University of Colorado

Founded in 1876 at the foot of the Flatirons, over 142 years has transformed the University of Colorado from a lone building on a bleak, windswept hill to one of the nation’s leading public research institutions. Established in 1861, the University was formally founded in 1876, the year Colorado became a state.

The Boulder campus encompasses over 1,100 acres on the main campus in the heart of town, east campus (which includes a research park), south cam- pus, Williams Village and the Mountain Research Station north of nearby Nederland (which supports ecology, chemistry and geology).

While over 33,200 students are educated on the Boulder campus, another 33,000-plus study at the University of Colorado at Denver, the University of Colorado Anschutz Campus (Aurora) and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Nine elected Regents and President Bruce Benson lead the four-campus system, while each campus has a Chancellor who serves as the chief academic and administrative United States Supreme Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White, former big officer. Dr. Phil DiStefano is in his ninth year as the chancellor of the band leader Glenn Miller and actors Robert Redford and Chris Meloni, Boulder campus. the latter starring for years on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and Philip Bailey, Students can enter any of 10 schools and colleges offering more co-founder of the popular music group Earth, Wind & Fire. than 3,900 courses in 150 fields, representing a full range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, physical and biological sciences, the If the aphorism, “Somewhere between the Rockies and reality,” fine and performing arts, and the professions. CU-Boulder is regularly seems too good to believe, then come for a visit. Start with a walk on ranked among the best of the United States’ public universities by the the historic Pearl Street Mall, a downtown pedestrian mall that is the Fiske Guide to Colleges, and a 2010 USA Today/Princeton Review survey ceremonial heart of the city. Visitors may be so taken in by the scenery rated the University of Colorado as the fifth-best value among American they may not realize the University that put it all together. From Pearl, public colleges. CU was recently ranked as the No. 33 university in the Broadway leads directly onto campus where the University of Colorado world by the Times Higher Education. Museum and the CU Heritage Center, in the original Old Main building, both introduce the University’s past and present. The hub of campus CU-Boulder has played a major role in NASA space programs, activity can be found at both the University Memorial Center (UMC) and designing and building many scientific instruments flown in outer space, the Center for Community (C4C). The ATLAS building is one of the most and graduated 17 men and women who became astronauts, including state-of-the-art structures on any college campus. the late Jack Swigert, one of the three astronauts in the crippled Apollo 13 mission who made it back to Earth safely from the moon. When the Take in the fresh mountain air on any part of 100 miles of trails and Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, it was carrying seven 30,000 acres of open space. Climb the Flatirons or in Eldorado Canyon major instruments, including a high-resolution spectrograph to study State Park. Swim or board sail at the Boulder Reservoir while elite the evolution of stars and designed and built by an international science runners sprint around it. Take in a pro sporting event down the road in team led by astronomer Jack Brandt of CU-Boulder. Since Hubble has Denver, just one of 13 cities with teams in all four pro leagues. been deployed, CU-Boulder faculty and students have been among the top users of Hubble of any institution in the world. CU- Boulder is the only university in the country where undergraduate students have operated a NASA satellite.

The University has produced 19 Rhodes Scholars, five of which were former football student-athletes at CU, with Jim Hansen the most recent recipient in 1992. Faculty member Thomas Cech, a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, won the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Other notable alumni other than athletes include former

