This season, the Pacific-10 Conference reached a historic landmark in football and basketball.
Three Pac-10 teams — Arizona, Stanford and USC — reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament last month, and three teams finished the football season ranked in the top 10 in the final Associated Press poll (Oregon, Oregon State and Washington). The only other conference to accomplish such a feat was the Southeastern Conference in 1986.
While the popularity of football and basketball have brought the Pac-10 national recognition, as well as high revenues, other conference sports have dominated the national limelight in a greater fashion.
Take Pac-10 softball, for example.
No other conference has won more NCAA softball titles than the Pac-10. And no other conference has a constant stream of talent coming into its programs like the Pac-10.
“There is no doubt, for anyone who follows the sport, that the Pac-10 is far and away the best softball conference in the country,” said Larry Cain, director of media relations for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. “It’s the only conference where virtually the entire membership has the ability to be ranked in the top 25 at the same time. And there’s not a word of protest from any other conference because it’s legitimate.”

Because it’s a Pac-10 school, Oregon State is the only squad in the country to start conference play 0-5 and still be ranked. The Beavers are No. 16 in the NFCA/USA Today Poll.
To add fuel to the fire:
Five of the eight Pac-10 schools are ranked in the top nine.
In the 2000 College World Series, six of the eight teams were from the Pac-10.
Since 1982, Pac-10 teams have won 13 NCAA championships.
Pac-10 pitchers have thrown 13 no-hitters this season.
Except for Oregon, which fell out of the poll last month, all the Pac-10 schools are currently ranked. This makes competition a great preparation for the rigors of postseason play.
Washington head coach Teresa Wilson, who has led the Huskies to five straight World Series appearances, said that playing in the Pac-10 is “nothing short of war.”
“Every single game is played against an opponent that is capable of playing for the national championship,” Wilson said. “This Pac-10 war is good. It is exciting. It is great softball. It’s like the Yankees and the Braves playing every day. It is simply part of the process toward preparation for postseason play.”
With warm weather year-round, a high population base and first-class instruction, Cain said California and Arizona have proved to be the ultimate pools for gathering young players. In 1999, for example, 26 of the 52 All-Americans were from California. And 11 of the top-25 teams are currently West Coast teams.
But Cain said other conferences — particularly in Texas and Florida — are slowly gaining power and are ready to battle with the Pac-10.
“The Southeastern Conference is coming on strong,” said Cain, pointing out No. 3 Alabama, the only non-Pac-10 team in the top five. “The instruction is getting much better in the other parts of the country.”
On the other hand, Cain did admit that the Pac-10 has shown “no signs of slacking off.”