Here’s how the college football Power Five stacks up following Week 12 action in college football.
An uneventful Week 12 around college football led to few developments in the College Football Playoff race, but there were some changes in the conference power rankings.
With large portions of the SEC and ACC effectively taking the weekend off by scheduling FCS teams, only a handful of ranked teams faced challenges. Alabama, Clemson and Auburn all rolled past overmatched opponents to set up huge matchups with a ton at stake in rivalry week.
Elsewhere, the schedule just so happened to line up that a few top teams played the worst competition in their respective conferences. Oklahoma trounced Kansas in a game that was only noteworthy for the trash talk between Baker Mayfield and the Jayhawks, while Ohio State crushed Illinois with scores on its first six possessions.
There was one important game in the playoff race, as Wisconsin earned an impressive 24-10 win over Michigan that might silence some doubters about the Badgers soft schedule. Saturday’s action also featured one major upset, with Kansas State holding off a late Oklahoma State rally for a 45-40 win.
Even with Clemson and Miami winning, it was a tough week for the middle tier of the ACC. With the top three conferences so bunched together, that was enough to cause some movement in the power rankings heading into rivalry week.
5. Pac-12
The three ranked Pac-12 teams in action this weekend rolled to easy victories, but the conference still lags well behind the rest of the nation with little hope of making it to the College Football Playoff.
It was at least an entertaining Saturday out West, with Washington scoring 10 points in the final minute to top Utah 33-30 in the craziest finish of the weekend. Kyle Whittingham called a timeout on second down with under 30 seconds to go when Washington was content to play for overtime, and the Huskies made the Utes pay by driving for the game-winning field goal.
The Huskies were eliminated for division contention hours earlier by virtue of Stanford’s 17-14 win over California in the Big Game. Stanford will now turn around and root for Washington next week in the Apple Cup to potentially clinch a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC.
Clay Helton’s team will have two weeks to prepare for that title game after beating rival UCLA 28-23 in a hard-fought contest. Oregon managed to shut down Khalil Tate for a 48-28 win while Arizona State easily topped Oregon State, with both victors gaining bowl eligibility.
There’s just not a lot of depth in the Pac-12 this season, and even its top-tier teams are a step behind the elite in the rest of college football. Next week’s schedule is headlined by the Apple Cup with the Pac-12 North on the line for Washington State, while Stanford will look to score a home upset over Notre Dame.