2018 Colorado Volleyball 47 CUBuffs.com President Mark Kennedy

Mark Kennedy was named 23rd president Before the UND presidency, Kennedy served as director of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado on May 2, 2019, of Political Management at George Washington University. He has lectured or and officially started leading the CU system led research projects on five continents, including at the University of Cambridge, July 1, 2019. University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, , New York University, University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore and Kennedy, 62, oversees a university system Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. with four campuses (Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver and the Anschutz Medical From 2001 to 2007, Kennedy served in the U.S. House of Representatives, Campus in Aurora), some 67,000 students, first for Minnesota’s Second Congressional District (which includes the south Twin 35,000 employees and a $4.8 billion annual Cities metro area and all or parts of six counties) and then for its Sixth Congressional budget. District (seven counties to the northwest of Minneapolis). While in Congress, he sat on the Agriculture, Financial Services and Transportation committees, where he Before assuming the presidency of CU, established a reputation for bipartisanship. After leaving Congress, Kennedy was Kennedy distinguished himself in successful appointed to the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, serving roles in business, government and higher under both Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama. education. He came to CU from the University of North Dakota, where he served as president Before his time in government and higher education, Kennedy had a successful for three years (July 2016 through June 2019). career in business, including helping Pillsbury buy and expand Häagen-Dazs and serving as an executive on the leadership team of the company that is today known Kennedy firmly believes in the power of a public research university such as as Macy’s. Kennedy also served as the Global Retail Business Development Lead CU to improve lives and have a positive impact at home and around the globe. A for Accenture, a global management consulting and technology firm. first-generation college graduate from a family of modest means but a strong belief in education, Kennedy is a staunch advocate for increasing first-generation college Kennedy is the founder of the Economic Club of Minnesota and a member of the graduates while providing educational opportunities for all. Council on Foreign Relations. He founded the Frontiers of Freedom Lecture Series at his alma mater, St. John’s University, and authored Shapeholders: Business His focuses at CU include fiscal sustainability, keeping a CU education affordable Success in the Age of Activism, published by Columbia University Press. and accessible, elevating student success and growing CU’s significant research portfolio and economic impact. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., and a master’s in business administration (MBA) with distinction from the During his time at UND, Kennedy led the adoption and implementation of a University of Michigan in 1983. strategic plan that positioned the university for success in a fast-changing higher education environment. UND increased graduation rates by 10 percentage points He was born April 11, 1957 in Benson, Minn., and graduated from under his leadership, also expanded research and online offerings, underwent Pequot Lakes (Minn.) High School. Kennedy and his wife, Debbie, have four adult significant campus renewal and was listed among the 25 Most Innovative children and six grandchildren. Universities by U.S. News & World Report. Chancellor Phil DiStefano

Dr. Philip P. DiStefano is in his 11th year as the Chancellor at the University of Colorado Dr. DiStefano began a three-year term in August 2016 on the Board of Boulder. Prior to his appointment on May 5, Governors of the NCAA representing the Pac 12, within that role he was a member 2009, Dr. DiStefano was the top academic officer of the NCAA’s revenue distribution working group. He also served five years as at CU-Boulder for eight years as the Provost and the University of Colorado’s faculty representative to the Big 12 Conference, as he Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. assumed the role on June 1, 2000, and held it until appointing Dr. David Clough to He had also served as interim chancellor twice the position in the spring of 2005. He has been closely involved with the athletic during pivotal times in the university’s history. program for most of his time at CU, and in June 2016, was recently accompanied by athletic director Rick George to Italy to promote the university and the success Dr. DiStefano, 72, co-chaired the steering of its international students. committee for CU-Boulder’s visionary strategic plan, Flagship 2030, conceived with campus, As Chancellor he works closely with students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, community and statewide input, to guide the governing officials, and business and community leaders in extending CU’s legacy university for decades to come. Today, Dr. as a preeminent national comprehensive research university. DiStefano is shepherding its implementation as Flagship 2030 has moved from vision to reality. A first-generation college graduate, Dr. DiStefano earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio State University in 1968 and a Master of Arts degree in Dr. DiStefano has served CU-Boulder for 45 years, first coming to the University English Education from West Virginia University in 1971. He holds a Doctorate in of Colorado in 1974 as an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the Humanities Education from Ohio State University, where he served as a teaching School of Education. His academic career flourished as he assumed a series of and research associate. academic and administrative positions, including Professor, Associate Dean, Dean and Vice Chancellor. He was appointed Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Dr. DiStefano began his educational career as a high school English teacher in Academic Affairs in 2001. Ohio. He has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles on literacy education. He has established new initiatives to support students in their success, including an increased graduation rate. He also has set forth plans to create alternative He was born September 21, 1946 in Steubenville, Ohio, and graduated from sources of revenue and further advance CU’s reputation as a top comprehensive Steubenville Catholic Central High School. He has been married to the former national research university. Yvonne Pasquarella for 50 years, and the couple has three grown daughters, Gia, Nicole and Jennifer, and two granddaughters. Dr. DiStefano is considered a national authority on integrating intercollegiate athletics into the university academic mission. For the sixth consecutive year under In 2015, he served as the official starter for the 37th annual Bolder Boulder, the Chancellor DiStefano, CU’s NCAA Academic Progress Rate, which tracks student- city’s 10-kilometer race that is the fourth largest in the nation. He has been very athlete progress toward graduation, is the best in school history. active throughout his career in the Boulder Community, having previously served He serves on the board of directors of the Association of American Universities, on numerous boards, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. an association of North America’s most prestigious research universities, of which CU Boulder is the only member in the Rocky Mountain West.

