Pac-12 Tuesday: Every Pac-12 Championship Game, Ranked
Washington’s 34-31 win over Oregon in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game sent out the Conference of Champions in a wave of glory. The last-ever title game for the league — or at least, the league was we know it — more closely reflected its century-long legacy than it did the preceding half-decade or so of struggles.
Numerous parties share blame for the Pac-12’s demise: Larry Scott’s misjudged gamble as commissioner; his successor, George Kliavokff, presiding over the college athletics version of Herbert Hoover’s presidency; TV networks. But among the most at fault for the Pac-12 fallen apart is simply bad timing.
To wit, when the conference introduced its championship game commensurate with its expansion to 12 members in 2011, there was a widespread belief the title round would be a bonanza.
With Oregon and Stanford both on the rise as nationally prominent programs, USC just three years removed from a six-year run as the best program in the sport, newcomer Utah adding credentials that included a viable claim to the 2008 season’s national championship, and a variety of high-potential members, how could the Pac-12 Championship Game not produce exciting, must-watch matchups?
Well…it didn’t. Or, at least, it took until the last installment to produce a true classic. Had a title game the caliber of Washington and Oregon come at the front end of the Pac-12 Championship Game, perhaps recent history unfolds differently.
Likewise, had a venue as attractive as Allegiant Stadium just off the Las Vegas Strip existed in the mid-2010s, the Pac-12 is spared playing in a $1.3 billion mausoleum located in a Silicon Valley parking lot.
That’s all to say the last Pac-12 Championship Game stands out head-and-shoulder above the rest as the premier installment in its 13-year history. But while it took until the final edition to live up to its potential, the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game isn’t the only memorable one from its all-too-brief history.
13. 2018 - Washington 10, Utah 3
Levi’s Stadium proved a misguided choice to host the Pac-12 Championship Game from its first time there in 2014, but the San Francisco 49ers home felt especially cavernous on a soggy night hosting a rock fight between 9-3 Washington and 9-3 Utah, neither of which were ranked in the top 10.
A league that long staked its identity on exciting offense produced a title game without a single offensive touchdown. Byron Murphy’s pick-six of Jason Shelley – starting in place of an injured Tyler Huntley – provided the lone trip to the end zone and the decisive score in what was a fitting reflection of the Pac-12 in 2018.
Beginning with a dismal 2017 bowl season, the calendar year that included the 2018 campaign was the nadir of the Pac’s on-field product. Coupled with a winless March Madness for the league’s men’s basketball programs that spring, the 12-month stretch from December 2017 to December 2018 may have done more damage to the league’s image than the preceding century accomplished in building it.
12. 2020 - Oregon 31, USC 24
The 2020 college football season exists as this pygmy thing, to borrow a line from Phil Leotardo. The inability of the sport’s leadership to reach a consensus on navigating the COVID-19 pandemic landscape led to an autumn that felt both cynical and unsatisfying.
For every gem of the pandemic season that would not have been possible under normal circumstances – the BYU-Coastal Carolina “Mormons vs. Mullets” game is one of the best in recent college football history – there were dozens of cancelations.
One such cancelation was Washington’s place in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon advanced in the Huskies’ place and scored an upset in an otherwise empty Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Unlike some of the grim title tilts played at Levi’s Stadium, the Coliseum had reason for being empty.
The game itself was somewhat competitive, though the final score belies how dominant Kayvon Thibodeaux and the Oregon defense really performed. But beginning with us media in attendance having to eat our press-box meals in the parking lot, the atmosphere was what I imagine covering a football game during a zombie apocalypse might feel like.
11. 2011 - Oregon 49, UCLA 31
It set an ominous tone in retrospect: The inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game could have been a showdown of the conference’s banner-carrying programs for the previous decade, and a rematch of one of the 2011 season’s best games.
However, NCAA sanctions against USC denied the 10-2 Trojans a berth (and hosting duties) in the first Pac-12 title game.
