By Pat Marrujo for DieHardDevil.com

Our time in the Pac 10 conference has come to an end. It is now time to move forth to a new generation of a college athletics. The Pac 12 conference is now the most advanced in the nation, but still remembers its humble roots.

Pre-Pac 10:

The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was formed in 1915 and consisted of California, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington. However, expansion was on the horizon.

In 1917, just two years after the original formation, Washington State became the first new addition to the PCC. Following Washington State’s footsteps, Stanford joins the quickly expanding league the following year.

The trend of conference growth continued over the next decade and by 1928 the PCC consisted of 10 universities: California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington and Washington State.

After the departure of Montana in 1950 and a “pay-to-play” scandal tainted the conference’s reputation, experienced years of chaotically trying to save their conference.

Then finally in 1964, they got the band back together. The Big Eight Conference was formed, unofficially recognized as the Pac 8. The conference consisted of everyone from the PCC conference, except Montana and Idaho.

The Pac 10 Era Begins:

In 1978 the Pac 8 welcomed Arizona and Arizona State to the conference, creating the Pac 10.

Both teams came from the Western Atheltic Conference, where the Sun Devils were a perennial power. From 1969 to 1977, ASU won the conference seven times in eight years under legendary coach, Frank Kush.

The Devils carried their success over to their inaugural season in the Pac 10, finishing the season ranked 19th nationally and with a Garden State Bowl Bid and victory over Rutgers University.

The teams in the Pac 10 stayed the same from 1978 until 2011. During that time the conference enjoyed a reputation for being very even and full of parity. Each team won at least one conference championship during that stretch, ASU winning three times (1986. 1996, 2007)

However, there is a different prize in mind for every Pac 10 team, the Rose Bowl. Dubbed “ The Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl is the game that every Pac 10 team strives for.

The Sun Devils are tied for fourth in the conference with two Rose Bowl appearances (1987 and 1997). Their first (1986) a 22-15 win against Michigan.

The only Pac 10 teams to never have competed for a Rose Bowl are Oregon State, California and of course, Arizona.

The Pac 12 is Formed:

On July 1, 2011, the Pac 10 conference officially welcomed its  first new members since 1978. The addition of Colorado and Utah have opened many doors for the conference, now referred to as the Pac 12.

The expansion has brought forth new business, technological and promotion opportunities that is makes the Pac 12 the most progressive conference in the nation.