Pac-12 Football: Week 14 power rankings

In our final Pac-12 Power Rankings, all games have been played, and the Pac-12 Championship Game will take place on Friday. But who is our No. 1 team?

Week 13 of the college football season is in the books, signaling the end of the regular season for the Pac-12. On Friday night, North Division champion Washington will take on Colorado, who went from last to first in the South Division. It was a quite a ride this season for the conference, as one school could still make it to the College Football Playoff.

Lets take a look at our final Pac-12 Power Rankings.

The end of the season could not have come soon enough for the Arizona State Sun Devils, who lost their final six games after starting the season 5-1. With their loss to Arizona this past weekend, the Sun Devils saw their once promising season end without a bowl game, which is incredible when you take into account how good they looked early on. In their regular season finale, Arizona State lost to the Arizona Wildcats by the score of 56-35, as their defense had no answer for the Wildcats running game.

The Wildcats came into the rivalry game winless in Pac-12 play, but relied on a steady dose of Samajie Grant to pick up the win in the Territorial Cup. With the loss, the Sun Devils will finish the year at 5-7, and will miss out on a bowl game for the first time since 2010. They do have some nice offensive pieces to rely on heading into next season, but they have to do something about their defense.

Manny Wilkins played well at quarterback once again, and should be a key player in the Pac-12 in 2017. He threw for 372 yards against the Wildcats this past weekend, while adding 79 yards on the ground. His main target on the day was Frederick Gammage, who caught 12 balls for 116 yards and a score. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, they could muster nothing on the ground, while the Wildcats rushed for 511 yards as a team.

Arizona finally picked up a conference win this past weekend, defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Territorial Cup by the score of 56-35. The Wildcats came into the rivalry game without a win in Pac-12 play, but the strength of their running game made sure that they would not end the season that way. Arizona ran for 511 yards as a team in a dominating effort that had people scratching their heads as to why the team played so poorly all season long.

The big issue all season had been the play of their defense, which played some spirited football this past weekend. They were able to stop the Sun Devils running game, forcing the team to throw the ball time and time again. They did allow 35 points to Arizona State in the game, but the Wildcats were in control the entire game, as they set a school-record for rushing yards in a game.

Senior running back Samajie Grant finished his collegiate career with a bang, rushing for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Fellow back Zach Green ran for 126 yards and two scores, while Brandon Dawkins made huge plays with his arm, and his feet. The sophomore signal-caller may have cemented his place as the team’s starter for next year by racking up 261 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. The win just may have saved Rich Rodriguez’s job.

The 2016 UCLA Bruins were supposed to do some serious damage in the Pac-12 this season. Armed with one of the better young quarterbacks in the country, UCLA was an early favorite to take the Pac-12 South Division, but that never really panned out. Quarterback Josh Rosen’s season ended early due to an injury, and the team could just not make up for the lack of play making ability with him on the shelf.

Senior Mike Fafaul filled in nicely at times for Rosen, but he just did not have enough talent to lead the team when the running game went AWOL. That was a serious issue for the Bruins, who really struggled to run the ball for most of the season. UCLA closed out their four-win season with a second consecutive loss this past weekend, falling to Cal on the road, 36-10.

Expect a huge turnaround from UCLA next season, as they will have a healthy Rosen back for their opening game. Wide receiver Jordan Lasley should play a huge role in the passing game, though they are going to have to find someone to tote the rock if they want to play for a Pac-12 title in 2017. The only reason they did not finish in the cellar in the South is due to Arizona, as the Bruins lost six of their last seven games to finish the year at 4-8.