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Pac-12 Football: Breaking down conference’s 10 bowl games

By Gabe Encinas

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10 Pac-12 teams will represent the conference in bowl season, but what game will be the best?

It’s officially bowl season, and the Pac-12 will be well represented this winter with 10 teams in the postseason, but none will be in the College Football Playoff.

Stanford came out victorious as the conference champions, and while they might not have received a bid for the College Football Playoff, they will represent the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Christian McCaffrey may win the Heisman on Saturday and has helped this offense score at least 30 points in every game since Week 2.

USC fell short to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game, which was a major accomplishment just to get there, but if they can’t beat Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl, they will drop to 8-6 on the season.

Remember when everyone thought Oregon was bad? Well, they were playing like the best team in the Pac-12 toward the end of the season and have a chance to get to 10 wins on the year led by a healthy Vernon Adams. The Ducks are winners of six straight to end the year and are averaging nearly 45 points per game in that span. They play in the Alamo Bowl against TCU.

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Utah rekindles the Holy War with rival BYU in the Royal Purple Bowl. Utah had a piping hot start to the season, and was ranked as high as No. 3. Then things started going downhill when they lost running back Devontae Booker for the year and finished 9-3. Now, they’ll look to extend their five game win streak over the Cougars in Vegas on December 19.

Arizona, the reigning Pac-12 South champs, closed out their season with a 6-6 record. Injuries plagued them all season, and got the best of them through the brunt of their schedule. They’re slated to go up against the New Mexico Lobos in the New Mexico Bowl on December 19.

Their counterpart, Arizona State Sun Devils, were what Todd Graham called his best team ever at Arizona State. Trying to get over the hump, and start competing for championships, his team fell short of the hype, and ended their season with a 6-6 record. They’ll be staying close to him this winter, playing in the Cactus Bowl at Chase Field vs. the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Then you have the California Golden Bears, who started the season 5-0, and was one possession away from taking down the No. 3 Utah Utes. Sonny Dykes and company faced one of the toughest Pac-12 schedules and slid through with a 7-5 record. They’ll get the challenge of trying to stop Air Force and their option game in the Armed Forces Bowl on December 29.

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UCLA was led by true freshman quarterback Josh Rosen but also had plenty of injuries on the defensive side of the ball and stumbled down the stretch, losing two of their final three. They get a bit of an odd bowl matchup, heading north to the Fosters Farm Bowl vs. the 5-7 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Washington State opened the season with a home loss to Portland State but picked up a big win against the Oregon Ducks in double overtime to spur the team in the second half. The Cougars will play Miami in the Sun Bowl on December 26.

The Washington Huskies are headed to the Heart of Dallas Bowl to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. They had an up and down year, stealing a few wins here and there to make them the tenth bowl-eligible team in the Pac-12.

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Overall, I’d expect the Pac-12 to do fairly well this bowl season with Stanford leading the way with a win over Iowa in the Rose Bowl serving as the signature bowl win for the conference.

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