The Pac-12 may have faded from the college football landscape, but its legacy is still very much alive-and thriving-through the players who once called it home. Nowhere was that more evident than this past weekend, when Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza took home the 2025 Heisman Trophy, capping off an undefeated 13-0 season and pushing the Hoosiers to the top of the national rankings. Mendoza is now the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
But before he was lighting it up in Bloomington, Mendoza was a Cal Bear. He spent three seasons in Berkeley, developing in the shadows of a Pac-12 conference that, at the time, was in its final days.
And he’s not the only one. Mendoza is part of a remarkable wave of talent that came out of the Pac-12’s swan song in 2023-a group that has since scattered across the college football map and into the NFL, leaving a trail of accolades and success in their wake.
The 2023 season marked the end of the Pac-12 as we knew it, closing the book on a 108-year history filled with tradition, late-night thrillers, and a unique West Coast flair. But while the conference’s structure crumbled, its final roster of stars may be remembered as one of the most talented groups in recent memory.
That year produced three Heisman winners and three additional finalists-all of whom played for Pac-12 programs. Today, those names are headlining Sundays in the NFL.
Caleb Williams, who won the Heisman in 2022, returned to USC for his junior season in 2023 and was the face of the Pac-12 during its final run. He went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and is now leading the Chicago Bears to a 10-4 record in his rookie season-a turnaround that’s been nothing short of electric.
Cam Ward, a dual-threat quarterback at Washington State in 2023, transferred to Miami for his senior year and became a Heisman finalist himself. The Tennessee Titans made him the top pick in the 2025 draft, and he’s already starting as a rookie, showing flashes of the dynamic playmaking that made him such a standout in Pullman.
Michael Penix Jr. was another 2023 Heisman finalist, leading Washington to a Pac-12 title and a spot in the national championship game. He started the season under center for the Atlanta Falcons before a torn ACL cut his rookie campaign short. Still, his rise from college journeyman to NFL starter was a testament to the depth of quarterback talent in the conference.
Then there’s Bo Nix, who lost a heartbreaker to Penix in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game-a 34-31 thriller that doubled as a College Football Playoff play-in. Nix has since taken the reins in Denver, guiding the Broncos to a 12-2 start and securing the top seed in the AFC. His consistency and leadership have been key to one of the league’s best turnarounds this season.
And who could forget Travis Hunter? The two-way phenom from Colorado made waves as a sophomore in 2023, then won the Heisman in 2024, becoming the rare player to dominate on both sides of the ball.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made him the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and he’s already proving why. His former quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, didn’t make the Heisman shortlist during his time at Colorado, but he’s now starting for the Cleveland Browns, showing that his game has translated just fine to the next level.
In fact, from 2022 through 2025, every Heisman winner had ties to the Pac-12. Even Jayden Daniels, who won the trophy at LSU in 2023, began his college career at Arizona State, where he played from 2019 to 2021. That’s four straight Heisman winners with Pac-12 roots-a staggering stat for a conference that couldn’t keep its own foundation intact.
What’s wild is how little of that individual talent translated into dominant team success during that final 2023 season. Only Penix’s Washington and Nix’s Oregon squads reached double-digit wins.
USC, with Williams at the helm, finished a disappointing 8-5. Ward’s Washington State team went just 5-7.
Mendoza’s Cal team? 6-7.
Even Colorado, with Hunter and Sanders, managed only four wins and just one in conference play.
In hindsight, it’s hard not to wonder how so much star power failed to produce more elite teams. But college football is rarely that simple.
Coaching, depth, defense, and timing all play their roles. Still, the individual brilliance that came out of the Pac-12’s final chapter is now reshaping both college football and the NFL in real time.
Technically, the Pac-12 has still been around the past two seasons, albeit in name only, with just Oregon State and Washington State carrying the banner. But that’s set to change in 2026.
A reimagined Pac-12 will launch with a new lineup: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Texas State are all joining. It’s a fresh start, but one that comes with a bittersweet reminder of what was lost.
The original Pac-12 didn’t fall because of a lack of talent. It fell because of finances-because it couldn’t keep pace with the media deals and revenue-sharing models of the SEC and Big Ten. But looking at the success of its former players, it’s clear the gap on the field wasn’t nearly as wide as the one in the boardroom.
So now, as Mendoza lifts the Heisman and prepares for the next level, it’s impossible not to ask: What if? What if the Pac-12 had held together just a little longer?
What if all that talent had stayed in one place, under one banner? The conference may be gone, but its players are still writing chapters in the sport’s history-and reminding us that the Pac-12’s final act was more of a beginning than an end.