West Coast college football survey: What do former Pac-12 fans think now?

The 2024 college football season came to a close on Monday night. For the majority of the schools in the former Pac-12, it was the first year in a new conference. It was an adjustment for coaches, players and 10 different fan bases. To better understand how it went, we asked fans of those schools how they felt about their favorite team’s first year in a new league.

We received over 1,200 responses.

Which program do you root for?

How do you feel about the trajectory of your program after one year in a new conference?

Do you believe the talent in your new conference is considerably better or worse than in the old Pac-12?

Do you believe the coaching in your new conference is considerably better or worse than in the old Pac-12?

Do you enjoy being in your new conference more than the Pac-12?

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How the first year in a new league went will be colored by a team’s circumstances. When asked how they felt about the trajectory of their program, 46.2 percent of the readers felt better after the latest round of realignment. With Oregon fans leading the way with the most responses, that answer is probably not a surprise. The Ducks went 13-1 and won the Big Ten in their first season.

Arizona State’s fan base is also feeling good after winning the Big 12 and reaching the College Football Playoff. Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham has the program way ahead of schedule, which has created plenty of optimism.

Colorado is another former Pac-12 program that enjoyed more success in its new (but old) home in the Big 12. Other fan bases, such as USC, Utah, Arizona, Stanford and UCLA, might have differing thoughts after enduring disappointing seasons.

Nearly 40 percent of responders believe the talent level in their new league is about the same as in the Pac-12 while 37.4 think there’s better talent in their new conference.

Just under 60 percent said that the coaching in their new league is comparable to what it was in the Pac-12.

A whopping 75 percent of the responders said they enjoyed their new conferences less than the Pac-12. We’ll get into some of their reasons for that later on.

How did being in a new conference affect how much you traveled to games?

What were your thoughts on kickoff times in your new conference?

How do you feel about your program’s recruiting since changing conferences?

After realignment dramatically altered the makeup of West Coast football, do you find yourself liking college football more or less?

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The majority of responders (57.6 percent) stated that they don’t travel to attend games. But 29.2 percent acknowledged that they traveled less this season, which is no surprise considering travel is much more extensive in these new leagues, whether in the Big Ten, ACC or Big 12.

Kickoff times were a major point of frustration for many fans back in the Pac-12 days, with late kickoffs making it difficult for people outside of the footprint to watch the league’s best teams. One of the positive aspects of realignment was better kickoff times — 46 percent of responders believe the start times were better than they were in the Pac-12.

Oregon and USC continue to be the best recruiting programs out West, but 45.6 percent of fans feel better about their program’s recruiting after moving to a new league. Fair or not, the Pac-12 had a perception problem on the recruiting trail.

Realignment brought major change to the sport this season, particularly west of the Mississippi River. And 48.1 of the responders said they like college football less as a result.

We ended the survey with three open-ended questions that allowed readers to share their thoughts about the new landscape.

Note: These responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What do you like most about your new conference?

“We benefit from the media bias enjoyed by the Big Ten.”

“Fewer 7:30 pm starts.”

“Football isn’t a hobby, it’s sort of a lifestyle in the Big 12.”

“The ability to win the conference in one season is all I need.”

“Not being asked ‘But who did you beat?’ when you win the conference.”

“I like that B1G refs generally let the players play, as opposed to Pac-12 refs constantly inserting themselves into the game and flagging every little thing they possibly can.”

“Moving to the B1G 10 has made it so much easier to watch my alma mater play sports with the conference network being offered nationally on YouTube TV. The Pac-12 network was impossible to watch as an East Coast alumni.”

“The atmospheres are incredible, tremendous amount of buy-in from most programs and a clear commitment to football and winning. The tradition of the Big Ten stands out.”

“Actual exposure and a cash infusion that our program desperately needs”

“A few more opportunities to watch games on Peacock, I guess?”

“The idea of getting to play against Bill Belichick.”

“We get to spread the word of our Dark Lord Oski to new disciples.”

What do you like least about your new conference?

“Geographical nonsensicalness.”

“Set of cities is way less palatable to travel to for road games than the Pac-12. SLC, Boulder, Tucson, Tempe, Bay Area, Seattle were all awesome easy accessible A+ trips. Iowa City, Happy Valley, Piscataway, East Lansing, Bloomington … are far, often multi-stop flights that have NOTHING happening besides college sports. … No truck stops in the conference of champions.”

“It will be much harder to win the conference than it was in the PAC.”

“Competing against schools that geographically we have no connection or rivalry with. In our local areas, we work with many Pac-12 alumni but not many ACC. It’s killed some of the fun discussions and banter because we all live in separate worlds now. There was something beautiful about West Coast football and competing with each other even if the rest of the country didn’t care.”

“Everything other than the opportunity to play conference games vs. BYU is worse. … This iteration reminds me of the last days of the WAC and its four pods. If the Big 12 isn’t the Ottoman Empire of college sports, it might well be the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the NCAA.”

“It’s not so much the long travel. I’m fine with going to Chicago, New York, or Detroit. It’s the long AND out of the way travel that sucks.”

“Loss of the uniqueness of the Pacific region. Team travel is terrible. Football is at least manageable, but other sports suffer. Football kickoff times can range from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time.  I thought the “After Dark” a.k.a. Nobody Else is Awake to Watch games would be done with, but they’re not.  And now we have to deal with 9 a.m. kickoffs too because of games in the Central and Eastern times scheduled.”

“B1G football is so boring! Such an unimaginative and bland group of coaches and programs. The games always seem to go to script. Excluding this season, since 2005 there have only been five programs that have won a B1G football championship. In those 19 seasons, Michigan or Ohio State won it 13 times. Yes, the Pac-12 rarely had a true contender for a national championship, but the conference was exciting!”

“Why are we playing UCF?”

“That Washington is in it.”

“Did we really have to bring Oregon along?”

“Friday night games.”

“The cost of tickets in the BIG 10 makes attending games in certain stadiums nearly impossible. That was never true in the Pac-12.”

“The refs weren’t better, like I assumed they would be.”

“No divisions makes tie-breaker scenarios complicated and teams’ control of their path is more difficult.”

What’s the biggest difference between your new conference and the old Pac-12?

“Money money money money!!!”

“We won this one and could never win that one.”

“The lines are way more physical in the Big 10 but quarterback play in the Pac-12 was wayyyyyyy better.”

“Schools and presidents/ADs who seem to understand college athletics.”

“No blue bloods.”

“We’ve gone from arguably the biggest brand in the conference to possibly the fifth biggest?”

“We got (ESPN’s College) GameDay this year! Being in an East Coast conference got this town a chance to show how much we love the game despite it not being our calling card!”

“People at least stay awake to watch our games.”

“Without divisions, I think it will take a lot longer to develop new rivalries.  There aren’t any Big 12 teams that I “hate” just yet. I’m sure that will come, but not yet.”

“The Big Ten is much better run. It’s more professional — in a good sense. The Big Ten network is excellent and far more accessible than the Pac-12 Network, which had excellent on-air talent but lame distribution.”

“Loss of identity. It feels fake and lame. Miss the regional aspect. Even with Colorado and Utah added, it felt right. But I felt ill watching the Huskies play at Rutgers, Indiana, Penn State and Iowa and having those be conference games. I’d feel that way even if we won any of them.”

“The talent floor feels higher. There are fewer weeks where you can afford to take an opponent lightly.”

“Integrity and logic.”

“THE COMMISSIONER! The scar tissues Larry Scott left are indelible.”

(Top photo: Tom Hauck / Getty Images)

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