A long time ago, it seems now, we did our first version of this piece on Pac-12 Friday. As the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions winds down its final basketball in its traditional form, it’s to see where this current season stands in the grand scheme of things, as well as if there are any updates to make to that December 2020 listicle. We know the conference may endure with a different lineup, but this still feels like the end.

To recap, these were the best seasons in league history through the 2020 Covid season, in reverse order:

  • 1975 (Honorable Mention); 2020; 1999; 2008; 2000; 2016; 2009; 1991; 1997; 1995; 2001 (best ever)

With a just one weekend of the regular season remaining, this is where we stand now, in reverse order:

  • 2020 (HM); 1999; 2008; 2000; 2016; 2021; 2009; 1991; 1997; 1995; 2001 (best)

The 2021 season ended up cracking the Top 10: the Oregon Ducks won the regular-season title, while the Oregon State Beavers surged to the tournament title and the autobid to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, 5 teams made it to March Madness, with the UCLA Bruins reaching the Final Four despite being forced to play in the play-in round as an 11 seed. They finished ranked 17th in the SRS overall; go figure the seeding.

We’re going to toss in this wild card right now, too: the current season ranks 12th all time in conference history, in terms of sabermetric quality for the league as a whole. Right now, the Arizona Wildcats have clinched the regular-season title, and the conference tournament will be next week/end. After that comes, March Madness. With a strong finish to the season, perhaps the 2024 finale could work its way onto the list.

Once the dust settles on this year, and we get a firmer idea in the future of what the Pac-12 Conference will “mean” going forward, we can re-assess our coverage. For now, this is going to serve as the last Pac-12 Friday piece for awhile. We have no plans to replace it with a B1G Friday column, for example, even though we have spent a lot of time working on B1G history pieces as well. We’re kind of over college sports, anyway, right?