48 Buffs Volleyball Provost Russell Moore

Dr. Russell L. Moore is now in his 10th year as the Provost and Executive Vice He co-chaired the Flagship 2030 Task Force on Research, Scholarship, Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the and Creative Works. University of Colorado, having assumed the position July 1, 2010. He holds an adjunct professorship in medicine (cardiology) at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Moore had enjoyed a long and distinguished career at CU, having previously He was an assistant and associate professor (1986-91) in the departments served as interim vice chancellor for research of medicine, cellular and molecular physiology at the Pennsylvania State from May 2009 to July 2010, and prior to University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa. His research focused on that appointment, he was the associate vice adaptations of the heart to physiological and pathological stress, particularly chancellor for research since 2006. as they related to the development of heart failure.

Dr. Moore served as chair of Kinesiology Dr. Moore earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the and Applied Physiology (now Integrative Physiology) from 1994 to 2001, and University of California at Davis in 1976, and a doctorate from Washington was an assistant professor (1984-86), associate professor (1993-96) and full State University in 1982. He did postdoctoral work at the University of Texas professor (1996-present) in that department. He is also an adjunct professor Health Science Center in Dallas (1981-84). in the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

FACULTY REP JOE JUPILLE

Dr. Joseph (Joe) Jupille, an associate at CU over a decade ago, serving on and then chairing the Boulder Faculty professor of political science, is in his second Assembly’s Intercollegiate Athletics Committee (IAC), which works with the year as the University of Colorado’s Faculty Department of Athletics in managing and thriving at the nexus of athletics Athletics Representative (FAR) to the Pac-12 and academics. He has served or continues to serve on a number of student- Conference, as he assumed the position on athlete-centered bodies such as the AD’s Academic Risk Assessment (ARA) July 1, 2017. committee, the Title IX Task Force chaired by Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) Ceal Barry in addition to many others. Dr. Jupille, 48, is only the seventh FAR in CU history, joining a very prestigious Jupille wants it all for CU student-athletes: a gold standard education, list: Walter Franklin (1947-1948), Warren unparalleled opportunity for personal growth and professional preparation, a Thompson (1949-1966), William Baughn chance to enjoy year-round fresh air and sunshine and develop ways of being (1967-1989), James Corbridge (1989-2000), well, and of course, a world class athletic experience. It is the FAR’s job to current CU chancellor Phil DiStefano (2000- bring a faculty sensibility to the pursuit of these goals. 2005) and Dr. David Clough (2005-2017). He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UC Santa Now in his 15th year at CU, he joined the faculty in 2005 and became Barbara in 1992, a Master of Arts in International Public Policy from the an Associate Professor in 2007. He founded and served as Director of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in 1995, and his Colorado European Union Center of Excellence (CEUCE) from 2008-15. Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington in 2000.

Professor Jupille’s research specializes in rules and institutions, which Prior to joining the CU faculty in 2005, he was an Assistant Professor of comes in handy in the world of intercollegiate athletics. With James Caporaso Political Science at Florida International University for almost six years (2000- (University of Washington) he is completing Theories of Institutions, which 05). distills understandings of rules across a range of disciplinary orientations. He has previously published Institutional Choice and Global Commerce (2013, He was born in 1970. He is married to the former Lisa Avanzino and with Walter Mattli and Duncan Snidal) and Procedural Politics (2004), the the couple have four children (Michael, Alex, Jackson and Julia). An avid latter of which centers on his core substantive and teaching expertise in the cyclist, he commutes daily to CU by bike from the town of Superior (six miles European Union (EU). He has been published widely in peer reviewed journals southeast of Boulder). He grew up as a fan of the Pacific 10 Conference and in and edited volumes, including in the Annual Review of Political Science, particular the California Bears but his allegiance is now sworn to the Buffaloes. Comparative Political Studies, European Political Science Review, International Organization and West European Politics.

