The PAC 12 had two (2) teams reach the ten (10) win threshold in 2021, Oregon (10-4) in the North Division and in the South Division, Utah, also went 10-4! Of the twelve (12) teams playing in the League, half (six {6} squads) of them qualified for the bowl season (Arizona State, UCLA & Utah from the South and Oregon, Oregon State, & Washington State out of the North)! That said, their bowl results can best be described as a ‘Train Wreck‘. The P-12 went 0-5 in the post season; (Oregon State lost to Utah State, 24-13, Oregon was outscored by Oklahoma, 47-32, Arizona State was stopped by Wisconsin, 20-13, Washington State fell to Central Michigan, 24-21, Utah’s defense missed the bus, losing to Ohio State, 48-45, and mercifully, UCLA canceled their date with NC State, due to Covid)! Their regular season performance vs Power Five (P5) opponents was better, but not by much, the conference took on 16 P5 opponents and managed only three (3) wins, an anemic 3-13 result! The PAC 12 lost seven (7) games to two (2) teams, BYU beat them 5 times (Arizona, Arizona State, USC, Utah, & Washington State), & Notre Dame played them twice (2), USC & Stanford fell to the Irish! They lined it up 9 times vs the 2nd best Group of Five (G5) Conference (the American is widely regarded as the best G5 league), the Mountain West and managed just 4 wins (4-5), a losing record to a G5 Conference. Further, they play, in the majority, the Big Sky Conference, when engaging FCS programs! PAC 12 played eight games vs the B-Sky and finished with 2 losses, completely unacceptable for a P5 Conference!
Our focus here is the PAC 12’s Non-Conference (NC) games!
On Sully’s College Football Page, we use a system of color coding to make the reading of a particular team’s strength of schedule easily recognized and understood!
The color Red is used to identify conference games, Yellow, for Power Five (P5) opponents, Green, to signify Group of Five (G5) teams, and finally, we use Light Blue for the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The FCS can offer up to 63 scholarship (not more than 63, yet can offer fewer), while the Football Bowl Subdivision ( P5 & G5) must provide 85 scholarships or lose their status as an FBS program!
The link provided below will take you to the PAC 12’s 2022 schedule! Note; the P-12 plays nine (9) conference games as does the B-10! Further, the PAC 12, like the B-10 & Southeastern Conference has 2 divisions (North & South), with six (6) teams on each side of the conference. Finally, where the PAC 12 parts company from the B-10 & SEC is in the number of conference teams, the B-10 and the Southeastern Conferences have 14 teams to the PAC 12’s twelve (12) teams. This difference in the # of conference members reduces the PAC 12’s NC encounters from the SEC’s 56 & B-10’s 42 NC games to 36 Non-Conference tilts for the PAC 12. In other words, The PAC 12’s, twelve (12) programs, play 3 NC contests for a total of 36 games (12 X 3 = 36)
In should be noted, the terms P5 & G5 are not NCAA language, but rather the constructs of five conferences (ACC, B-10, B-12, PAC 12, & SEC) and Notre Dame! No one is quiet sure of the origin of these terms? The use of, now common, Power Five & Group of Five, seem to have evolved over time! Suffice to say, they are not NCAA speak!
The PAC 12 Conference plays 36 Non-Conference games in 2022!
Lets begin in the P-12’s North Division by identifying their P5 opponents and putting a number to the G5 & FCS teams they will play in 2022.From the North Division, California Travels to Indiana to take on Notre Dame, (ND is a founding member of the CFP system and is universally recognized as a P5 program) Oregon plays two (2) P5s in 2022, Georgia, at a neutral site (Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA) & BYU @ home, while Oregon State does not play a P5 in 2022, they do travel to Idaho, to take on Boise State! Stanford heads east, to the Great State of Indiana, to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and battles BYU @ home, Washington welcomes Michigan State, to Husky Stadium, while WSU travels to the Great State of Wisconsin to do battle with Bucky @ Camp Randall. The North Division six (6) members, with the exception of OSU, each play, at least, one (1) game vs a P5. Oregon & Stanford play two (2) P5 opponents, bringing the North Division’s total to seven (7) games vs P5 in 2022 regular season!
The North Division plays five (5) Group of Five opponents and six (6) FCS teams!
The North Division’s schedule breakdown is 18 NC games, seven (7) games vs P5, five (5) against G5s and six (6) with FCS squads! You like to see each member of a P5 Conference (or in this case, division) play at, least, one (1) P5 program in their NC schedule. The North, as a whole, meets that standard by playing 7 P5s in 22′!
The South Division vs P5: Arizona welcomes Mississippi State to Arizona Stadium, Arizona State travels to Stillwater, OK, to take on Oklahoma State, while Colorado kicks it off vs two (2) P5 teams, @ home against TCU and then, gets it on, in the great state of Minnesota, vs The Golden Gophers. UCLA’s schedule may be the weakest of any P5 program in the country in 2022, not only do they not play a P5, the fact is, the G5 teams they play, Bowling Green & South Alabama are among the weakest in their respective G5 conferences (MAC & Sun Belt) and their FCS opponent, Alabama State, is not a particular strong program in that subdivision! USC takes on ND, in college football’s greatest intersectional rival, & Utah travels cross country, to Gainesville, Florida, to get it on with Gators in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The South plays six (6) P5 teams, with every member playing one Power Five program, save UCLA who plays none (0) while Colorado lines it up vs two (2)!
The South Division plays eight (8) Group of Five opponents and four (4) FCS teams!
The South Division’s schedule breakdown is 18 NC games, six (6) games vs P5, eight (8) against G5s, and four (4) with FCS squads!
The PAC 12, as a whole, will play 13 P5 opponents; six (6) of the thirteen (13) will be played in PAC 12 Stadiums, six (6) will be played as true road games, & one at a neutral site. PAC 12 teams will appear in one (1) Southeastern Conference Arena (Florida), in one B-12 Stadium (TCU’s Amon G Carter Stadium), on two (2) B-10 fields, Wisconsin’s & Minnesota’s, & twice (2) at the House that Rockne built (Notre Dame)! The thirteenth P5 opponent will be Georgia, played @ a neutral site, Atlanta, GA’s Mercedes Benz Stadium!
The PAC 12 Conference plays 9 league games and 3 Non-Conference (NC) games to reach their allotted regular season 12 game total. As a result, the conference has to schedules 36 NC games (12 teams X 3 = 36) to reach their their conference total of 144 games (108 conference games; 12 X 9 = 108 + 36 NC tilts = 144 total battles in the PAC 12 Conference).
The PAC 12 plays 13 G5 and 10 FCS, all @ home, except for games played @ San Diego State (Arizona), @ Air Force (Colorado) & @ Fresno State (Oregon State) are P-12 teams, who travel to the above mentioned sites! Please note; all ten (10) FCS games are played in PAC 12 Arenas!
The 2022 PAC 12 Non-Conference Season looks like this: 36 NC games, 26 are home contests, 9 are true road battles, and one (1) is at a Neutral site!
And as always … enjoy the games!
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