Pac-12 Football Power Rankings, Week 15: Utah still in playoff hunt

It’s championship week and we rank the best Pac-12 football teams and what we learned this season from each team. Will Utah reign supreme?

The championship is set. Like many projected at the beginning of the season, Oregon and Utah are going to battle it out for conference supremacy. Oregon seems pretty set for the Rose Bowl regardless of a win or loss, while Utah is battling for that fourth and final playoff spot. The Utes currently ranked fifth and need a win and a Georgia loss to get in.

The Pac-12 title game presents an interesting clash. We’ve wanted it all year, but I think this game tilts in Utah’s favor, with their elite run defense forcing Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert to make plays.

But we still learned a lot about all the teams in the Pac-12 season. Here are the final Pac-12 power rankings.

What we learned: Kevin Sumlin may not be the answer

Every Texas A&M fan in the country is looking at Arizona with that “I told you so” look. Kevin Sumlin’s team is a mess on both sides of the ball, they were tied for the third-worst offense in the league in points scored and were the worst defensively in points allowed.

It’s very clear now that Sumlin benefited from the Johnny Manziel hype train and the Wildcats crumpled to the finish line with a seven-game losing streak. It appears he’ll get one more year to turn things around, but this program looks a lot different from the conference championship team.

What we learned: Steven Montez isn’t an NFL-caliber quarterback

A lot of people tabbed Steven Montez as the draft sleeper in terms of the quarterback position. Well, that’s not looking so great. Montez, and the Colorado offense as a whole, fell off a cliff in conference play, and they were the second-worst team in points scored.

There’s not much to look at positively about this team, they were horrible in conference play.

What we learned: David Shaw isn’t a magician

Stanford was due for a rebuilding year anyways; they had four returning starters to the roster in 2019, and three of which — KJ Costello, Walker Little and Paulson Adebo — were projected high draft picks. This team was young and inexperienced, and by the end of the season, all four of those players were injured.

The lack of returning talent and injuries derailed the Trees, and they’ll need to rebound. Shaw is still a great coach, and is still bringing in solid recruiting classes. Stanford is my early pick to make a big leap next season.

What we learned: Chip Kelly has a harder job than we thought

I’m not ready to say that Chip Kelly is outdated in college football, but it’s a lot harder to be successful quickly when everyone runs the same game plan as you. This team was able to bounce back with four conference wins, especially when they looked so horrible to start the season.

If Dorian Thompson-Robinson can cut back on his turnovers, he may be a competent quarterback in the league. Chip Kelly has to improve recruiting and get this team back in a hurry before they start calling for his job.