2024 will be the last year of the Pac-12 conference as we know it, with all but two schools departing for new conference homes. While many see this significant shift as a positive when it comes to baseball, Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Wasikowski sees it as anything but that.
The Pac-12 has a substantial claim as the best conference when it comes to college baseball. And as Oregon and a handful of other representatives prepare for the regional round of the NCAA tournament Wasikowski took a moment to sound off on what the Pac-12’s meant to the game.
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“I can only speak on the conference side of it from the baseball angle, you know,” opened Wasikowski. “I’m disappointed because in the baseball side of it, college baseball was built from the Pac-12, Pac-10, Pac-6— the ‘Pac’ conference in college baseball pioneered college baseball. It was the best. Period.
Wasikowski wasn’t through there, as he proceeded to bring receipts about his claim that the Pac-12 is the greatest conference in the land when it comes to baseball. The Oregon Ducks head coach also pointed out a number of legendary great coaches who have contributed to the conference’s success.
“[There have been] more national championships, considerably more national championships, in this league. 29 national championships in Pac baseball,” Wasikowski proclaimed. “The second-place conference is the SEC, that is very strong now, at 16. So, 29 for the pack and 16 for the SEC; that’s a big gap from first and second place. So, for that conference to dry up in baseball is obviously disappointing because of the strength of it.”
“The coaches that have come through the league [are] tremendous coaches: Mark Marquess, Andy Lopez, Rod Dedeaux at USC, Bob Milano at Cal; the list is really thick. So many great, great coaches in this league. John Savage [is] currently a national championship coach at UCLA… There’s been so many national championships in the conference that it’s disappointing to me that it’s drying up.”
To further Wasikowski’s point, the USC Trojans are the standard bearer in terms of college national championships. Their 12 college baseball titles put them just four behind the entirety of the SEC. It is also worth noting that the SEC has won the last four College World Series, with the most recent being won by the program that ranks second in national titles, the LSU Tigers.
Wasikowski does not view this entirely as a tragedy. He is actually using the Pac-12’s implosion as a rallying point for his program during this year’s tournament.
“At the same point in time, you can flip it and say it’s an opportunity for us last remaining Pac schools to go through this tournament and make our mark,” Wasikowski said. “End with another Pac national championship, and there’s a couple of teams that have that opportunity, us being one of them. So what a great chance. That’s my message to the team today.”
Oregon will have the opportunity to fulfill Wasikowski’s challenge starting on Friday in the Santa Barbara regional of the NCAA tournament. The Ducks will open regional play against San Diego, with the opening pitch scheduled for 12:00 PM PT. Ducks fans can catch all the action on ESPNU or stream it live using the ESPN app.
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