My efforts to reconstitute the conferences comprising college football are starting to garner some attention and I am sure Paragon SC will find this next proposal intriguing, as will our colleague at Bruins Nation.
A quick review of the bidding thus far reveals that I have unveiled new and improved editions of the Sun Belt, Conference U.S.A., the M.A.C., the Mountain West, and the newly devised Central Conference.
I now introduce the latest freshly minted conference, which is more accurately described as a revival of a dormant league whose time has come 'round once more: the Pacific Coast Conference.
The P.C.C. was a forerunner of the present-day Pac-10. The U.S.C. Trojans, for instance, began competing in the Pacific Coast Conference in 1922, the year Southern California made its first trip to the Rose Bowl, going 10-1 against a schedule that began with a win over the U.S.S. Mississippi and ended with a victory over Penn State in Pasadena. Along with the Ducks and the Beavers, the Huskies were a part of the P.C.C. from 1916 and the Cougars joined their in-state rivals in the league a year later.
You sank my battleship!
Bid farewell to the current Pac-10 and welcome back a modified version of the historic Pacific Coast Conference. Take a look at a map and tell me this doesn't make a lot more sense:
Northern Division:
California
Nevada
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Southern Division:
Fresno State
San Diego State
San Jose State
Southern California
U.C.L.A.
U.N.L.V.
Aficionados of West Coast football should greet this realignment fondly. After all, there is no better way to dispel once and for all the perception of the Pac-10 as a "finesse" league than to replace it with a conference whose membership includes a team with a smash-mouth motto: "Shut up and hit somebody."
Pat Hill . . . not a fellow known for his finesse.
While the Silver State, like the Copper State, is land-locked, the replacement of Arizona and Arizona State with Nevada and U.N.L.V. makes geographic sense, as California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington are the four westernmost of the continental United States.
Besides, it'd be fun to see John Robinson's old school (U.S.C.) take on his final coaching stop (U.N.L.V.), just as we got a good game out of Howard Schnellenberger's former teams, Miami and Louisville, in 2004.
There also is something to be said for a league whose member institutions' major media markets are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle. Such a reorganization of conference affiliations could serve to boost the profile of a team like the Aztecs, who have flown under the radar since registering back-to-back wins over the Golden Bears in 1994 and 1995.
The preceding mention of the California Golden Bears reminded me that now would be a good time to break out this picture of Kristin Davis at the Golden Globes. See, they both have "golden" in their names. That's the connection. Oh, fine, like you could come up with a better excuse.
Obviously, in-state rivals Nevada-Reno and Nevada-Las Vegas would be permanent cross-division opponents, as would California and Southern California. An annual shootout between Oregon and Fresno State would be fun to watch and it would be fitting to pit Washington against San Diego State in a yearly clash of squads attempting to reclaim the glory days of the early 1990s. That leaves Washington State to compete annually with U.C.L.A. and Oregon State to square off with San Jose State each autumn.
The P.C.C. league championship game would take place each year at Candlestick Park . . . regardless of whatever monstrosity of a name the San Francisco 49ers' football stadium goes by these days.
That, in a nutshell, is the 21st-century version of the Pacific Coast Conference.
Coming up next . . . the Eastern Conference.
Go 'Dawgs!