The Pac-12, the self-dubbed “Conference of Champions” with athletic excellence going back more than a century, turned into the conference of ashes. A mass exodus of 10 schools in 15 months left the Pac-12 in tatters, dimming the future of a conference that was once the proud home of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Cheryl Miller, Tiger Woods, Jackie Robinson, Lisa Leslie, Jackie Joyner-Kersey and many more. League brass and the two remaining schools worked behind scenes to pull the conference out of a death spiral and now, more than four years since the first two schools left, the Pac-12 is back as something of a startup. “We’re literally launching a new league,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said. “We’ve been doing all the things that are already established in a traditional conference, but we wound ours down. So now we’re winding it back up and it’s a fun time.” The new version of this venerable old conference officially launched on July 1, when seven new members joined Oregon State and Washington State. The soccer, volleyball and cross-country seasons kicked off last month. Next gen Pac-12 kicks off in full force this week with the start of the football season. Newcomer Fresno State gets