Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Your Pac-12 Starter Kit Is On The Way
June 14, 2011 | General, B.G. Brooks
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The Universities of Colorado and Utah have been waiting a little over a year to join the tradition-rich Pac-10 Conference, which announced last June it would expand to 12 members and officially become the Pac-12 this summer.
Thus, administrators, coaches, athletes, students and fans at both schools theoretically have been ticking off the days until their historic conference shift - CU leaving the Big 12, Utah exiting the Mountain West.
The date to remember: 7/1/11.
Call it Christmas in July.
New conference membership for CU and Utah and expansion for the Pac-10 becomes official on July 1, and beginning Wednesday for 12 business days (Monday-Friday) CUBuffs.com will publish a Pac-12 Countdown.
For CU fans, it's an official Pac-12 Starter Kit.
From Wednesday through July 1, basic information - location, founding date, enrollment, sports offered, official websites, etc. - will be detailed for each conference school.
Plus, there will be page headings such as NCAA Team Championships, Top 12 Student Athletes, Other Famous Alumni, Shining Moment and Bet You Didn't Know.
Also included will be various videos and Classic CU game stories - memorable contests from past years matching the Buffs against their future conference partners.
And, each CU coach will offer a brief overview of his/her sport and the competition they expect to encounter in the Pac-12.
The daily information will run from the obvious to the obscure.
A taste of the obvious: If the NCAA made NASCAR a team sport, Stanford might pick it up. The school's website lists 36 men's/women's sports. The Cardinal has had at least one NCAA team champ since the 1976-77 school year . . . Stanford and UCLA are at the top of the conference - and nation - in NCAA team titles won . . . USC's list of stage/screen luminaries is eye-popping (Will Ferrell, Tom Selleck, John Wayne, George Lucas, Ron Howard to name five) . . . Most of Utah's teams answer to Utes, but the school's women's gymnastics team calls itself the "Red Rocks."
A sample of the obscure: Dean Witter rowed for Cal . . . Oregon State alum Pinto Colvig was the original Bozo the Clown . . . Using his wife's waffle iron to develop sure-grip rubber soles, Oregon alum/track coach/running icon Bill Bowerman designed some of Nike's best-selling running shoes. Often credited for introducing America to jogging, Bowerman served in the 10th Mountain Division in Leadville . . . And where did "The Wave" begin? Washington fans will make a case for it originating in 1981 in Husky Stadium in a football game against Stanford.
Here's some of what CU and Utah can expect in their new neighborhood: The Pac-12's academic standards will be impressively high, its athletic standards comparable. The Pac-10 has proudly touted itself as "The Conference of Champions" - and the numbers are there to back up the claim.
Last week in Oklahoma City, Arizona State won its second NCAA Softball title in four years, giving the conference an unprecedented 400th team championship. The Pac-10 is the undisputed national leader in NCAA team titles for 45 of the past 51 years, with UCLA (107) and Stanford (101) both topping the century mark in all-time team championships.
Best advice for the Buffs and the Utes: Hit the ground winning.
The 12 Days of The Pac-12 - Christmas in July - begins Wednesday on CUBuffs.com.
Contact: BG.Brooks@CUBuffs.com
