Oregon beats USC for the championship in a finish that’s so very Pac-12
The Pac-12 got what it asked for from the final game of a surreal season.
It got a second-place team as the conference champion, a two-loss team in its best bowl game, and another postseason of second-class treatment by the national media and all the key figures in the college football machinery.
Oregon didn’t win its division but was given a pass into the championship game — in addition to an extra week of rest — and defeated USC 31-24 on Friday in an entertaining game at the Coliseum.
The Ducks, a talented team that had an erratic regular season, outplayed the Trojans throughout and took advantage of a series of mistakes by USC quarterback Kedon Slovis.
Oregon (4-2) will head into the New Year’s Six as the conference’s representative on the sport’s biggest stage.
Meanwhile, USC is left to bemoan its performance and direct its frustration in the general direction of the conference office.
No other Power Five league that uses the division format would have undermined the integrity of the regular season and the championship by elevating a second-place team.
The policies adopted by the SEC and the Big Ten called for their title games to be declared no contests if one of the division winners was unable to participate because of COVID.
But the Pac-12 plowed even after Washington, the North champion, was forced to withdraw.
The end result was very Pac-12:
Instead of an undefeated, top-10/12 representing the conference in the Fiesta Bowl, the conference will send a two-loss, No. 20-something to face a top-10 team from the Big Ten or the SEC.
That could have been any division champion playing on a short week against an opponent that had extra time to prepare — and it would have been a mistake.
That it was the Trojans simply compounds the mess.
The Pac-12 needs USC to thrive in order for the conference to achieve maximum success on the field and at the negotiating table when its media rights are up for bid in two years.
It could have declared a no contest in the title game once the North champion withdrew — as the Big Ten or SEC would have done.
Instead, it gave Oregon a chance and the Ducks, to their credit, took advantage.
Repeat after the Hotline: No conference makes life difficult for its teams quite like the Pac-12.
It doesn’t schedule for success. It schedules for hardship, for parity, for entertainment.
Then again, the Pac-12 is a conference and a media company, so many the approach makes sense.
What’s next?
With the Ducks headed to the New Year’s Six, the Trojans (5-1) will drop to the Alamo, which holds the second spot in the Pac-12 lineup.
Colorado (4-1), which wasn’t given a chance to play for the title after Washington withdrew, is also an option.
Beyond those three, there isn’t much on the postseason plate.
As of this moment, no other Pac-12 teams are going bowling.
Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Utah have all declined to participate.
Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Arizona are not eligible.
Arizona State (1-2) could become eligible with a victory Saturday (at Oregon State), but the Sun Devils haven’t indicated they will accept a bid.
In other words, the Pac-12 postseason could consist of just three teams.
It’s easy to blame the conference office for the football shortcomings — and we do, frequently.
But the ultra-thin postseason lineup is not on commissioner Larry Scott, folks.
It’s on COVID.
We’re sure some coaches wanted to play. Bowl appearances help with recruiting and with triggering bonus clauses in their contracts.
And we’re fairly sure the conference office could have found berths for willing and eligible teams.
But nobody is forcing the players to hit the road for the holidays after everything they’ve been through for six months.
They have been training since the summer, unable to see their families. They’re tired of the strain, tired of the testing and tired of not living at least some semblance of their normal lives.
It might be different if there were available bowls out west, but the Redbox, Las Vegas, Holiday and L.A. bowls have all shut down for the winter.
In order to go bowling, teams must travel thousands of miles to face second-tier opponents in games that don’t matter.
In normal years, that’s fine. The bowl experience makes the commitment worthwhile: Players arrive five or six days early and experience the communities they visit, with all the team bonding and tourism opportunities that come with it.
This year, the fun has been removed. Bowl games will be treated like road games: fly in a few days ahead, practice and sequester in the hotel, play the game, then fly home.
For players who want to spend Christmas with their families, it’s decidedly unappealing.
Our guess is that by late Sunday, when the matchups are set, the Pac-12 will have three teams bowling.
Oregon in the Fiesta, USC in the Alamo and Colorado in the Armed Forces.
That’s completely understandable, even if the path to that end was a bit of a head-scratcher.
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