Jupille has been involved with student-athletes almost since arriving

2018 Colorado Volleyball 49 CUBuffs.com Athletic Director Rick George

Rick George was named athletic director began and worked in the college athletic at the University of Colorado on July 17, 2013, world for the first half of his professional returning to Boulder where he helped play career, he stepped outside that box for the a role in the school’s first and only national second half. championship in football some 23 years earlier. George was with the Rangers for less George, 59, came to Colorado from the than three years, but saw the team win Texas Rangers baseball club of the American two American League championships and League, where he was named chief operating compile a 243-176 record (.580 winning officer on October 5, 2010 with a promotion to percentage) during his time there, second- president of business operations in February best in the major leagues during that time 2013. He agreed to a 5-year contract at CU, frame. As the COO, he worked closely with and he officially started on the job on August team president and CEO, baseball Hall-of- 12, 2013. In June 2016, the Board of Regents Famer Nolan Ryan, and was responsible approved a contract extension through 2020-21, and in June 2019, the Regents for all facets of the Rangers’ business once again extended him through the 2023-24 academic and athletic year. operations, including oversight of all sales and marketing efforts, broadcast He is just the sixth full-time athletic director in Colorado history, following in and communications, ticket and suite the footsteps of Harry Carlson (1927-65), Eddie Crowder (1965-84), Bill Marolt sales, naming rights, etc., in addition to (1984-96), Dick Tharp (1996-2004) and Mike Bohn (2005-13). Two others have overseeing the finance, human resource bridged directors in interim capacities, Jack Lengyel (six months between Tharp and operations departments. and Bohn) and Ceal Barry (two months between Bohn and George). Among his many accomplishments with the Rangers was a comprehensive His list of achievements in his first 1,000 days in the position were branding study that successfully rebranded the ball club, and an implementation many, but none more significant than shepherding through a $156 million of a new ticketing strategy that over the course of three seasons increased Athletic Complex Expansion from creation through fruition, gaining approval ticket revenues by over $30 million. The club’s attendance saw an increase of from the Board of Regents and then raising nearly one-half of the estimated cost 40 percent from the 2010 season to nearly 3.5 million in 2012, second in the to initiate construction, which began May 12, 2014. The project was the core of American League (behind the New York Yankees) and third in the majors. The the Sustainable Excellence Initiative (SEI), the jewel of which was a long-awaited 2013 numbers were on pace to exceed the 3 million mark again when he left the indoor practice facility. Once green-lighted, he spearheaded the most successful franchise for CU. fundraising campaign in athletic department history, raising over $100 million for the project. Prior to joining the Rangers, George served as executive vice president and chief of operations for the PGA TOUR for two-and-a-half years (beginning in By the end of his second year, George implemented the department’s June 2008). While with the TOUR, he worked with the corporate marketing first-ever comprehensive strategic plan, which mapped CU’s immediate and department in renewing sponsorships and creating new events. He also oversaw long range purpose and goals. He also redesigned the management teams, the Tournament Business Affairs division that worked with Tournaments to made tough budget decisions that reduced deficits he inherited (and has since increase tournament revenue. produced two budget surpluses), and canvassed the state, region and nation in both friend- and fundraising. The department is now in the second year of the He also worked for the PGA TOUR as president of the Champions Tour from second three-year plan orchestrated by George (through 2020-21). 2003-08, and as the executive vice president for championship management his last three years there. His major accomplishments included increasing revenues In his fourth year in the position (2016-17), 13 of CU’s 16 athletic and sponsorships and the development of strategic plans, the latter including a teams were at one time or another ranked among the nation’s Top 25 (including vision and mission statement as well as core values. The Champions Tour had all five in the fall; skiing is a coed program with combined rankings). Included grown to a minimum 29 events with over $55 million in prize money when he in that group was the football team, as the Buffaloes returned to the national left for the PGA TOUR. rankings for the first time in 11 seasons, in part due to George’s support of Mike MacIntyre as the program’s head coach and allowing him to follow through From 1998-2003, George served as President and CEO of the Fore!Kids with his plan to bring the Buffaloes back to national prominence. All but one Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that raised money for children’s charities team competed in the postseason, most in NCAA Championships, with football making it to a bowl game for the first time in nine years and both basketball teams going to their respective NIT events.

