Bowl eligibility brings a different twist to the discussion about strength of schedule in college football, especially in the Pac-12 this season.
Utah (5-4), Colorado (5-5), California (5-5) and Oregon (5-5) each could qualify for a bowl with a 3-6 conference record, having won all three of their non-conference games. So if there’s value in playing a difficult schedule for the sake of qualifying for the College Football Playoff, the opposite is true at the other end of the bowl scale. Cal and Oregon deserve credit for beating Power Five opponents — although it is not an impressive list of wins, with the Bears defeating North Carolina and Ole Miss and the Ducks topping Nebraska.
As of early November, only Oregon State (1-8) has been eliminated from bowl consideration. Mathematically, the Pac-12 could send 11 teams into postseason play. Eight is a more likely number. Washington (8-1), USC (8-2), Washington State (8-2), Stanford (6-3) and Arizona (6-3) have qualified. Arizona State (5-4) and those four other five-win teams each needs one more victory.
Based on the ESPN Football Power Index forecasts, ASU is the strongest candidate in that group, with 6.6 projected wins. Oregon (6.5) and Utah (6.1) also are favored to qualify; UCLA (5.6), Colorado (5.6) and Cal (5.4) figure to fall short.
Every team is motivated to play in a bowl game, for different reasons. In Colorado’s case, the Buffaloes haven’t enjoyed back-to-back bowl seasons since 2004-05. “Oh, it’d be great for our program,” said coach Mike MacIntyre, who calculated that more than 1,000 players have come through Colorado without playing in consecutive bowls.
The odds basically say that Oregon and ASU just need to beat Oregon State to earn spots and the Utah-Colorado winner also will become eligible. A potential 6-6 Utah team either would play in the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix or fill a vacancy outside of the Pac-12 affiliations.
NFL draft prospects
SI.com’s mock draft lists quarterbacks Sam Darnold of USC and Josh Rosen of UCLA as top-three prospects. The only other Pac-12 player listed in the first round is a surprise: Colorado cornerback Isaiah Oliver. He’s a first-year starter, after both of the Buffs’ corners from last season were taken in the first three rounds of the draft.
Good people
Three Pac-12 players are among the 20 semifinalists for the inaugural Jason Whitten Collegiate Man of the Year award, recognizing leadership: Colorado linebacker Derek McCartney, USC long snapper Jake Olson and Stanford defensive tackle Harrison Phillips.
McCartney is one of 10 players in Colorado history to serve as a captain for two seasons. Olson has competed for the Trojans, despite blindness. Phillips serves on the board of a non-profit group that mentors at-risk youth.
Positive returns
Washington’s Dante Pettis broke an NCAA career record last week against Oregon with ninth punt-return touchdown. He also tied a Pac-12 record with his fourth TD of the season and became the conference’s all-time leader with 1,258 yards.
One of Pettis’ scores was a game-winning play last season vs. Utah. This year, the Utes have allowed only three of Mitch Wishnowsky’s punts to be returned — and opponents have netted minus-12 yards, with UCLA losing a fumble last week. That creates an interesting matchup next week in Seattle.
Pac-12 Power Rankings<br>1 • Washington (8-1)<br>Huskies rushed for 247 yards vs. Oregon.<br>2 • USC (8-2)<br>Ronald Jones II: 410 rushing yards in last two games.<br>3 • Washington State (8-2)<br>Cougars held Stanford’s Bryce Love to 69 yards (including 52 on one run).<br>4 • Arizona (6-3)<br>QB Khalil Tate: 1,001 rushing yards in last five games.<br>5 • Stanford (6-3)<br>Coach David Shaw (70-20) needs two wins to break Pop Warner’s school record.<br>6 • Arizona State (5-4) <br>Sun Devils outscored Colorado 24-3 in fourth quarter, rushing for 191 yards.<br>7 • Oregon (5-5)<br>Ducks have totaled 100 passing yards in last two games.<br>8 • Utah (5-4)<br>Luke Falk’s high school career ended with loss to a (Cary) Whittingham-coached team.<br>9 • Colorado (5-5)<br>Buffaloes can go from worst to first to worst in South.<br>10 • California (5-5)<br>Patrick Laird: 33 carries, 214 yards vs. Oregon State.<br>11 • UCLA (4-5)<br>Bruins allowed 272 rushing yards to Utah; average remains above 300.<br>12 • Oregon State (1-8)<br>Manase Hungalu: 20 tackles (13 solo) in loss to Cal.