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As a teenager living in Chicago in the 1980s, before every college basketball game was televised, I would listen to staticky radio broadcasts from as far away as Des Moines, Iowa.

An Illinois-Michigan matchup in Ann Arbor or a Wisconsin-Purdue battle in West Lafeyette made those cold, dreary Midwest winters tolerable.

I grew to love the Pac-12 Conference. I moved to Southern California in 2000. I idolized Walter Payton as a kid, but I’d never seen anyone play football quite like Reggie Bush.  — nine years before the unofficial birth of — was mesmerizing. I was hooked.

I started covering Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans in 2008 — the tail end of their dynasty. That beat took me to places I’d only seen on TV. In Year One alone: Corvallis, Pullman, Tucson, Stanford and Pasadena (twice). In Year Two: Seattle, Berkeley, Eugene and Tempe.

I felt like part of the club. West Coast football. It was our thing. It had its own vibe, its own style, its own traditions. The USC Song Girls, the Stanford Tree, the Rose Bowl. Later, Ralphie the Buffalo.

Those memories and feelings have come flooding back in recent days as the Pac-12 closes shop and its once-unified membership splinters and scatters. We’ve known this was coming. But it still stings.

Arizona has been part of the Pac-10/12 for 46 years. The UA became a national brand during that time under Lute Olson, Dick Tomey, Mike Candrea, Jerry Kindall and others. Changing conference affiliations and logos doesn’t erase any of that.

Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah don’t officially join the Big 12 until Aug. 2. But the countdown is well underway. The Pac-12 has scrubbed everyone but Oregon State and Washington State . Pac-12 Networks when the clock struck midnight Sunday. UA Football rolled out a on social media highlighting the Pac-10/12 era and promoting “The Next Chapter.� On Tuesday, the Big 12 released its , featuring the full 16-team membership.

How are we feeling about all this? Excited? Nostalgic? Anxious?

If only there were a piece of pop culture that encapsulated those emotions and this moment. Oh wait, there is.

(Spoiler alert: Pixar plot points are about to be revealed.)

In this summer’s smash hit, “Inside Out 2,� protagonist Riley is about to begin high school (for our purposes, that would be the Big 12). But first, she attends a hockey camp (the current state of limbo) with her best friends (ASU, Colorado, Utah).

Almost immediately, Riley abandons her besties as she strives to join the cool crowd (Kansas? UCF? West Virginia?). She spends the bulk of the film wrestling with her conscience, trying to figure out who she is and how she fits in among others facing the same challenges. Eventually, she finds a happy medium.

How will Arizona fit in the Big 12? Most expect a relatively smooth transition. It’s certainly easier to go from one “power� conference to another, at least in football. Last year’s Big 12 newcomers — BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — struggled to make the jump from G5 to P5. They combined to go .

Even mighty Utah — the media’s choice to win the Big 12 in 2024 — had a hard time at first when it moved from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. The Utes finished under .500 in league play three years in a row before building up the depth and infrastructure needed to compete at a higher level.

Arizona placed fifth in the preseason poll, for what it’s worth, and received three first-place votes. As long as Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan are operating at full capacity — T-Mac’s participation in next week’s Big 12 Media Days seems like an encouraging sign following his mysterious lower-extremity injury at the end of spring practice — the Wildcats should contend.

Expectations are equally high for the UA men’s basketball team, although the competition is unquestionably stiffer. feature four Big 12 teams in the top seven — and Arizona isn’t among them.

The Wildcats posted a .783 winning percentage in Pac-12 play in Tommy Lloyd’s first three seasons. I’d be shocked if they were able to match that in the Big 12. But facing that gauntlet should better prepare them for the NCAA Tournament — which remains the measuring stick for program success, regardless of conference affiliation.

UA women’s basketball and softball should immediately contend for Big 12 championships. Baseball should remain in the upper echelon. Olympic-sport programs such as men’s tennis, men’s golf and women’s golf could claim conference crowns sooner than later.

If/when that happens, those nostalgic feelings for the Pac-12 will fade. Those unforgettable moments — Chuck Cecil’s pick-six, the Leap by the Lake, the Hill Mary, Maldonado’s Mad Dash — will endure in .

Get ready for new experiences in new places against new rivals — all coming to a stadium near you later this year. This upcoming season, 2024-25, will be historic. First impressions can be indelible.

In my first season on the USC beat, I saw a No. 1-ranked team get upset in crazed Corvallis — the Trojans’ only loss in a 12-1 campaign. I saw a basketball squad featuring freshman phenom DeMar DeRozan knock off James Harden and ASU in the Pac-10 Championship Game at Staples Center.

In my first year on the UA baseball beat, the Wildcats came as close to winning the College World Series as possible without actually doing so. Heck, even the injury-riddled, otherwise-miserable 2016 UA football season ended with a remarkable win against the Sun Devils.

The Territorial Cup will continue in the new world (thank God). But change is upon us.

Is it a bit scary? Sure. Change always is.

But there was a time when the Pac-10 was new for Arizona and ASU. That worked out pretty well.