Near the end of his first year and most recently in his fifth, he was recognized by CU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as its choice for Staff Member of the Year; no token award, the group acknowledged his attendance at most home athletic events, regular meetings with team captains of all programs to interact with them and receive their feedback, and willingness to meet with any student- athlete and that his door is always open to them.

George brought the most diverse background to the position than any before him at Colorado: all five others had extensive and primarily exclusive college athletic histories, the only exceptions being when Marolt left CU after 10 years as ski coach to lead the U.S. Olympic ski team before returning, and Tharp, who was a university attorney with strong CU-Boulder campus ties. While George George’s first week on the job ... in 1987.

50 Buffs Volleyball Athletic Director Rick George

Bill McCartney’s Hall of Fame Salute at Folsom Field: Rick and granddaughter Harper at ESPN’s Basketball George, Joe Romig, Mac, . Game Day (February 2014).

via golf-related events, where he led rebranding and organizational efforts that promoted to assistant athletic director for football operations, not coincidentally resulted in increases in charitable giving to the Foundation. after the Buffaloes finished the regular season with an 11-0 record and the school’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking in the polls. CU lost to Notre Dame in At the collegiate level, George worked in three major conferences (Big Ten, the Orange Bowl and would finish No. 4, but came back to go 11-1-1 in 1990, Big 8, Southeastern) in football operations, beginning with his alma mater, the this time defeating the Irish in the Orange Bowl to earn consensus national University of Illinois, as football recruiting coordinator (1983-87). champion honors.

He graduated from Illinois in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts & Shortly thereafter, he left the Buffaloes for , where he Sciences Individual Study that had an emphasis on Sports Communication and was reunited with former CU offensive coordinator Gerry DiNardo, who was Journalism. He was a four-year letterman at cornerback for the Illini, playing in named the Commodores’ head coach a year earlier. In eight years at Vanderbilt 44 straight games and starting in 27 games in all, as he played two years each (1991-98), he also served as associate athletic director for external operations in under coaches Gary Moeller and Mike White. He was a two-time recipient of the conjunction with overseeing the football program. This was where George first school’s Bruce Capel Award, given for dedication and courage to honor Capel expanded his professional role outside of solely football, as he had oversight who lost his life serving his country in Vietnam; George received the honor for over all external departments, particularly in the area of managing budgets and his junior and senior seasons. developing marketing and promotional strategies for all sports.

Upon his graduation, White named him the assistant director for player George was born April 3, 1960 in Woodstock, Ill., and graduated from personnel for the Illini, and a year later (1983), he assumed the all sports Collinsville (Ill.) High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and recruiting coordinator. In March 1984, George took over the recruiting chores baseball. He is married to the former Nancy Green, and the couple has two grown solely for football, with his first class ranked No. 1 in the nation by the recruiting daughters, Jenni Reed (husband Tom) and Christi, and two granddaughters services with all in the top 20; he coordinated five classes in all at Illinois when (Harper and Maddie). the call came to take him out west to Colorado.

On March 2, 1987, Bill McCartney hired him as Colorado’s football recruiting coordinator. Two-and-a-half years later (Dec. 21, 1989), George was

2018 University of Colorado Board of Regents 2019-20 Board of Regents: Front row (left to right)—Heidi Ganahl, Sue Sharkey, Jack Kroll, Irene Griego (vice chair). Back row (left to right)—Linda Shoemaker, Lesley Smith, Chance Hill, John Carson, Glen Gallegos (chair). Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado.

2018 Colorado Volleyball 51 CUBuffs.com PAC-12 CONFERENCE

Conference History The roots of the Pac-12 Conference date back 102 years to December 2, 1915, when the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was founded at a meeting at the Oregon Hotel in Portland. The original membership consisted of four schools — the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon State College (now Oregon State University). All still are charter members of the Conference.

Pacific Coast Conference play began in 1916 and, one year later, Washington State College (now Washington State University) was accepted into the league, with Stanford University following in 1918.

In 1922, the PCC expanded to eight teams with the admission of the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Idaho. In 1924, the University of Montana joined the league roster, and in 1928, the PCC grew to 10 members with the addition of UCLA.

The Pacific Coast Conference competed as a 10-member league until 1950, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott with the exception of 1943-45 when World War II curtailed intercollegiate athletic competition to a minimum. During that time, the league’s first sports. CU participates in the MPSF in indoor track and has competed since commissioner was named. Edwin Atherton was commissioner in 1940 1950 in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) in skiing, and was succeeded by Victor Schmidt in 1944. In 1950, Montana resigned which is a coed sport. from the Conference and joined the Mountain States Conference, essentially The Pac-12 Conference offices are located in the heart of San Francisco’s replacing Colorado, which left for the Big 7 two years earlier. The PCC downtown district and are headquartered in the same building as the Pac-12 continued as a nine-team conference through 1958. Network. In 1959, the PCC was dissolved and the Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed and Thomas J. Hamilton was appointed Conference of Champions commissioner of the new league. The original AAWU membership included Built on a firm foundation of academic excellence and superior athletic California, Stanford, Southern California, UCLA and Washington. Washington performance, the Pac-12 Conference renewed its undisputed claim as the State joined the membership in 1962, while Oregon and Oregon State joined Conference of Champions® in 2018-19. Beyond the courts and fields, the Pac- in 1964. Under Hamilton’s watch, the name Pacific-8 Conference was 12’s accomplishments extend into the classrooms across 12 campuses, and adopted in 1968. In 1971, Wiles Hallock took over as commissioner of the outside its traditional geographic footprint into new corners around the world. Pac-8. The only conference to win 500 NCAA Championships, the Pac-12 once again On July 1, 1978, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University were led the nation in 2018-19 with 13 NCAA crowns. This haul adds to an incredible admitted to the league and the Pacific-10 Conference became a reality. In 188 NCAA team titles claimed since 1999-2000 and 330 since 1981-82, the start 1986-87, the league took on a new look, expanding to include 10 women’s of women’s sports sponsorship, an average of nearly nine per year. Even more sports. Tom Hansen was named the commissioner of the Pac-10 in 1983, a impressive has been the breadth of the Pac-12’s success with championships role he would hold for 26 years until 2009. Hansen was succeeded by current coming in 28 different men’s and women’s sports. The Pac-12 has led or tied commissioner Larry Scott, who took on the new role in July 2009. the nation in NCAA Championships in 53 of the last 59 years, with the exceptions During the 2010-11 academic year, Scott helped deliver monumental coming no lower than third. changes that transformed the conference into a modern 12-team league by adding the University of Colorado and the University of Utah. The addition of For the 14th-consecutive year, the Pac-12 had the most, or tied for the most, CU and Utah led to an agreement to equal revenue sharing for the first time in NCAA titles of any conference in the country, winning at least six every year since conference history, created two divisions (North and South) for football only, 1999-2000. No other conference has won double-digit NCAA crowns in a single established a football championship game for the first time ever, secured a year, the Pac-12 doing so 11 times, including a record 14 in 1996-97. landmark media rights deal that dramatically increased national exposure and revenue for each school and established the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Spanning over a century of outstanding athletics achievements, the Pac-12 has Digital Network that guaranteed enhanced exposure across all sports. claimed 526 NCAA Championships (304 men’s, 191 women’s, 31 combined), over 200 more than the next league. Colorado accepted its invitation to join the Pac-12 on June 11, 2010, as the Buffaloes were the first domino to fall in a change of the national landscape Pac-12 members have won 304 NCAA team championships on the men’s side, which, in just one week, saw Nebraska also leave the Big 12 and join the Big 85 more than the next-closest conference. Men’s NCAA crowns have come at a 10, Boise State depart the WAC for the Mountain West, TCU jump from the phenomenal rate for the Pac-12 - 16 basketball titles by six schools, 54 tennis MWC for the Big East (before eventually landing in the Big 12). Less than a titles, 47 outdoor track & field crowns, and 29 baseball titles. Pac-12 members week later on June 17, Utah agreed to join CU to make it an even dozen in have won 25 of 49 NCAA titles in volleyball, 45 of 50 in water polo, 31 in skiing, the Pac-12. Big-time rivals for the first half of the last century, the Buffaloes and 25 in swimming & diving national championships. and Utes officially became the 11th and 12th members of the Conference on July 1, 2011, the first additions to the league since 1978. During the On the women’s side, the story is much the same. Since the NCAA began 33 years between expansions, Pac-10 teams claimed 258 NCAA titles (130 conducting women’s championships 38 years ago, Pac-12 members have women’s, 128 men’s). claimed at least four national titles in a single season on 29 occasions, including every year except one since 2000-01. Overall, the Pac-12 has captured 191 At present, the Pac-12 sponsors 11 men’s sports and 13 women’s sports, NCAA women’s titles, easily outdistancing the SEC, which is second with 103. having added women’s lacrosse for the first time for the spring of 2018. Pac-12 members have dominated a number of sports, winning 24 softball titles, Additionally, the conference schools are members of the Mountain Pacific 24 tennis crowns, 16 volleyball titles, 19 of the last 30 trophies in golf, and 17 Sports Federation (MPSF) in four other men’s sports and two women’s in swimming & diving.

