Fans clearly miss Pac-12 After Dark but it may not be permanently gone quite yet

Midnight overtimes and unpredictable storylines were just a part of the beloved games dubbed 'Pac-12 After Dark' while the conference still had all 12 of its members.

Now Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA are in the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are in the Big 12. Stanford and Cal are in the ACC. Only Washington State and Oregon State remain, and it's difficult to make an After-Dark staple with only two teams left.

Fans, throughout the season, have joked that some of the late-night games this year have given off an aura of the Pac-12 After Dark features but it hasn't been quite the same.

However, not all is lost quite yet, the Pac-12 might just rise from the ashes, and Pac-12 After Dark may have its return.

Ross Dellenger at Yahoo Sports reported that the conference is targeting multiple Mountain West teams in an attempt to rebuild the Conference of Champions.

The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars are reportedly targeting teams such as the Boise State Broncos, Colorado State Rams, Fresno State Bulldogs and San Diego State Aztecs in an effort to resurrect the currently dismal landscape of the Pac-12.

"Those schools are expected to soon apply or have already applied for membership into the conference, the first step in the process to complete the deal," Dellenger reported. "They would join the league starting with the 2026 school year."

The Pac-12 named Teresa Gould as the conference's new commissioner just before the end of the 2023-24 season, on Feb. 19, 2024.

Gould has spent the past seven months finding a way to rebuild and reshape the once formidable conference.

Nicknamed the Conference of Champions in 2011, the Pac-12 amassed 561 NCAA national championships and was the first conference to ever reach 500 total national titles.

Read more: