2022 Pac-12 Conference football season
The 2022 Pac-12 Conference football season is the 44th season of Pac-12 football taking place during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season begins on September 1, 2022, and ends with the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game on December 2, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
| 2022 Pac-12 Conference football season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision |
| Sport | Football |
| Duration | September 1, 2022 January 9, 2023 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Total attendance | 3,506,889 |
| TV partner(s) | Fox Sports Media Group, (Fox, FS1), ESPN Family, (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU), and Pac-12 Networks |
| 2023 NFL draft | |
| Top draft pick | CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon |
| Picked by | New England Patriots, 16th overall |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | USC |
| Season MVP | Caleb Williams, QB, USC |
| Top scorer | Denis Lynch, K, USC (110 points) |
| Pac-12 Championship | |
| Champions | Utah |
| Runners-up | USC |
| Finals MVP | Cameron Rising, QB, Utah |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 USC y | 8 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Utah y$ | 7 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Washington | 7 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Oregon | 7 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 17 Oregon State | 6 | – | 3 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 21 UCLA | 6 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Washington State | 4 | – | 5 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 3 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | 2 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona State† | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford | 1 | – | 8 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 1 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Utah 47, USC 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Pac-12 is a Power Five Conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, and the Southeastern Conference.
The 2022 season is the first since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011 in which Pac-12 teams are not split into divisions. On May 18, 2022, the NCAA Division I Council approved a rule change that gave conferences complete freedom in choosing the participants in their championship games. On that same day, the Pac-12 announced that effective immediately, the championship game would feature the top two teams in the conference standings. The 2022 schedule, which was based on the conference's former North–South divisional model, did not change; the Pac-12 stated that it was reviewing multiple scheduling models for future seasons.
The Utah Utes’ participation in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship was decided by strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. Oregon, Utah, and Washington finished the regular season in a 3-way tie for 2nd place. Each team has a tied common opponent record and there was a tie for the next highest seed common opponent.