2019 Colorado Volleyball 52 BuffsCUBuffs.com Volleyball PAC-12 CONFERENCE

Individually, the Conference has produced an impressive number of NCAA individual champions. Over 2,000 (2,379) individual crowns have been won by Pac-12 student-athletes over the years with 2018-19 QUICK REVIEW 1,383 by male student-athletes. Pac-12 women student-athletes have captured an unmatched 808 The Conference’s 13 NCAA titles came in the form NCAA individual crowns, an average of over 21 championships per season, including 29 in 2018-19. of eight women’s, four men’s crowns and one from Student-athletes have also captured 188 individual titles at combined championships (i.e., skiing a combined sport. Seven Conference members and fencing). claimed at least one NCAA title and, of the five institutions in the country to have won multiple titles, two were from the Pac-12. In addition to the 13 national championships, the Pac- 12 also had runners-up in six NCAA Championship events. In nine sports, there were at least two teams among the final four and 33 teams finished in the top four at 21 NCAA Championship events, including all- Pac-12 finals in beach volleyball, men’s water polo and women’s water polo. Participation in the postseason was a common occurrence for the Pac-12 in 2018-19. Of the 24 sports sponsored by the Conference, 19 witnessed at least half its teams participating in NCAA or other postseason action. The men sent 63 of a possible 95 teams into the postseason (66.3 percent), while the women sent 79 of a possible 130 teams (60.8 percent). Colorado claimed the 2018 NCAA women’s cross country title - the program’s third - increasing the school’s count to 28. The men’s cross country team placed fourth while the ski team finished third at the 2019 championships. The women’s track & field team placed ninth at the NCAA Outdoor, the second-best finish in program history. CU has won 20 skiing titles (11 men’s, one AIAW women’s and eight coed) and eight cross country (five men’s, three women’s); the Buffs also were the consensus national champions in football in 1990, but since it is not an NCAA-sanctioned championship, it doesn’t count toward the Pac-12’s total of 513. The Buffaloes also participated in NCAA women’s volleyball, lacrosse, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor and track CU won back-to-back men’s NCAA cross country titles in 2013 and 2014. and field championships.

Petra Hyncicova won both the classic and free- David Ketterer swept the giant slalom and slalom races at Dani Jones was the 2019 national champion style races at the 2017 NCAA’s. the 2017 NCAA Ski Championships. in the outdoor 5,000-meter run.

53 Buffs Volleyball