In February 2000, five traditional Pacific 10 schools decided to leave the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and form a new five team affiliation.  The five schools were UCLA, Stanford, Washington, California, and Oregon State.  The NCAA requires a minimum of six teams in order to qualify as a conference so the teams competed for at-large bids to the 2000 NCAA Tournament.  The primary reason that the schools left the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation to form the new affiliation appeared to be the fact that the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation by nature of its composition did not receive a high ranking in the 1999 NCAA College Cup tournament due to the conference’s overall weak strength of schedule.  The result cited in particular was the fact that in 1999 the UCLA Bruins finished the season with an 18-2 record and a high national ranking yet the NCAA seeding process,based primarily on the strength of schedule criteria, required the Bruins to travel east to face a Virginia Cavalier squad that had completed the 1999 season with a 12-8-1 record.  That is one of the reasons for the formation of the new Pacific 10 alliance that began in the 2000 season. 

 

Let’s look at a few factors that might indicate how successful the move was.

 

First, how did the five schools fare in terms of invites to the Big Dance in 2000.  Stanford, Washington, and U.C.L.A. all got invites.  Three out of five teams is definitely good.  

 

Stanford finished regular season play with a record of 16-2-1 and was awarded the number 3 seed in the NCAA Tourney.  In NCAA Tourney the Cardinal hosted Cal. State Fullerton who they thumped 4-0, Illinois-Chicago who they thumped 6-0, and then S.M.U. who defeated them 2-1.  

 

Washington finished regular season play with a record of 13-5-0.  They hosted U.A.B. from Conference U.S.A. in first round action and won 1-0.  They hosted Indiana in the second round and lost 2-1. 

 

U.C.L.A finished the regular season 12-6-0 after winning their first 8 games.  They  had to travel to play San Diego in the first round and lost 1-0 in O.T.  

 

Second, let’s look at how they fared in terms of national rankings. 

 

Stanford, Washington, and U.C.L.A were all ranked in the top 20 at some time during the year.  Stanford and U.C.L.A. both had a number one ranking in some polls at one time or another during the year.  The final NSCAA ranking had Stanford as the number 6 team in the country and Washington as the number 18 team.  Mad Dog Soccer’s American College Top 30 final regular season poll issued on November 11 had Stanford as the number 3 team in the nation, Washington as the number 15 team, and the U.C.L.A. Bruins as the number 30 ranked team in the country.   Three out of five nationally ranked (two at the number one spot at one time during the season). 

 

Third, let’s look at how the five teams fared against non-conference opponents and specifically teams from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and against the West Coast Conference.  

 

Against non-conference opponents their combined record was 38-20-1 in 2000.  Against only schools in the MPSF they had a combined record of 9-5-1 in 2000. Washington was 3-0-0, UCLA was 3-1-0, Oregon St. was 2-2-0, California was 1-2-0, and Stanford was  0-0-1.  (In 1999, the five schools had a combined record of 24-10-1 in MPSF play.) 

 

This year the five Pacific 10 teams had a combined record of 11-6-0 against teams in the West Coast Conference (WCC).  UCLA was 4-0, Stanford was 3-0, Oregon St. was 2-2, Washington was 1-2-0 and California was 1-2-0.

 

Fourth, let’s look at how the five teams fared when playing any non-conference opponents who were in the NCAA Tournament Field of 32.  Against non-conference teams in the NCAA 32 team field they were they were 6-5-1.

 

Washington was 2-1-0 with wins over Rhode Island, C.S. Fullerton, and a loss to Creighton. 

Stanford was 2-0-1 with wins over Dartmouth, and Indiana, and a tie with San Jose State. 

UCLA was 1-1 with wins over Indiana and a loss to C.S. Fullerton. 

Oregon State was 0-1-0 with a loss to Illinois-Chicago.

California was 1-2-0 with a win over Indiana and losses to St. Louis and San Jose State. 

 

Fifth, let’s briefly look at how the MPSF and the WCC fared.  In the MPSF San Jose St. and C.S. Fullerton both received bids to the NCAA tourney.  In the WCC San Diego received a bid to the NCAA tourney.  Both San Jose St. and San Diego had great years and were ranked at the top in most national polls.    

 

All things considered this appears to have been a very successful inaugural year for Pac. 10 soccer.  If the formation of a Pac 10 Conference for men’s soccer sways Arizona, Oregon, Arizona St., Southern California, or Washington St. to begin a men’s soccer program and join the conference then the formation of this five team alliance will prove to have been a major step forward for men’s college soccer in the United States.