Washington's Rome Odunze - Pac-12 has always been 'slept on' - ESPN

Ahead of Washington's final game as a Pac-12 school, receiver Rome Odunze hopes Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship game can help change what he believes is a false perception about the quality of college football in the Pac-12 and on the West Coast.

«I think the Pac-12 has been slept on for the entire time that it has existed,» Odunze said. «Sadly, it's coming to an end.»

The Huskies, along with Oregon, UCLA and USC, will depart for the Big Ten next season, while six others will leave for the ACC (Cal and Stanford) and Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah). Oregon State and Washington State will continue to play as Pac-12 schools with the hopes of rebuilding the conference in the future but will play the bulk of their games against Mountain West opponents next season.

After its collapse prior to the start of the season, the Pac-12 went on to have its best season in several years. During the regular season, the conference's collective winning percentage in nonconference regular games (.806) and against Power 5 opponents (.583) was the best of any conference.

Still, Odunze said, there has been a sense that Pac-12 football as whole isn't given the same attention as other conferences nationally.

«I think that's the age-old question right now,» Odunze said of the Pac-12's reputation as a weaker conference. «I think that's something I've been trying to answer, my family's been trying to answer, West Coast has been trying to answer for a long time.

»It's something that I don't think can be truly answered other than the fact I don't think people are watching enough football out on the West Coast, point blank, period."

Odunze acknowledged he's biased as someone who grew up on the West Coast watching