Entering the 2004-05 season, the Pacific-10 Conference continues to uphold its tradition as the "Conference of Champions." ® Pac-10 members have claimed an incredible 84 NCAA team titles over the past 10 seasons, for an average of more than eight championships per academic year.

Even more impressive is the breadth of the Pac-10's success, as those 84 team titles over the past nine seasons have come in 21 different men's and women's sports. The Pac-10 has now led the nation in NCAA Championships 39 of the last 44 years and finished second five times.

Spanning nearly a century of outstanding athletics achievement, the Pac-10 has captured 336 NCAA titles (246 men's, 90 women's), far outdistancing the runner-up Big Ten Conference's 197 titles.

The Conference's reputation is further proven in the annual United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup competition, the prestigious award that honors the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. STANFORD continued its remarkable run in the 2003-04 season, winning its 10th consecutive United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup. In the 2003-04 competition, four of the top-10 and seven of the top-20 Division I programs were Pac-10 members: No. 1 STANFORD, No. 3 UCLA, No. 8 WASHINGTON, No. 9 CALIFORNIA, No. 15 ARIZONA, No. 16 ARIZONA STATE and No. 20 USC.

The Pac-10 captured 11 NCAA titles in 2003-04, more than double of any other conference. The Pac-10 total of 11 NCAA titles was followed by the Southeastern Conference, which was runner-up with five NCAA crowns, and the Big Ten, which had four. And it should be noted that the Pac-10 total does not include USC's national championship in football or CALIFORNIA's in rugby, as they are not counted as NCAA titles. The 11 titles for the Pac-10 is the most for the Conference since it had 11 in 1997-98. The Pac-10 had the most NCAA titles of any conference in women's sports with eight, and tied with the SEC and Big Ten for most in men's sports with three. NCAA team champions from the Pac-10 in 2003-04 came from: UCLA (women's gymnastics, women's golf, softball, women's track and field), STANFORD (men's and women's cross country and women's tennis), USC (women's volleyball and men's and women's water polo) and CALIFORNIA (men's golf). The Pac-10 also had runners-up in six NCAA Championship events: men's golf (UCLA), men's and women's tennis (UCLA), men's swimming and diving (STANFORD), men's water polo (STANFORD) and softball (CALIFORNIA). Overall, the Conference had 21 teams finish in the top three at NCAA Championship events.

Participation in the postseason was a common occurrence for the Pac-10 in 2003-04. Of the 22 sports sponsored by the Pac-10, 18 witnessed at least half its teams participating in the postseason. The men sent 57 of a possible 87 teams into the postseason (65.5 percent), while the women sent 66 of a possible 99 teams into NCAA Tournament action (66.7 percent).

The Pac-10 experienced continued success in football as the league sent six teams to bowl games. USC won the Rose Bowl and earned a share of the national title, as the Trojans finished first in the Associated Press poll. WASHINGTON STATE represented the Conference in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. For the second straight season, both USC and WASHINGTON STATE found themselves ranked in the top-10 in the nation at the conclusion of the season, finishing No. 1 and No. 9, respectively. CALIFORNIA, OREGON, OREGON STATE AND UCLA also earned bowl bids. Overall, the Conference posted a stellar 39-17 (.630) record versus non-conference foes in 2003.

The Pac-10 also showed its worth on the basketball court, as it sent three teams into the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. The STANFORD Cardinal captured both the Pac-10 regular-season and Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament titles, becoming just the third team to win both crowns outright in the seven-year history of the tournament. On the women's side, three teams competed in the NCAA Championship, while the league had a team reach the Sweet Sixteen for the 20th time in the last 23 seasons. Pac-10 Co-Champions ARIZONA and STANFORD battled in the State Farm Pac-10 Tournament final, and the Cardinal emerged victorious. STANFORD carried that momentum into the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, advancing to the Elite Eight for the second time since its 1997 Final Four run.

