Saturday evening featured what appears to be the last Pac-12 championship game, but as a defendant in unanswered competitive litigation, the event might not be going away anytime soon. The Arizona Wildcats defeated the USC Trojans 4-3 to seize the Pac-12 sports event name. The sport, held at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona, is probably the last Pac-12 activity for a meeting that began in 1915 and has produced some of the greatest players in British history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Phil Mickelson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Barry Bonds, John Elway, Annika Sörenstam, Lisa Leslie, Ed O’Bannon, Tiger Woods, Reggie Bush, Kelsey Plum and many other praised sports all played in the Pac-12. Over the last couple of years, the Pac-12 has morphed into the de facto Pac-2. Just Oregon State and Washington State will still be people in the 2024-25 educational time. Their sports teams may be aligned with the Mountain West Conference, while sports and other activities will be aligned with the West Coast Conference. The different 10 Pac-12 universities have joined another Power events. Despite having a two-school squad, the Pac-12 may continue to operate under the Pac-12 product. It’s probable the Pac-12 was repair and put new users under new commissioner Teresa Gould. Failed tries to communicate media rights deals economically similar to another Power meetings played an instrumental role in the Pac-12’s fate. Even though the conference’s historic past and geographic sense for games played by full-time university students who are supposed to emphasize schoolwork were reasons to keep the group together, the allure of cashing in proved very attractive. Member universities are based in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington while the departing colleges are joining meetings spread out over the state. When longstanding foes UCLA and USC announced they were leaving for the Big Ten, the Pac-12’s death was good sealed. The Pac-12’s collapse led Oregon State and Washington State to reimburse and demand they have decision-making power over property and hundreds of millions of dollars in meeting income used to manage sport programs. Those two schools argued that, under conference bylaws, the departing schools forfeited their roles once they announced they were joining other conferences. The parties reached a settlement last December, with the departing schools each having$ 5 million withheld from their 2023-24 revenue distributions and each agreeing to pay$ 1. 5 million to the conference. The departing schools also agreed to “provide specific guarantees against potential future liabilities. ” The future liabilities of the Pac-12 aren’t an abstract topic. The Pac-12 is a named defendant in players ’ antitrust litigation against the NCAA and the Power conferences. Last Thursday the Pac-12 joined the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and NCAA board of governors in approving a settlement term sheet. It contemplates roughly$ 2. 7 billion in payments reflecting players ’ lost opportunities for NIL, video game and broadcasting revenue. The settlement would also radically restructure college sports so that schools and conferences can directly pay athletes in an arrangement featuring salary caps and revenue sharing like those used by the NFL, NBA and other pro leagues. But as Sportico explained, there is no actual settlement yet and there won’t be one likely for months. The NCAA, conferences and attorneys for the players must still find agreement on important details, including how much each school must pay and how morphing amateur college sports into pro college sports will comply with Title IX, immigration and other laws. The deal also has n’t been negotiated with a players ’ union, so the non-statutory labor exemption does n’t apply and settlement terms are subject to potential antitrust challenge. Likewise, the settlement does n’t resolve whether college athletes are employees and can unionize, a topic playing at the National Labor Relations Board and, through Johnson v. NCAA, at the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The union for players on the Dartmouth College men’s basketball—the first group of college players recognized as employees and who then unionized—has already warned the settlement is not a substitute for employment and unionization. The settlement will also have to overcome potential objections and legal challenges by players and dissatisfied member schools. It will need approval by U. S. District Judge Claudia Wilken and, if Wilken’s approval is challenged, by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and possibly the U. S. Supreme Court as well. There are many hurdles ahead. While the Pac-12 might not be playing games anymore, its attorneys will be busy at work.