USC’s slide was limited, Utah’s destination is familiar and Oregon State is headed to Sin City to celebrate a breakthrough season.
Those were the highlights of bowl selection day for the Pac-12, which experienced a trip back in time and a reminder of its frustrating present all at once.
The conference placed two teams in the prestigious New Year’s Six games for the first time since the 2017 season: Utah is returning to Rose Bowl after winning its second consecutive Pac-12 title — the Utes will play Penn State — while the Trojans are headed to the Cotton Bowl to face Tulane following their loss in the conference championship.
But for the sixth consecutive year, the Pac-12 failed to place a team in the College Football Playoff.
For all the improvement at the top, for all the evidence suggesting the Pac-12 was the second-best conference in the land (behind the SEC), it once again failed to produce an undefeated or one-loss team.
The Pac-12’s other bowl-eligible teams received assignments that lined up with expectations:
Washington is headed to the Alamo Bowl, which had the first pick of teams after the New Year’s Six games.
The Holiday Bowl grabbed Oregon, which lost two of its last three to fall out of contention for the Pac-12 title.
The Las Vegas Bowl selected Oregon State, giving the Beavers their highest-profile bowl berth since participating in the Alamo a decade ago.
That left UCLA to the Sun Bowl — a disappointing placement for the Bruins, who won nine games and spent most of the season in the top 25.
The seventh and final bowl-eligible team, Washington State, is heading to the LA Bowl.
With the exception of missing the playoff, the Pac-12’s bowl lineup reflects the best regular season in years.
The conference placed six teams in the selection committee’s final rankings: No. 8 Utah, No. 10 USC, No. 12 Washington, No. 14 Oregon State, No. 15 Oregon and No. 18 UCLA.
Only the SEC (six) was able to match that representation.
“How about the Pac-12 with six teams ranked,” ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer said on the network’s bowl selection show.
“Traditionally, (it’s the) the weakest Power Five, six straight years now they’re missing out on the College Football Playoff because of what happened in the Pac-12 championship game with USC losing.
“But there are a lot of good teams in that conference with numbers (rankings) beside their names.”
Here’s a quick preview of the seven games (listed chronologically). Lines provided by the Action Network.
LA Bowl: Washington State (7-5) vs. Fresno State (9-4)
Kickoff: Dec. 17 (12:30 p.m. on Ch. 9)
Line: WSU +1
Comment: The Cougars are bowl-eligible for the seventh consecutive season (excluding 2020) and will face a foe familiar to Pac-12 schools. Led by former Washington quarterback Jake Haener, Fresno State has won eight consecutive games and beat Boise State in the Mountain West championship. Another tough test for the WSU defense, which was carved up in the Apple Cup to the tune of 51 points and 703 yards.
Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State (9-3) vs. Florida (6-6)
Kickoff: Dec. 17 (5:30 p.m. on Ch. 9)
Line: Oregon State -1
Comment: The Beavers were picked ahead of UCLA, a reflection of their success and fan enthusiasm. The Gators beat Utah in the season opener but finished 3-5 in the SEC and are coming off back-to-back losses (to Vanderbilt and Florida State). Oregon State’s postseason appearance in 2021 was an outright clunker (a double-digit loss to Utah State in the LA Bowl). Here’s a chance to make amends.
Holiday Bowl: Oregon (9-3) vs. North Carolina (9-4)
Kickoff: Dec. 28 (6 p.m. on Ch. 11)
Line: Oregon -8
Comment: The Holiday Bowl reportedly wanted Notre Dame but lost the Irish to another ACC-affiliated bowl (the Gator) and settled for the Tar Heels, who lost the conference title game to Clemson. Oregon is making its first Holiday appearance since the 2008 season. Both defenses are deeply flawed, and UNC has lost three in a row. But the outcome could depend on which roster is hit harder by player opt-outs.
Alamo Bowl: Washington (10-2) vs. Texas (8-4)
Kickoff: Dec. 29 (7 p.m. on ESPN)
Line: Washington +4.5
Comment: The Huskies are making their first appearance in the Alamo Bowl since the 2011 season under then-coach Steve Sarkisian, who is finishing his second year at Texas. The Longhorns took Alabama to the wire in September but finished third in the mediocre Big 12. This is another game that could hinge on opt-outs. We expect UW quarterback Michael Penix to play, but the status of Texas tailback and Tucsonan Bijan Robinson is uncertain.
Sun Bowl: UCLA (9-3) vs. Pittsburgh (8-4)
Kickoff: Dec. 30 (Noon on Ch. 13)
Line: UCLA -2.5
Comment: The Bruins plunged down the Pac-12 pecking order after losing two of their last three games. (The Holiday was always an unlikely landing spot after UCLA backed out of that bowl last year.) As a result, they are headed to El Paso for the first time in nine years and will face an opponent that took Tennessee to overtime early in the season and won its final four games. As with every game involving the Bruins, we expect plenty of points.
Cotton Bowl: USC (11-2) vs. Tulane (11-2)
Kickoff: Jan. 2 (11 a.m. on ESPN)
Line: USC -4.5
Comment: The Trojans were in the Cotton at the end of the 2017 season (a 24-7 loss to Ohio State) while the Green Wave, which finished as the highest-ranked Group of Five team after winning the American Athletic Conference, is making its first appearance in a major bowl since 1939. USC’s at-large appearance is worth $4 million to the Pac-12 and will be distributed equally among the 12 schools.
Rose Bowl: Utah (10-3) vs. Penn State (10-2)
Kickoff: Jan. 2 (3 p.m. on ESPN)
Line: Utah +1.5
Comment: One year after their epic 48-45 loss to Ohio State, the Utes return to Pasadena in search of their first-ever victory in the Granddaddy. The Nittany Lions lost by double digits to Michigan and Ohio State, have no wins over teams in the final CFP rankings and aren’t nearly as talented as the Buckeyes were a year ago. PSU’s last appearance in the Granddaddy was a memorable one: the 52-49 loss to USC in January 2017.
