Pac-12 power rankings: Washington, USC edge South champ Colorado on our list
- Updated
The regular season is over, and as always, the final rankings look nothing like the initial rankings from week one.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The regular season is over, and as always, the final rankings look nothing like the initial rankings from week one.
Namely — Washington is a likely College Football Playoff team, Colorado is the Pac-12 South champion, and Oregon and UCLA are conference bottom dwellers.
It got so bad for the Ducks, apparently, that coach Mark Helfrich was canned just two years after a berth in the national championship game.
This time next year, if there’s no improvement from Arizona State, Arizona or UCLA, we might get a repeat of the 2012 coaching cycle where Todd Graham, Rich Rodriguez and Jim Mora were all hired after their predecessors were let go.
Really, the theme of the Pac-12 this year was “Huh? What just happened?”
So we’ll apply that to the final power rankings, and look at what happened with each team to get where they find themselves right now.
As always, votes for the rankings came from Jon Gold, Zack Rosenblatt and Michael Lev.
Rosenblatt is on the comments today.
Enjoy, and thanks for following along.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 11-1, 8-1 Pac-12
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 4
MVP: QB Jake Bronwing (3,162 passing yards, 40 TD, 7 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Peach Bowl (CFP)
Huh? What just happened?: Chris Petersen is still Chris Petersen, and his magic is working just as well in Seattle as it did at Boise State. The Huskies were the most consistently good team in the Pac-12, by far, and there’s no reason to believe they’ll slow down in the future, particularly considering they get at least one more year of Browning and running back Myles Gaskin.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 9-3, 7-2
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 11
MVP: QB Sam Darnold (2,633 passing yards, 26 TD, 8 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Rose Bowl
Huh? What just happened? How strange of a season has it been for the Trojans? After non-conference play Nice Guy Clay Helton felt like a near-lock to be fired. This week, a Las Vegas ranking had the Trojans rated the third-best team…in the nation. If not for a late-game loss to Utah, the Trojans might’ve had a real shot at the playoff. What led the turnaround? Hey Darnold!
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 10-2, 8-1
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 8
MVP: RB Phillip Lindsay (1,136 rushing yards, 15 TD)
ESPN Bowl projection: Alamo Bowl
Huh? What just happened?: We’ve heard for two years that Colorado was “close” to being competitive. Appears they were, in fact, close, and they get the cigar. Mike MacIntyre was a well-worthy coach of the year for this surprising and impressive turnaround. Not only did he save his job, but MacIntyre now jumped to the top of the Pac-12’s “this guy is mentioned as a candidate for every job opening” list.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 9-3, 6-3
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 18
MVP: RB Christian McCaffrey (1,603 rushing yards, 310 receiving yards, 16 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: Foster Farms Bowl
Huh? What just happened? The Cardinal are a case study in expectation. Stanford is a team that was expected to compete for the college football playoff, but were eliminated from contention with some early season losses. They still finished 9-3, though that was helped by playing four teams in the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings, plus Rice to end the season. Stanford missed quarterback Kevin Hogan more than most anticipated they might.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 8-4, 7-2
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Luke Falk (4,207 passing yards, 37 TD, 10 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Holiday Bowl
Huh? What just happened? The 8-4 record could (and should) look a lot better if the Cougars took care of business in non-conference play and avoided losing to a FCS team and Boise State. Surely nine (or 10) wins look a whole lot better than eight, but regardless the Cougars were in the Pac-12 North race until the Apple Cup. Washington was, simply, better.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 8-4, 5-4
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 20
MVP: DL Hunter Dimick (52 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks
ESPN Bowl projection: Sun Bowl
Huh? What just happened? Again, Utah started the season hot only to falter down the stretch, and as it is the Utes are the lone Pac-12 South school not to win the division since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011. Utah’s talented defense wasn’t enough to overcome its flawed offense.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 4-8, 3-6
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: RB Ryan Nall (951 rushing yards, 15 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The Beavers have taken over the Colorado slow-build rebuilding project, showing vast improvement from last season’s mediocrity, but still clearly a year or two away from legitimately competing. Trending upward.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 4-8, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Justin Herbert (1,936 passing yards, 19 TD, 4 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? Full-on implosion with a horrible defense, and it took the Ducks too long to realize what it had with Justin Herbert. Just think: Oregon lost to Nebraska and Colorado by three points apiece with Dakota Prukop at quarterback. Would Herbert have made a difference? Maybe. If he had, then Helfrich would still be hanging around Nike headquarters….err Oregon’s facilities.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 5-7, 3-6
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Davis Webb (4,295 passing yards, 37 TD, 12 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? Cal regressed without Jared Goff, though Davis Webb certainly looks the part. Still, a 5-7 record is probably about what the expectation was for this season, and it was apparently good enough for coach Sonny Dykes to be in the mix for the head jobs at both Baylor and Houston. College football is weird.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 4-8, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: LB Jayon Brown (119 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 3 interceptions)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The biggest disappointment in college football? There’s certainly a case to be made. Star quarterback Josh Rosen was hurt, the offensive coordinator was fired and the Bruins had one of the worst rushing attacks I’ve ever seen. Money’s on Jim Mora joining the unemployment line this time next season.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 3-9, 1-8
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: RB/WR Samajie Grant (461 rushing yards, 247 receiving yards, 9 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? No need to rehash what we’ve been covering every day for the last couple of months. The most remarkable part about this, really, is that the Wildcats finished ahead of somebody in these rankings. After what transpired in the Territorial Cup, it’s hard to argue with it, though.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Season: 5-7, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: K Zane Gonzalez (23 of 25 field goals made, 7 of 9 from 50-plus)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The Sun Devils started 5-1. The Sun Devils did not make a bowl game. You do the math.
More like this...
