The genesis of the exodus is difficult to pinpoint.
For decades, the top football recruits on the west coast have been leaving the Pac-12 footprint for greener pastures.
In 2000, Concord De La Salle mega-prospect D.J. Williams bolted for Miami.
In 2004, a four-star defensive tackle from Portland named Ndamukong Suh opted to spend his college career in Lincoln, Neb.
The following year, a five-star tailback from Las Vegas shunned his west coast suitors in favor of Oklahoma. That decision proved prudent for DeMarco Murray.
But all those years, the attrition was far more trickle that tidal: The vast majority of elite prospects stayed west of the Rockies.