entirely lost.