Pac-12 Football Rankings – Week 14


Pac-12 football rankings heading into Week 14 of the 2016 season. Washington and Colorado will meet in the Pac-12 championship game next week.


Washington’s path to the College Football Playoff will go through Colorado. The Huskies routed Washington State in the Apple Cup to claim the North division, and the Buffaloes knocked off Utah on Saturday to set up next week’s Pac-12 title game showdown with Washington.

Colorado was ranked ninth by the CFP selection committee last week and would need plenty of help to get into the Playoff even with a win over Washington, but it certainly isn’t going to lay down for the Huskies.

Now that the dust has settled, here’s a look at the rest of the Pac-12 heading into Week 14.

Week 14 Pac-12 Football Rankings

12. Arizona (Last Week – 12)

If that was Rich Rodriguez’s final game in Tucson, what a way to go out. The Wildcats played with passion in their 56-35 win over rival Arizona State and avoided a winless Pac-12 season. It remains to be seen if 3-9 is good enough for Rodriguez to keep his job, though.

11. Oregon (9)

Oregon lost to Oregon State for the first time in nine years Saturday and dropped to 4-8. That apparently will cost coach Mark Helfrich his job despite the fact that he led the Ducks to the national title game just two years ago.

10. Oregon State (11)

The Beavers closed out the season with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Oregon to get to 4-8 under Gary Andersen. The coach has a long way to go in order to make Oregon State a contender in this conference, though.

9. Arizona State (10)

A 5-7 season certainly wasn’t what Todd Graham expected after the Sun Devils started 4-0. They finished the year on a six-game losing streak to miss out on a bowl game and looked listless in the blowout loss to Arizona.

8. UCLA (7)

There’s speculation about Jim Mora’s job after the Bruins finished 4-8. Not having quarterback Josh Rosen for the final month and a half certainly didn’t help, but UCLA didn’t even show up in Saturday’s 36-10 loss to Cal.

7. California (8)

The Bears picked up a nice win to end their season, finishing with a 5-7 record. Despite that below-average mark, coach Sonny Dykes reportedly is receiving interest from other schools, and there’s a chance he could be on the move.

6. Utah (6)

Utah’s eight-win regular season is a nice step as it looks ahead to its bowl game, but it left some other victories on the table. The Utes lost to Colorado, 27-22, on Saturday to fall to 5-4 in the Pac-12.

5. Washington State (4)

Wazzu had a nice turnaround after dropping its first two games, but the blowout loss to the Huskies that cost it a chance to play in the Pac-12 title game certainly stings. Coach Mike Leach will bring the Cougars to a bowl game, though, something didn’t seem possible after they lost to Eastern Washington.

4. Stanford (5)

The Cardinal don’t get much thought as being one of the best three-loss teams in the country, and that’s likely because they failed to live up to massive expectations. Still, Christian McCaffrey and company won nine games in the regular season after beating Rice, 41-17, on Saturday night.

3. Colorado (3)

The Buffaloes proved they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come with an incredible turnaround and a trip to the Pac-12 title game. They can continue their surprising run by knocking off the Huskies.

2. USC (2)

The Trojans are one of the hottest teams in the nation and sport victories over both Colorado and Washington. Their win over Notre Dame moved them to 9-3 and put them in a position for a quality bowl game.

1. Washington (1)

The Huskies just need a win over Colorado to get into the College Football Playoff. One would have to assume that, anyway. The loss to USC does hurt, but other teams being considered for the CFP have lost to far worse teams than the Trojans.

MORE: Oregon To Fire Coach Mark Helfrich, According To Reports