PHOENIX – The Pac-12 Championship participants are set: No. 8 Stanford will face No. 13 Arizona State with a spot in the Rose Bowl on the line.
The site will be determined by Saturday’s rivalry game between the Sun Devils and Arizona: Win, and Arizona State will host the Dec. 7 game; lose, and it’ll be played at Stanford.
The matchup isn’t too much of a surprise since the Cardinal and Sun Devils were picked to finish second in their respective divisions.
How we got here and where some of the other teams ended up was a little more unpredictable, thanks to the rising parity in the Pac-12, which regained its foothold as one of the strongest conferences in the country.
As a reminder of just how unstable it was, here’s a recap of how the other teams in the conference have done so far this season:
Oregon (9-2, 6-2). The 12th-ranked Ducks opened the season with national-title expectations. They head into their final regular-season game hoping to gain enough footing to avoid playing in a lower-tier bowl for the first time since 2009.
Oregon got off to a great start, stumbled against Stanford then again against Arizona last weekend. The surprising loss to the Wildcats knocked the Ducks out of the national-title and Rose Bowl picture and may have put a big dent in their BCS bowl hopes.
Southern California (9-3, 6-2). The 23rd-ranked Trojans were upended by Washington State at the Coliseum their second game of the season and were crushed by Arizona State in Week 5, a loss that cost coach Lane Kiffin his job.
Since then, USC has rebounded nicely, becoming one of college football’s surprise teams under interim coach Ed Orgeron.
UCLA (8-3, 5-3). The 22nd-ranked Bruins had a great start in their second season under coach Jim Mora but went through a rough stretch to end their BCS bowl chances.
Arizona (7-4, 4-4). The Wildcats had a few bumps in their second season under Rich Rodriguez, notably consecutive home losses to UCLA and Washington State. Arizona turned its fortunes around quickly with a stunning victory over Oregon last weekend, rolling over the Ducks 42-16 behind another huge game by workhorse running back Ka’Deem Carey.
Oregon State (6-5, 4-4). It’s been a season of big momentum swings for the Beavers. They opened with a deflating loss to FCS school Eastern Washington, reeled off six consecutive wins and are currently on a four-game losing streak.
Washington State (6-5, 4-4). The Cougars made some decent strides in Mike Leach’s second season in Pullman. Washington State beat USC in the Coliseum for the first time in 13 years and overcame a rough stretch in the schedule to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2006.
Utah (4-7, 1-7). The Utes had one of the biggest wins in program history by knocking off Stanford at home Oct. 12. There also were a couple of close home games against UCLA and Oregon State. Since then, Utah has been in a downward spiral.
Colorado (4-7, 1-7). The Buffaloes’ first season under Mike MacIntyre got off to a solid start: They won their first two games to pass last season’s win total. Since then, it’s been an uphill fight. CU did manage to beat California on Nov. 16 to end a 14-game conference losing streak.
California (1-11, 0-9). It’s been an ugly start to the Sonny Dykes era. The Golden Bears’ only win was against Portland State, and they were overmatched in nearly every Pac-12 game to finish with their worst record since going winless in 1999.