The Conference continued its dominance in softball as seven of eight teams earned trips to NCAA regional play, marking the sixth consecutive season the Pac-10 has sent at least seven softball teams to the postseason. CALIFORNIA, STANFORD, UCLA and WASHINGTON made it to the Women's College World Series, where the defending champion Bruins and Golden Bears battled for the national title. It was the 11th time Conference teams have faced each other in the championship game, and the 21st time in 23 years the Pac-10 has sent at least one team to the title game. The Bruins persevered to win their 10th NCAA softball crown.

The Conference also swept NCAA team golf honors, as UCLA captured the women's national title and California claimed the men's trophy. In fact, the league grabbed the top three spots at the men's golf championships, with UCLA and ARIZONA finishing second and third, respectively. Women's volleyball proved to be another showcase of Pac-10 talent, as a record five teams advanced to NCAA regional action. USC marched into the Final Four and won its second consecutive NCAA title, the Pac-10's 11th volleyball crown overall.

On the men's side, Pac-10 members have won 246 NCAA team championships, far ahead of the the 187 claimed by the runner-up Big Ten. Men's NCAA crowns have come at a phenomenal rate for the Pac-10 - 15 basketball titles by five schools (more than any other conference), 48 tennis titles, 45 outdoor track and field crowns, and 24 baseball titles. Pac-10 members have won 23 of the last 35 NCAA titles in volleyball, 30 of the last 45 in water polo, and 20 total swimming and diving national championships.

Individually, the Conference has produced an impressive number of NCAA men's individual champions as well, claiming 1,079 NCAA individual crowns.

On the women's side, the story is much the same. Since the NCAA began conducting women's championships 23 years ago, Pac-10 members have claimed at least four national titles in a single season on 15 occasions. Overall, the Pac-10 has captured 90 NCAA women's crowns, easily outdistancing the Southeastern Conference, which is second with 60. Pac-10 members have dominated a number of sports, winning 17 softball titles, 15 tennis crowns, nine of the last 14 volleyball titles, 11 of the last 15 trophies in golf and eight of the last 16 in swimming and diving.

Pac-10 women athletes shine nationally on an individual basis as well, having captured an unmatched 428 NCAA individual titles, an average of nearly 19 champions per season.

The roots of the Pacific-10 Conference go back nearly 89 years to December 15, 1915, when the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was founded at a meeting at the Oregon Hotel in Portland, Ore. Original membership consisted of four schools - the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon State College (now Oregon State University). All still are charter members of the Conference.

Pacific Coast Conference play began in 1916. One year later, Washington State College (now Washington State University), was accepted into the Conference, and Stanford University joined in 1918.

In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of the University of Southern California and the University of Idaho. Montana joined the Conference in 1924, and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA.

The Pacific Coast Conference competed as a 10-team league until 1950, with the exception of 1943-45, when World War II curtailed intercollegiate athletic competition to a minimum. In 1950, Montana resigned from the Conference and joined the Mountain States Conference. The PCC continued as a nine-team Conference through 1958.

In 1959, the PCC was dissolved and a new Conference was formed - the Athletic Association of Western Universities. Original AAWU membership consisted of California, Stanford, Southern California, UCLA, and Washington. Washington State became a member in 1962, while Oregon and Oregon State joined in 1964. In 1968, the name Pacific-8 Conference was adopted.

Ten years later, on July 1, 1978, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University were admitted and the Pacific-10 Conference became a reality. In 1986-87, the league took on a new look, expanding to include 10 women's sports.

Currently, the Pac-10 sponsors 11 men's sports and 11 women's sports. Additionally, the Conference is a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in four other men's sports and two other women's sports.

Edwin N. Atherton was named the Conference's first Commissioner in 1940. He has been succeeded by Victor O. Schmidt (1944), Thomas J. Hamilton (1959), Wiles Hallock (1971), and current Commissioner Thomas C. Hansen in 1983.

The Pacific-10 Conference offices are located 25 miles east of San Francisco in Walnut Creek, Calif.