Thus, 6-6 UCLA — fresh off a 50-0 deconstruction courtesy of USC — went to Autzen Stadium to be Oregon’s sacrificial lambs. LaMichael James dazzling in his final performance in Eugene with 211 yards and three touchdowns was one of only two noteworthy developments from this game; the other was the Bruins requiring an exemption after falling below .500 in order to participate in a bowl game.
10. 2013 - Stanford 38, Arizona State 14
Before the NCAA removed bylaws requiring divisions for conference championship games, the Pac-12’s regional split revealed a dramatic power imbalance. The North’s representative won the first six Pac-12 Championship Games and 9-of-10.
No one of the South’s nine losses can be deemed the clear and definitive reflection of the North’s dominance, but the final on-campus title game might be it. Arizona State hosted Stanford by virtue of producing the league’s best record, 8-1, and playing at Sun Devil Stadium gave ASU an advantage no other South team had.
A shanked punt in the second quarter leading to Tyler Gaffney hammering away at the Sun Devils defense en route to a 28-7 Cardinal lead snuffed out any hope for Arizona State and cleared out the stadium before intermission.
9. 2016 - Washington 41, Colorado 10
Until the 2023 installment, this was remarkably the last Pac-12 Championship Game in which a team didn’t play its way out of Playoff contention.
Some consternation about the one-loss Huskies being considered for a semifinal berth permeated, but Taylor Rapp’s game-changing defensive presence quieted any of these complaints. Colorado’s 10-2 regular season was an undeniable achievement, so it’s a bit unfortunate that it ended in this fashion — not just because the Buffaloes lost so lopsidedly, but that it also gave reason for the playoff committee to send 9-3 to the Rose Bowl Game, instead.
8. 2019 - Oregon 37, Utah 15
Utah became the first Pac-12 Championship Game participant since Washington in 2016 to arrive in the hunt for the Playoff. The program’s continued, year-to-year progress under coach Kyle Whittingham seemed to reach its apex with the combination of a typical stifling Utah defense and the dynamic offensive tandem of Tyler Huntley and Zack Moss.
Whether it was the stakes of the moment or Oregon simply being better, however, Utah dug an early hole. The Utes rallied and pulled within a score heading into the fourth quarter, perhaps turning the tide and ending the Pac-12’s Playoff drought…
Then, CJ Verdell ran wild.
7. 2021 - Utah 38, Oregon 10
The lopsided final score may not suggest it, but this Pac-12 Championship Game leans closer to being one of the good installments than it does the bad. The first title game played at Allegiant Stadium offered an atmosphere much more aligned with the conference’s vision when introduction a championship round — even though both participants were eliminated from Playoff contention.
The large, raucous audience it attracted made the playing of Utah’s “Moment of Loudness,” honoring the lives of killed Utes Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, even more special.
The video montage aired on the Allegiant Stadium video boards, with family members representing Jordan and Lowe both in attendance, and served as a reminder that the most valuable part of sports is the people involved.
6. 2014 - Oregon 51, Arizona 13
The first Pac-12 Championship Game played at Levi’s Stadium set a fitting precedent, with four of the six played there decided by at least three touchdowns. That this matchup was so mismatched was a bit stunning, given Arizona won the last two over Oregon, including a classic two months prior that helped build the legacy of #Pac12AfterDark.
But, for as imbalanced as this game was, it’s among the more memorable installments for Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota putting on a show.
The Pac-12 Championship Game was conceived as a means of showcasing the conference. The league’s first Heisman Trophy winner from a program other than USC in 44 years cementing the award with his play lived up to that pursuit.
5. 2015 - Stanford 41, USC 22
Like Mariota the year prior, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey assured his spot at the Heisman Trophy ceremony with a performance at the Pac-12 Championship Game for the ages. One could argue — and this author would — McCaffrey delivered the best individual performance by any player in the Conference of Champions since Reggie Bush’s one-man show vs. Fresno State in 2005.
