College football’s biggest day unfolded as expected for the Pac-12, with Washington claiming the No. 2 seed in the playoff pairings, Oregon grabbing a spot in the Fiesta Bowl and the other six matchups falling into place without controversy.
Instant reaction …
1. The right team won the Pac-12 championship game for the conference to break its playoff drought.
Given developments in the SEC, the Hotline believes Oregon would have been left out of the playoff if the Ducks had defeated Washington on Friday night in Las Vegas.
We’ll never know, of course. But based on the selection committee’s rankings and reasoning, it sure seems like Alabama was headed to the semifinals after beating the No. 1 team (Georgia) in its backyard (Atlanta).
And if the Crimson Tide was in, Texas had to be included because of its head-to-head victory in Tuscaloosa.
That would have left one spot — for undefeated Florida State.
As the Pac-12 champion without a victory over Georgia, without the brand power of the SEC, without an essential head-to-head win over another playoff team and without an undefeated season, the Ducks would have given the committee an easy out.
Our theory won’t sit well in Eugene, but from the perspective of the collective — and the $6 million paycheck that accompanies the playoff berth — the right team won the final Pac-12 championship game.
2. As a reward for its 13-0 season, Washington received the No. 2 seed — and a trip to the Sugar Bowl to face No. 3 Texas.
Driving distance from Austin to New Orleans: seven hours.
It’s a road game for the Huskies.
They would have been better off dropping to the No. 4 seed and playing Michigan in the Rose Bowl. But in contrast to the NCAA Tournament selection process, the playoff committee doesn’t have the option to move teams up and down seed lines to account for crowd advantages and disadvantages.
Michigan received protection as the No. 1 seed — the Wolverines will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl, not New Orleans — but there was no recourse for Washington.
The Huskies will face their former head coach, Steve Sarkisian, and their former defensive coordinator, Pete Kwiatkowski, who have led the Longhorns’ resurgence.
Some current players were on the roster in 2020, when Kwiatkowski last ran UW’s defense, but he was long gone before Kalen DeBoer arrived . We don’t see a material advantage for the Longhorns in that regard.
3. Oregon drew the worst matchup in the New Year’s Six lineup and will face No. 23 Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl.
The eight-ranked Ducks had a tremendous season — they lost two games by three points. But we won’t attempt to put lipstick on this matchup. It’s brutal.
The big question is how many draft-eligible Oregon players opt out of the game—our guess: All of them.
4. Arizona was locked into the Alamo Bowl based on the Pac-12’s selection policy, with only unknown being the Big 12 representative.
As with so much else about the 14th-ranked Wildcats’ breakthrough season, the matchup could not have worked out any better. They will face No. 12 Oklahoma in San Antonio.
As a bonus: The kickoff (Dec. 28) doesn’t conflict with an Arizona basketball game.
5. Utah is headed to the Las Vegas Bowl and will face Northwestern. That’s a better matchup than we expected: Maryland looked like a real possibility.
The Utes are bowl-eligible for the ninth consecutive season (excluding 2020). However, they have lost four in a row, including the past two Rose Bowls.
6. It took longer than expected to resolve the Holiday and Sun Bowl matchups — not because of confusion on the Pac-12 side but because the ACC’s bowl partners were reportedly at odds over which teams were headed where.
As expected, the Holiday Bowl selected USC, which faces Louisville, leaving the Sun Bowl for Oregon State.
The 19th-ranked Beavers looked bound for the Holiday until recently, when the deflating departure of coach Jonathan Smith darkened their outlook for ticket sales, hotel bookings and general competitiveness.
However, OSU caught its first break in weeks when the ACC finally revealed the opponent: Notre Dame.
The No. 16 Irish will make their first appearance in El Paso since 2010, bringing heft to the event and giving fans reason to make the trek from Corvallis.
7. The LA Bowl went with the hometown team and selected UCLA over Cal.
The Bruins will face Boise State, champions of the Mountain West, and we plan to closely monitor the vibe in Westwood over the next few weeks.
First, the Bruins retained unpopular coach Chip Kelly.
Then freshman quarterback Dante Moore entered the transfer portal.
Then USC hired away Kelly’s defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn.
The triple whammy left UCLA fans apoplectic.
How many will venture down the road to SoFi Stadium for the game? Don’t be surprised if Boise State has the home-crowd advantage.
8. Finally, Cal is off to the Independence Bowl to face Texas Tech with loads of questions about its offensive staff.
Playcaller Jake Spavital just accepted the same post with Baylor, and his potential replacement, tight ends coach Tim Plough, took the head coaching position at UC Davis.
The Bears have promoted offensive line coach Mike Bloesch to the role of playcaller, with the bowl game providing a glimpse of what’s coming from Cal next season in the ACC.
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