Entering the 2007-08 season, the Pacific-10 Conference continues to uphold its tradition as the "Conference of Champions."® Pac-10 members have claimed an incredible 146 NCAA team titles over the past 17 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 146 team titles have come in 24 different men's and women's sports. The Pac-10 has led the nation in NCAA Championships 41 of the last 47 years and finished second five times.

Spanning nearly a century of outstanding athletics achievement, the Pac-10 has captured 359 NCAA titles (254 men's, 105 women's), far outdistancing the runner-up Big Ten Conference's 212 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 2006-07 season, winning its 13th consecutive Directors' Cup. In the 2006-07 competition, seven of the Top-30 Division I programs were Pac-10 members: No. 1 STANFORD, No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 USC, No. 9 CALIFORNIA, No. 10 ARIZONA STATE, No. 24 ARIZONA and No. 29 WASHINGTON. The Pac-10 landed five programs in the Top-10, two more than the second-place SEC (2).

The Pac-10 captured eight NCAA titles in 2006-07 to lead the nation. It should be noted that the Pac-10 total does not include CALIFORNIA's national championship in men's rugby or WASHINGTON's national championship in men's crew, as they are not counted as NCAA titles. The Pac-10 led the nation with the most NCAA titles in women's sports with five.

NCAA team champions from the Pac-10 in 2006-07 came from ARIZONA (softball), ARIZONA STATE (women's indoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field), CALIFORNIA (men's water polo), OREGON STATE (baseball), STANFORD (women's cross country and men's golf) and UCLA (women's water polo). The Pac-10 also had runners-up in seven NCAA Championship events: men's soccer (UCLA), women's volleyball (STANFORD), men's water polo (USC), women's water polo (STANFORD), men's swimming (STANFORD), women's swimming (ARIZONA) and women's tennis (UCLA). Overall, the Conference had 32 teams finish in the top four at NCAA Championship events.

Participation in the postseason was a common occurrence for the Conference in 2006-07. Of the 22 sports sponsored by the Pac-10, 19 witnessed at least half its teams participating in NCAA or other postseason action. The men sent 62 of a possible 90 teams into the postseason (68.1 percent), while the women sent 74 of a possible 100 teams (74.0 percent).

The Pac-10 experienced continued success in football as the league sent six teams to bowl games. USC and CALIFORNIA were named co-Pac-10 Champions with identical 7-2 league records. The Trojans capped their season with a 32-18 win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Overall, the Pac-10 went 3-3 in postseason bowl games with ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA, OREGON, OREGON STATE and UCLA also earning bowl appearances. USC, CALIFORNIA and OREGON STATE found themselves ranked in the Top-25 in the nation at the conclusion of the season, finishing fourth, 14th and 21st respectively (Associated Press).

The Pac-10 was the premier basketball conference this season, as it sent six teams to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. UCLA advanced to the Final Four, falling just short to Florida in the semifinals. The Bruins captured the Pac-10 regular season championship, while OREGON earned the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament crown. On the women's side, four teams competed in the NCAA Tournament. ARIZONA STATE reached the Elite Eight for the first time in school history, while STANFORD claimed the 2006-07 regular season title and the State Farm Pac-10 Tournament Trophy.

The Conference continued its dominance in softball as all eight teams earned trips to NCAA regional play, the most out of any conference in the nation. ARIZONA claimed its eighth national title, and second in as many years, in a three-game championship series against Tennessee. It marked the 19th national championship by a Pac-10 team since 1982. With a 15-5-1 Conference record, ARIZONA picked up the 2007 Pac-10 crown, while earning the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. OREGON STATE claimed the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, becoming the first team in a decade to repeat as College World Series champion. The Beavers won all five of their CWS games, including a sweep of North Carolina in the best-of-three finals, and trailed for only one of 45 innings they played in Omaha.

The Conference also swept NCAA men's and women's water polo honors. CALIFORNIA captured the men's title, while UCLA garnered the women's hardware, claiming the school's 100th NCAA team championship and becoming the first athletics program in the nation to reach the century mark. The ARIZONA STATE women claimed both indoor and outdoor track & field NCAA titles. The feat marked just the 13th time in NCAA women's history that a team has won both the indoor and outdoor team titles in the same year. STANFORD picked up two national championships, securing the men's golf title, as well as the women's cross country crown, its second in as many years.

On the men's side, Pac-10 members have won 254 NCAA team championships, far ahead of the the 195 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), 49 tennis titles, 45 outdoor track and field crowns, and 26 baseball titles. Pac-10 members have won 25 of the last 38 NCAA titles in volleyball, 33 of the last 48 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 1,146 NCAA individual crowns.

On the women's side, the story is much the same. Since the NCAA began conducting women's championships 26 years ago, Pac-10 members have claimed at least four national titles in a single season on 18 occasions. Overall, the Pac-10 has captured 105 NCAA women's crowns, easily outdistancing the SEC, which is second with 70. Pac-10 members have dominated a number of sports, winning 19 softball titles, 17 tennis crowns, 11 of the last 17 volleyball titles, 11 of the last 18 trophies in golf and eight in swimming and diving.

Pac-10 women athletes shine nationally on an individual basis as well, having captured an unmatched 488 NCAA individual titles, an average of more than 18 champions per season.

The roots of the Pacific-10 Conference date back over 90 years to December 2, 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.