Pac-12 Finishes 2022 Football Season With The Most 10-Plus Win Teams
Jan 13, 2023, 1:39 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – The Pac-12 has caught a lot of grief over the years for being a “weak” Power Five conference that cannibalizes itself into irrelevance every year.
2022 proved to be a bit different. The Pac-12 still cannibalized itself out of a College Football Playoff berth per usual, but it ended the season with the most 10-plus win teams of any other Power Five conference.
That stat, despite not making the Playoffs again, has helped some to change their tune about the Pac-12, and was even a great demonstration as to why the expansion of the College Football Playoff is very necessary.
The @pac12 had the most teams with double-digit wins this season 💪 Will they lead again next season? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5g6BqsqTne
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 12, 2023
The Pac-12’s Double-Digit Win Teams
In total, the Pac-12 had five teams finish 2022 with 10 wins or more.
Washington (11-2), USC (11-3), Oregon State (10-3), Oregon (10-3), and Utah (10-4) all had terrific showings for the Conference of Champions getting to double-digit wins and finishing the year ranked in the final AP Top 25.
The SEC came in second in 2022 with four double-digit win teams, the Big Ten and Mountain West tied for third with three teams, and the ACC, Big 12, and Sun Belt tied for fourth with two teams.
The AAC, MAC, and Conference USA brought up the rear with just one team hitting ten wins or more for the 2022 football season.
Looking Ahead To 2023 For The Pac-12
2023 doesn’t look to be any easier for the Pac-12 Conference and in fact, it might be even harder to hit that double-digit mark in the upcoming football season.
Four of the five 10-win teams (USC, Washington, Oregon, and Utah) all announced their starting quarterbacks from 2022 will be returning for 2023.
There are still some questions for the Utes in regard to Rising’s return after suffering what head coach Kyle Whittingham said appeared to be a “serious” injury in the Rose Bowl. Not much further one way or the other has come out since, making it hard to know right now if Rising will play the whole season, part of the season, or maybe just be around for moral support in 2023.
Regardless of whether Rising will be ready or not, that still leaves Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr., and Bo Nix for everyone to have to try and navigate through along with their talented weapons.
Oregon State also decided to not be left out of the quarterback fun and got themselves what appears to be an upgrade at the signal caller position in Clemson transfer D.J. Uiagalelei. Quarterback was the one piece of Oregon State’s puzzle that many believed held them back a bit in 2022 but could launch them to a new level in 2023 with their notoriously nasty defense.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