Appropriate, given McCaffrey wore No. 5 as an homage to Bush, and the Cardinal do-everything back did it against USC.
4. 2022 - Utah 47, USC 24
Crafting rankings like this requires subjectivity. There’s plenty of argument to be made that the penultimate Pac-12 Championship Game should be among the lower third, not the top, by virtue of it being a blowout; the result denying the league a spot in the Playoff after six long years; and the eventual Heisman winner having his worst game of the season by several metrics.
However, after its win over USC earlier in the season was treated with a fair bit of dismissal as fluky, a program that had been at the top of the conference for a few years running by this juncture putting on a masterclass deserves praise.
The Utes delivered a receipt that stated emphatically the first win was no fluke.
3. 2017 - USC 31, Stanford 28
This is a difficult game to evaluate for a variety of reasons. Two programs that played for several decades, and over the preceding 10 years established a true rivalry, met in a hotly contested and exciting championship.
Heisman finalist Bryce Love played well, while Trojans with interesting backstories — Chris Hawkins and Uchenna Nwosu — delivered pivotal performances. However, it’s impossible to revisit this installment of the Pac-12 Championship Game without being reminded of factors that shaped this era.
One is the missed opportunity of this functioning as a play-in between USC and Washington. Stanford earned its way in by beating the Huskies, but the College Football Playoff era has redefined upsets and surprises to be viewed negatively.
Likewise, USC lost a classic to Washington State that kept the Trojans out of the Playoff hunt. That September defeat lingered over the 2017 championship on two fronts.
First was diminishing the value of actually winning the conference title.
Since winning a share of the 1927 Pacific Coast Conference championship, USC never endured a drought as long as its run from 2008 to 2017 without claiming at least a share of the league crown.
The significance of this championship drought cannot be overstated as among the aforementioned contributing factors to the Pac-12’s collapse. As the most recognized, historically significant and nationally prominent program in the West, USC toiling largely in mediocrity for a decade hurt the whole league’s reputation.
This drought also spawned plenty of sour feelings. The Friday night scheduling of USC’s trip to Washington State, in a season the Trojans didn’t have a bye week, fueled animus USC faithful were increasingly feeling toward the conference.
A good game that should have been cause for celebration instead seems like the canary in the coal mine when evaluated with hindsight.
2. 2012 - Stanford 27, UCLA 24
UCLA headed to The Farm for the second-ever Pac-12 Championship Game on a 14-year drought without a conference championship. It’s a drought that will never end, with the Bruins headed to the Big Ten going a quarter-century without a title.
The closest they came in those 25 years was on Nov, 30, 2012.
This Pac-12 Championship was an immediate rematch, but a much different contest than Stanford cruising to a win during Thanksgiving weekend. UCLA coach Jim Mora played it close to the vest with the Bruins having already clinched the South.
After a 35-17 win six days prior, Stanford found itself in a fight the second time around. An Ed Reynolds interception return to set up a Stepfan Taylor touchdown carry late in the first half proved critical when UCLA scored 10 third quarter points.
Reynolds’ field-flipping play meant Stanford was down only a touchdown going into the fourth quarter, giving the Cardinal room to mount a comeback in an excellent game worthy of championship status.
1. 2023 - Washington 34, Oregon 31
Saving the best for last, the 2023 Pac-12 Championship Game was the embodiment of what Pac-12 brass and fans hoped for when the concept debuted. Two longtime, bitter rivals attracted swarms of fans to pack Allegiant Stadium.
The Las Vegas venue rocked with every big play and turn of momentum; the anxiety of Oregon fans when Washington jumped to a two-score lead early replaced with jubilation as the Ducks pulled ahead in the second half and their tenseness transferred onto the Huskies.
With a Playoff bid on the line, Washington made just enough plays in a thrilling, back-and-forth contest that sent the Pac-12 out with one of the conference’s most exciting games in 108 years of existence.