Pac-12 Network's Ashley Adamson signs off with Bruce Springsteen quote after final Pac-12 Tournament

The curtains are closing on the Pac-12. This summer, 10 of the conference’s 12 programs will officially leave the Pac-12 behind. After Oregon defeated Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship on Saturday, Pac-12 Network host Ashley Adamson left fans with a heartwarming message.

“There are so many people behind the scenes. A lot of them are here,” Adamson said. “I love you all. Thank you and all of you watching at home, you know who you are. Thank you for everything you’ve done. The reality is we don’t really know what’s ahead.

“There is a ton of uncertainty we work in an age in college athletics when the only that’s guaranteed is more change. So, as we sign off tonight, I’m going to leave you with some words from my favorite artist, Bruce Springsteen: ‘Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact. But maybe everything that dies some day comes back.'”

If the Pac-12 returns, it likely won’t look the same. The only schools set to be in the conference next season are Washington State and Oregon State. Despite its grim circumstances, the conference has still shown signs of life.

On Feb. 19, the conference appointed Teresa Gould as the new commissioner. ESPN’s Pete Thamel claimed the move may signal the Pac-12 doesn’t plan on dissipating.

“To me, naming a commissioner, giving her a multi-year contract, and sort of casting things forward, hints that the Pac-12 does not want to go away,” Pete Thamel said on The College GameDay Podcast. “There’s obviously been rumblings of how or maybe when buyouts allow it, they could take the best of the Mountain West, poach a few other schools, and try to compete with the AAC for that fifth league.”

The Pac-12 and the Mountain West do currently have a scheduling agreement in place. Basically, in 2024, all Mountain West teams will play seven conference games and one game against Oregon State or Washington State. That way, the remaining Pac-12 schools can fill gaps in their schedule.

“Now, this is all speculative. This hasn’t gone down the road of it. But, if you noticed, the basketball in those two schools is in the WCC. It’s not in the Mountain West,” Thamel said. “To me, that’s always hinted at a little bit of a divide going forward. So, Oregon State and Washington State, with that great Pac-12 brand, you can’t argue with the brand, try to recast themselves in the future, and I think by putting a very good commissioner in place to push forward, that’s going to be alive for a while.

“I don’t think you put someone in that role to just play out the string. I think you have a bigger plan moving forward and I think that’s what will potentially emerge in the next couple years of what will that look like. That move, to me, says they’re not content to just fade away.”