{"id":2258615,"date":"2024-06-03T13:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T17:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/last-game-concludes-as-conference-realignment-is-now-set-to-split-league\/"},"modified":"2024-06-03T13:49:35","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T17:49:35","slug":"last-game-concludes-as-conference-realignment-is-now-set-to-split-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/last-game-concludes-as-conference-realignment-is-now-set-to-split-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Match Marks the End of Conference Realignment, Leading to League Division"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flast-game-concludes-as-conference-realignment-is-now-set-to-split-league%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2258615&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u200b last emotional Pac-12 softball game between Stanford and UCLA marked the end before the conference&#8217;s split due to realignment.\u2064 Stanford&#8217;s victory advanced them to the Women&#8217;s College World Series semifinals. This division will see prominent teams moving to new conferences, affecting the rich history and\u2064 competitive legacy of the sport extensively. The final emotional \u200cPac-12 softball match \u2062between Stanford and UCLA signaled the conclusion before the conference&#8217;s impending split caused by realignment. Stanford&#8217;s win propelled them into the Women&#8217;s College World Series semifinals. This shift will result in notable teams transitioning to new conferences, significantly impacting the sport&#8217;s storied history and competitive heritage.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sports\/\">  Sports <\/a>    <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ap-reports\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ap-reports\/%20\"><span>The Associated Press<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   June 3, 2024 at 4:38am <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>Stanford and UCLA players and coaches were emotional when it sunk in they had finished the last game between Pac-12 softball teams before the league splits up due to conference realignment.<\/p>\n<p>Stanford defeated the Bruins 3-1 on Sunday night in a Women\u2019s College World Series elimination game and will carry the conference\u2019s banner into the semifinals.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Stanford defeats UCLA to advance to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WCWS?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WCWS<\/a> Semifinals! \ud83c\udf32<\/p>\n<p>Highlights \u2935\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oQdU1TwmMQ\">pic.twitter.com\/oQdU1TwmMQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pac12\/status\/1797461061320294647?\">June 3, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s sad,\u201d Cardinal coach Jessica Allister said. \u201cIt\u2019s just sad because it has been the greatest softball conference in the country. When you look at the history of the conference, even the present of the conference \u2014 it\u2019s not just even really that close.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-absolute-chaos-erupts-police-take-anti-israel-ucla-encampment-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UCLA<\/a> star Maya Brady said it was an honor to be a part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youre-seeing-a-lot-of-old-ways-come-up-kyrie-irving-says-racism-to-blame-for-poor-treatment-from-fans\/\" title=\"\u2018You\u2019re Seeing A Lot Of Old Ways Come Up\u2018: Kyrie Irving Says Racism To Blame For Poor Treatment From Fans\">final game<\/a>, though the result was bittersweet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s super sad because in the Pac, we\u2019re very proud of our conference, the conference of champions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Current members of the conference have dominated the sport for most of its existence.<\/p>\n<p>UCLA has the most World Series championships with 12, and Arizona is second with eight.<\/p>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-container\">\n<p>Are you a fan of softball?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Arizona State won <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duke-basketball-coach-mike-krzyzewski-to-retire-after-the-2021-2022-season\/\" title=\"Duke Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski To Retire After The 2021-2022 Season\">national titles<\/a> in 2008 and 2011; Washington won in 2009 and has three runner-up finishes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/california-softball-team-gets-brutal-reception-when-it-kneels-for-national-anthem-during-game-in-the-south\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California<\/a> was runner-up in 2003 and 2004. Oregon has been a national power for the past decade, Stanford has qualified for the past two years, Oregon State made it in 2022 and Utah qualified in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Those programs will spread out next year. UCLA, Washington and Oregon will join the Big Ten; Utah, Arizona and Arizona State will head to the Big 12; and Stanford and Cal will enter the Atlantic Coast Conference. Oregon State will be an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso, who has won seven national titles and will go for an eighth this week, remembers trying to compete with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/pac-12-conference-crumbles-mass-exodus-schools-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pac-12<\/a> teams early in her coaching career and said getting beat by those teams helped her understand what greatness looked like.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that history doesn\u2019t go away because that\u2019s where this started,\u201d she said. \u201cIt started on the West Coast, then it lended itself over to Texas A&#038;M, Fresno State, different teams across the country. Then it came to Oklahoma, then to Michigan. You saw it starting to spread itself. It wouldn\u2019t have happened without elite teams on the West Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alabama coach Patrick Murphy, who won the national title in 2012, got upset just thinking about the league\u2019s breakup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a sad day,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really is. I think whoever made the decisions did not do them for the right reasons. There\u2019s no way in hell that Cal and Stanford should be going to Virginia Tech, Florida State, Syracuse. Are you kidding me? Those are two great academic institutions. Somebody made that decision?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Allister said she\u2019ll miss the Pac-12, but she\u2019s looking forward to new challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only thing certain in college athletics right now is things change,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to be comfortable in that change, find the good in that change. We\u2019re excited to be members of the ACC, excited to build new rivalries, excited to compete against phenomenal academic institutions that have broad-based excellence in their sports programming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gasso said the conference will live on through the memories of those who witnessed it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not even part of the Pac-12, but I am part of the love of this sport and the history of it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat kind of leaves a hole. But I\u2019m going to try to keep teaching our program about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-info-44902\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ap-reports\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p><label for=\"summary-tab-radio-44902\">Summary<\/label><label for=\"more-info-tab-radio-44902\">More<span> Biographical Information<\/span><\/label><label for=\"posts-tab-radio-44902\">Recent<span> Posts<\/span><\/label><label for=\"contact-tab-radio-44902\" onclick=\"if( typeof grecaptcha=='undefined' ) { let cap_s=document.createElement( 'script' ); cap_s.src='https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api.js?render=6LeJFcsUAAAAAPsIEqvB1EebWbZfqRUe6ebMpGy7'; document.body.appendChild( cap_s ); }\">Contact<\/label><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Associated Press is an independent, not-for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-case-involving-trump-17-house-democrats-and-the-biden-administration\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Involving Trump, 17 House Democrats, and the Biden Administration\">-profit news cooperative headquartered<\/a> in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world\u2019s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stanford and UCLA players and coaches were emotional as they realized they played the final Pac-12 softball game before the league splits due to realignment. Stanford triumphed 3-1 against UCLA in the Women&#8217;s College World Series on Sunday night<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2258616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Stanford.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2258615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Stanford.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2258616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}