Sometimes conferences have Golden Ages. Think of the Big East's three Final Four teams in 1985. Or the SEC’s clobbering everyone in recent years in college football.

The Pac-12 is currently not in a Golden Age.

Last winter it was shut out of the college football championship playoff. But it confidently sent out nine of its members into lesser bowl games.

They went 1-8, with the only win coming from Utah in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Washington State managed to lose the Holiday Bowl to Michigan State by 42-17.

The basketball season has not been delightful either.

Three U.C.L.A. players were arrested in China for shoplifting, leading to an intervention by President Trump. The F.B.I. reportedly launched an investigation into six-figure payments to land star recruits, with Arizona among those programs implicated. The university surprised many when it retained Coach Sean Miller despite the allegations, which Miller continues to deny.