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
The regular season is over, and as always, the final rankings look nothing like the initial rankings from week one.
Namely — Washington is a likely College Football Playoff team, Colorado is the Pac-12 South champion, and Oregon and UCLA are conference bottom dwellers.
It got so bad for the Ducks, apparently, that coach Mark Helfrich was canned just two years after a berth in the national championship game.
This time next year, if there’s no improvement from Arizona State, Arizona or UCLA, we might get a repeat of the 2012 coaching cycle where Todd Graham, Rich Rodriguez and Jim Mora were all hired after their predecessors were let go.
Really, the theme of the Pac-12 this year was “Huh? What just happened?”
So we’ll apply that to the final power rankings, and look at what happened with each team to get where they find themselves right now.
As always, votes for the rankings came from Jon Gold, Zack Rosenblatt and Michael Lev.
Rosenblatt is on the comments today.
Enjoy, and thanks for following along.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 11-1, 8-1 Pac-12
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 4
MVP: QB Jake Bronwing (3,162 passing yards, 40 TD, 7 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Peach Bowl (CFP)
Huh? What just happened?: Chris Petersen is still Chris Petersen, and his magic is working just as well in Seattle as it did at Boise State. The Huskies were the most consistently good team in the Pac-12, by far, and there’s no reason to believe they’ll slow down in the future, particularly considering they get at least one more year of Browning and running back Myles Gaskin.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 9-3, 7-2
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 11
MVP: QB Sam Darnold (2,633 passing yards, 26 TD, 8 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Rose Bowl
Huh? What just happened? How strange of a season has it been for the Trojans? After non-conference play Nice Guy Clay Helton felt like a near-lock to be fired. This week, a Las Vegas ranking had the Trojans rated the third-best team…in the nation. If not for a late-game loss to Utah, the Trojans might’ve had a real shot at the playoff. What led the turnaround? Hey Darnold!
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 10-2, 8-1
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 8
MVP: RB Phillip Lindsay (1,136 rushing yards, 15 TD)
ESPN Bowl projection: Alamo Bowl
Huh? What just happened?: We’ve heard for two years that Colorado was “close” to being competitive. Appears they were, in fact, close, and they get the cigar. Mike MacIntyre was a well-worthy coach of the year for this surprising and impressive turnaround. Not only did he save his job, but MacIntyre now jumped to the top of the Pac-12’s “this guy is mentioned as a candidate for every job opening” list.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 9-3, 6-3
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 18
MVP: RB Christian McCaffrey (1,603 rushing yards, 310 receiving yards, 16 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: Foster Farms Bowl
Huh? What just happened? The Cardinal are a case study in expectation. Stanford is a team that was expected to compete for the college football playoff, but were eliminated from contention with some early season losses. They still finished 9-3, though that was helped by playing four teams in the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings, plus Rice to end the season. Stanford missed quarterback Kevin Hogan more than most anticipated they might.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 8-4, 7-2
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Luke Falk (4,207 passing yards, 37 TD, 10 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: Holiday Bowl
Huh? What just happened? The 8-4 record could (and should) look a lot better if the Cougars took care of business in non-conference play and avoided losing to a FCS team and Boise State. Surely nine (or 10) wins look a whole lot better than eight, but regardless the Cougars were in the Pac-12 North race until the Apple Cup. Washington was, simply, better.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 8-4, 5-4
College Football Playoff ranking: No. 20
MVP: DL Hunter Dimick (52 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks
ESPN Bowl projection: Sun Bowl
Huh? What just happened? Again, Utah started the season hot only to falter down the stretch, and as it is the Utes are the lone Pac-12 South school not to win the division since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011. Utah’s talented defense wasn’t enough to overcome its flawed offense.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 4-8, 3-6
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: RB Ryan Nall (951 rushing yards, 15 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The Beavers have taken over the Colorado slow-build rebuilding project, showing vast improvement from last season’s mediocrity, but still clearly a year or two away from legitimately competing. Trending upward.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 4-8, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Justin Herbert (1,936 passing yards, 19 TD, 4 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? Full-on implosion with a horrible defense, and it took the Ducks too long to realize what it had with Justin Herbert. Just think: Oregon lost to Nebraska and Colorado by three points apiece with Dakota Prukop at quarterback. Would Herbert have made a difference? Maybe. If he had, then Helfrich would still be hanging around Nike headquarters….err Oregon’s facilities.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 5-7, 3-6
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: QB Davis Webb (4,295 passing yards, 37 TD, 12 INT)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? Cal regressed without Jared Goff, though Davis Webb certainly looks the part. Still, a 5-7 record is probably about what the expectation was for this season, and it was apparently good enough for coach Sonny Dykes to be in the mix for the head jobs at both Baylor and Houston. College football is weird.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 4-8, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: LB Jayon Brown (119 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 3 interceptions)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The biggest disappointment in college football? There’s certainly a case to be made. Star quarterback Josh Rosen was hurt, the offensive coordinator was fired and the Bruins had one of the worst rushing attacks I’ve ever seen. Money’s on Jim Mora joining the unemployment line this time next season.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 3-9, 1-8
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: RB/WR Samajie Grant (461 rushing yards, 247 receiving yards, 9 total touchdowns)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? No need to rehash what we’ve been covering every day for the last couple of months. The most remarkable part about this, really, is that the Wildcats finished ahead of somebody in these rankings. After what transpired in the Territorial Cup, it’s hard to argue with it, though.
- By Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Season: 5-7, 2-7
College Football Playoff ranking: N/A
MVP: K Zane Gonzalez (23 of 25 field goals made, 7 of 9 from 50-plus)
ESPN Bowl projection: N/A
Huh? What just happened? The Sun Devils started 5-1. The Sun Devils did not make a bowl game. You do the math.
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