Pac-12 football fans will be quick mourn the conference’s lack of national clout among other teams in the country. Oregon holds continues to make strides in recruiting and win conference titles, but the conference as a whole isn’t quite on their level. But one football program an athletic department does not make!
There are other sports the “Conference of Champions” excel at on a national stage. AJ and Dusty decided to rank each Pac-12 athletic department based on performance across all sports offered at the universities.
Both hosts believe Oregon ranks #1 based on sheer dominance in football and men’s/women’s basketball. Then things get complicated…
AJ believes Stanford comes in at #2 for their consistent performance in football and excellence in women’s basketball. It also helps the school is flush with cash to finance training for Olympic sports like rowing. Her next pick is UCLA at #3. Sure, their football may be in a perpetual transition period, but look at the success in other sports. Their gymnastics program is consistently putting out top notch talent for the Olympic games.
Track and field is also a strong suite for the Bruins. It’s through these Olympic sports the school is able to command respect on the national stage.
Dusty placed USC at #3 because of their overall quality of play in every sport. Football, baseball and basketball are always solid teams. It’s also important to note USC’s dominance in track & field and tennis (it’s a sport, damn it!).
FOR A FULL LIST OF AJ AND DUSTY’S PICK, PLAY THE SEGMENT IN THE AUDIO PLAYER ABOVE!
