Nearly a season removed from the messy divorce between the Pac-12 Conference and 10 of its members, the deserters’ seasons are coming to varying conclusions. Let’s look around the country (as the Pac-12’s former members now compete in conferences from coast to coast) and reflect on if the move truly was the best move for each program.
Tier I: A season of success — Oregon, Arizona State, Colorado
These three teams have already secured at least an eight-win season, and ASU (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) and CU (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) could still achieve 10-win 2024 resumes. These three teams hit the ground running in their new conferences (Oregon in the Big Ten and the others in the Big 12), and put their new conference opponents on blast. Head coaches Dan Lanning, Kenny Dillingham and Deion Sanders may be building dynasties against their new competition. There’s still a path for each of these three teams to win their new conferences in their first seasons, which would be incredible, comical and impressive.
Tier II: Getting their feet warm — Washington, California, USC
These teams aren’t competing for conference titles this season, but we will see them in the postseason. Each of these teams has already earned bowl-eligibility in 2024, the general mark of a successful season. California (6-5, 2-5 ACC) was a mild threat in the ACC this season (despite being Florida State’s only conference win) while Washington and USC threw together respectable seasons.
Washington’s falloff was to be expected, but USC’s decline was somewhat surprising in its first year in the Big Ten. California sits near the bottom of the bucket in the ACC, but wasn’t expected to do much and has overperformed in 2024.
Tier III: Oh yeah, you guys — Oregon State, Washington State
Be honest, did you actually watch the one conference game these two teams played this year? Me neither. Washington State (8-3, 0-1 Pac-12) had a good time beating up on weak Mountain West schools, but fell short against the Beavers (5-6, 1-0 Pac-12). The Cougars are going bowling, but the Beavers likely aren’t. Nobody paid attention to the depleted remains of a historic conference, but maybe adding all those Mountain West teams can put the Pac-12 back on the map and bring OSU and WSU back to relevancy.
Tier IV: Low expectations, low results — Stanford, UCLA
The Cardinal (3-8, 2-6 ACC) pulled off an upset win over then-No. 19 Louisville, but that was really the only high point of Stanford’s first season in the ACC. UCLA’s (4-7, 3-6 Big Ten) season got better as it progressed, but earned most of its wins against the weakest teams in the Big Ten. Nobody expected much from these teams, so, in a sense, they delivered.
Tier V: What happened — Utah, Arizona
Utah (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) was expected by many to win the Big 12 in its first year in the conference. Unsurprisingly, Utes quarterback Cam Rising got hurt again and Utah took a major step in the wrong direction. Key losses to Houston and TCU made the Utes’ season unsalvageable, and they’ll have to adjust to life in the Big 12 quickly.
Arizona (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) lost its coach to Washington, but retained most of its key offensive components. It didn’t matter. The Wildcats have been incredibly underwhelming, but could end the season on a high note by ruining rival ASU’s season this weekend.
