Pac-12’s Gridiron Failures Evident During College Football Playoff Era

The Pac-12 has only one more College Football Playoff appearance than the Group of Five.

Think about that.

Make no mistake, the conference has fallen far behind other Power Five conferences when bringing something to the CFP table.

In fact, when was the last time a team from the Pac-12 made the playoff? (*You can find that answer below.)

After a good start in the playoff era, which commenced in 2014, the Pac-12 has largely been left on the outside looking in. Maybe Lincoln Riley has a magical season or two in store at USC, though it would be bittersweet with the Trojans and UCLA leaving the conference in favor of the Big Ten effective 2024.

While Group of Five Cincinnati shattered the ceiling last year, the Pac-12 too often has simply shattered when playoff opportunities, or at least a good shot at one, presented themselves.

Here is a glimpse at how the conference has fared, or not, since the playoff format was adopted.

2021: Oregon was No. 4 in the initial CFP ranking and seemingly in control of its fate. In fact, the Ducks were bumped up to No. 3 a week later after beating Washington on the road. Mario Cristobal’s team remained at No. 3 heading into a clash at No. 23 Utah in the next-to-last game of the regular season.

Utah, which entered said game with three losses, scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 27 seconds of the first half and rolled to 38-7 win and eliminated any hope of Pac-12 representation in the playoff. For good measure, Utah blew out Oregon once again in the conference championship game.

2020: When the initial ranking was revealed, undefeated Oregon was 15^th and behind eight teams with at least one loss, including three with a pair of defeats. The difference, of course, was the Ducks played only three games to that point as the Pac-12 did not take the field during the virus-disrupted season until November. As it turned out, the highest a team from the conference got in the CFP rankings was USC at No. 13.

2019: Oregon entered its November 23 game at Arizona State 9-1 and No. 6 in the CFP. The Ducks’ playoff hope came to an end when they lost to the Sun Devils, who were 2-5 in conference play and on a four-game losing streak. The conference still had air in its balloon, however, as that week Utah blew out Arizona to improve to 10-1 and No. 6.

With Oregon out of the playoff picture, Kyle Whittingham’s Utes went into the Pac-12 title game against the Ducks at No. 5 and with a shot at making the final four. However, Oregon took a 20-0 lead into the half and rolled to the conference title, ending the playoff hopes of Utah and the Pac-12.

With the win, Oregon moved up to No. 6 in the final CFP the ranking, right where they were before stubbing their toe against Arizona State.

2018: It was a long shot, for sure, though No. 8 Washington State nonetheless had a shot at making the playoff when they hosted Apple Cup rival Washington in the regular-season finale with the Pac-12 North on the line. Those slim hopes were dashed in losing to the Huskies.

The loss was a double whammy for Mike Leach’s Cougars. Not only did the defeat shut the door on the Pac-12’s playoff chances, but in losing to their rival, WSU sat home the following week while the Huskies played, and defeated Utah, for the conference title.

2017: No. 10 USC entered its conference championship matchup against Stanford with a remote shot at making the playoff. In addition to taking care of their own business on a Friday night, Southern Cal needed several upsets to take place the next day, and even then, nothing was guaranteed. The Trojans defeated Stanford, though did not receive the favors they needed elsewhere and settled for the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Ohio State.

*2016: The answer to the aforementioned trivia question was the Washington Huskies, who lost to Alabama in a CFP semifinal at the Peach Bowl. At 8-0, the Huskies checked in at No. 5 in the initial playoff ranking, rose to No. 4 and then slipped to No. 6 after losing to USC the second Saturday in November. With two weeks left in the regular season, Chris Peterson’s team needed help….and got it.

First, the Huskies handily defeated Arizona State while No. 5 Louisville was blown out by Houston. The following week, after having been bumped up to No. 5, UW rolled over rival Washington State while No. 4 Michigan lost in double overtime at No. 2 Ohio State. The result was Washington and Michigan swapped places in the CFP ranking. The No. 4 Huskies then blew out No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game to remain at No. 4 in the final ranking, and a date with the No. 1 Crimson Tide.

2015: At 8-1 and No. 7 in the CFP ranking, Stanford had a real good shot at making the playoff. Many things that needed to happen in order for the Cardinal to make the final cut fell into place. That is except for one major detail: David Shaw’s team lost at home to unranked Oregon and fell to 8-2 and No. 11. With that, their playoff dreams were crushed.

The frustrating part from Stanford’s perspective, and that of the conference, is the Cardinal rebounded to defeat unranked Cal, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 20 USC in the Pac-12 title game. All the while teams ahead of them in the rankings were losing. Alas, the Oregon loss left too much ground to make up and Stanford was No. 6 in the final ranking.

2014: The first year of the College Football Playoff, which had seven weeks of rankings before being scaled down to six the following season, had 7-1 Oregon at No. 5 in the initial ranking. The Ducks ascended to No. 2 where they remained (behind Alabama) for the final few weeks, something they made sure of by blowing out No. 7 Arizona in the conference title game. The Wildcats were responsible for the Ducks’ lone regular-season defeat.

The only other team to appear in the top four each week was Florida State, which Mark Helfrich’s team defeated thanks to a huge second half in game that was a showcase of the top two picks (Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota) in the NFL draft four months later. The Ducks then lost to Ohio State in the national championship game to finish 13-2. It is the Pac-12’s lone appearance in the CFP championship game.