Commentary: Huskies looking to put some respect on the Pac-12 as it heads into the sunset

HOUSTON – Don’t, for a minute, call this a Big Ten matchup.

Washington vs. Michigan may turn out to be a mainstay for years to come, but right now the Huskies are reppin’ the Pac.

The dissolution of the Pac-12 was the biggest story in college football this season. Decades of tradition and West Coast rivalries will soon become a relic.

But as UW gets set to tango with the Wolverines in the national championship game Monday, the conference it emerged from is almost as significant to players and coaches as the colors they don. The league may be folding, but the Huskies plan to prove that it’s a league of its own.

“It’s big,” said Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. when asked how important representing the Pac-12 will be Monday. “The Pac-12, I feel like, in my opinion, was the toughest conference this year all around. At one point in time we had eight teams ranked in the top 25. I feel like that speaks for itself.”

Is the Pac-12 a respected conference? Is the East Coast – or really any other part of the country but the West – bias real? It’s not as if Heisman voters won’t award the trophy to someone from that time zone, as they did with USC’s Caleb Williams last season. But there is a feeling among Huskies that their league isn’t held in the same esteem as others around the country.

Is it because the conference hasn’t produced a national champion in nearly two decades? Or is it just blatant disregard?

“I think the Pac-12 has been slept on for the entire time that it existed and for me, sadly, it’s coming to an end,” Huskies receiver Rome Odunze said. “But, you know, the West Coast will still be represented in these new conferences. Hopefully people around the nation will be able to watch regardless of time zones and different things. So, for me it means a lot to be able to be out here representing west coast football and, you know, go put on a show.”

Do you think that disrespect is real? I asked Huskies offensive lineman Troy Fautanu, who was very aware that most of the ESPN College Gameday crew picked Texas to beat them last Monday.

“I do,” Fautanu said. “I mean, we’ve spoken (to that) a lot during last week. Just kind of people – so, yeah, it is for sure a real thing. I think so.”

I’ve alluded in the past to an interview that former Huskies football coach Rick Neuheisel gave a few years back in regards to the Pac-12. He essentially said that the conference wasn’t recruiting big – and I mean pure size here – enough players. They were getting manhandled on the field, which might explain why, before this season, there hadn’t been a CFP representative from the Pac in seven years.

Well, the Huskies plan to prove that this has long been a top-tier league, even if it’s fading away.

“The last seven, eight years I’ve been on the West Coast, and just seeing all the great teams and coaches and players that have come through just in my short time, I think there’s certainly an emotional tie to what this conference is,” Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “I’m just really proud of – I think we’re at the forefront of all this right now, but there are so many good football teams in the Pac-12 this year.”

Emotional may be the operative word here. Emotions have swirled around the subject of conference realignment, and they certainly haven’t all been positive. Some schools, such as Washington State and Oregon State, got the short shrift with no major conference to tie themselves to. And even schools such as Washington, which latched on to the Big Ten, have to part with tradition and an easier travel schedule.

But the Pac-12 means a lot to these guys. Has from very beginning.

“Obviously we are repping the Pac-12 and our hometown. You know, it’s awesome that we get to be the last Pac-12 team. To be able to get this opportunity, you know, and we made it this far. We earned it,” Huskies defensive end Bralen Trice said. “It has been a while since we got one (a national title), and it’ll be the last chance for a Pac-12 team to get one. So a great feeling, and blessed, grateful to be in the seat.”

It’s been 32 years since the Huskies were in position to win a national title, and this will be the first time they’ll have a chance to claim it all to themselves.

But they’re playing for more than just their school Monday. If they move to the top of the pack, they want everyone to know that they’re reppin’ the Pac.