2020 Pac-12 Conference football season


The 2020 Pac-12 Conference football season was the 42nd season of Pac-12 football taking place during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season was originally scheduled to begin on September 26, 2020, and end with the 2020 Pac-12 Championship Game on December 18–19, 2020, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. On July 10, 2020, the Pac-12 announced that all competition in fall sports, including football, will be played exclusively in-conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference suspended all fall sports competitions due to the ongoing pandemic. On September 24, 2020 the Pac-12 Conference announced that the postponement of fall sports was to be ended and teams will return to play with a six-game Conference-only season to begin on November 6, and the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 18 with the rest of the conference seeded for a seventh game.
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 2020 season is the tenth for the twelve Pac-12 teams to be divided into two divisions of six teams each, named North and South.

Preseason

2020 Pac-12 Spring Football and number of signees on signing day:
North Division
  • California –
  • Oregon –
  • Oregon State –
  • Stanford –
  • Washington –
  • Washington State –
South Division
  • Arizona –
  • Arizona State –
  • Colorado –
  • UCLA –
  • USC –
  • Utah –

Pac-12 Media Days

The Pac-12 will conduct its 2020 Pac-12 media days at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, in Hollywood, California, in July on the Pac-12 Network.
The teams and representatives in respective order were as follows:

Preseason Media polls

The preseason polls was to be released in July 2020 but due to delaying the season it was released on October 7. Since 1992, the credentialed media has gotten the preseason champion correct just five times. Only nine times has the preseason pick even made it to the Pac-12 title game. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2020 poll, Oregon was voted as the favorite to win both the North Division and the Pac–12 Championship Game.
1Oregon222
2California176
3Washington161
4Stanford105
5Oregon State76
6Washington State58

Media poll --
1Oregon21
2USC15
3Arizona State1
4Utah1

Preseason awards

Preseason All Pac-12

First Team
'''Second Team'''

Activism

On August 2, 2020, a few days after the Pac-12 announced a conference only season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of 13 Pac-12 football players from 10 schools released a list of demands including health and safety protections, guaranteed medical coverage for players, elimination of excessive salaries for staff, end to racial injustice in sports and society, and a profit-sharing arrangement whereby 50% of the conference revenues will be distributed evenly among athletes. The players threatened to boycott practices and games unless the demands are met.
PlayerPositionSchool
Treyjohn ButlerDBStanford
Jake CurhanOLCal
Valentino DaltosoOLCal
Joshua DraydenDBCal
Nick FordOLUtah
Jaydon GrantDBOregon State
Elisha GuidryDBUCLA
Malik HausmanDBArizona
Dallas HobbsDLWashington State
Jevon HollandDBOregon
Ty JonesWRWashington
Cody ShearOLArizona State
Joe Tryon-ShoyinkaLBWashington

Head coaches

Coaching changes

There were three coaching change following the 2019 season, Karl Dorrell, Jimmy Lake and Nick Rolovich.

Coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season.
TeamHead coachYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolPac–12 record
ArizonaKevin Sumlin395–589–156–12
Arizona StateHerm Edwards315–1115–119–9
CaliforniaJustin Wilcox420–1820–1810–17
ColoradoKarl Dorrell135-270–035-27
OregonMario Cristobal448–5421–713–5
Oregon StateJonathan Smith37–177–175–13
StanfordDavid Shaw1086–3486–3458–22
UCLAChip Kelly353–247–177–11
USCClay Helton740–2240–2231–12
UtahKyle Whittingham16131–63131–6342–39
WashingtonJimmy Lake10–00–00–0
Washington StateNick Rolovich128–270–00–0

Schedules

All times Pacific time. Pac-12 teams in bold.
Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week.

Regular season

The regular season was originally scheduled to begin on September 26, 2020, and end on December 5, 2020. The Pac-12 Championship Game was scheduled for December 18–19, 2020. It was announced on July 10, 2020 that all non-conference games would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Week 6

The game between Stanford and Oregon State was moved from Stanford to Corvallis due to a ban on contact sports in Santa Clara County.

Pac-12 Championship Game

The Pac-12 Championship Game, the conference's tenth championship game, will be played on December 18, 2020, at the home stadium of the division champion with the best record. It was planned to be contested by the winners of the North and South divisions. The remaining Pac-12 teams will play a series of seeded games during this week; each team will play against the cross-divisional opponent that finished in the same place in the standings. Washington, the North Division winner, was scheduled to play USC, the South Division winner, in the championship game, but COVID issues forced it back out, allowing the second-best team by record in the North, Oregon, to take their place instead.

Canceled regular season games

The following non-conference games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Aug. 29
Sep. 3
  • Northern Arizona at Arizona State
  • BYU at Utah
  • Oregon State at Oklahoma State
  • Washington State at Utah State
Sept. 5
  • Portland State at Arizona
  • USC vs. Alabama
  • UCLA at Hawaii
  • Colorado at Colorado State
  • TCU at California
  • William & Mary at Stanford
  • North Dakota State at Oregon
  • Michigan at Washington
Sept. 12
  • Arizona State at UNLV
  • New Mexico at USC
  • Fresno State at Colorado
  • Montana State at Utah
  • Cal Poly at California
  • Ohio State at Oregon
  • Colorado State at Oregon State
  • Sacramento State at Washington
  • Houston at Washington State
Sept. 19
  • Arizona at Texas Tech
  • BYU at Arizona State
  • UCLA at San Diego State
  • Colorado at Texas A&M
  • Utah at Wyoming
  • Hawaii at Oregon
  • Portland State at Oregon State
  • Utah State at Washington
  • Idaho at Washington State
Oct. 10
  • Stanford at Notre Dame
Nov. 28
  • Notre Dame at USC
  • BYU at Stanford

Postseason

Bowl games

Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Pacific Time Zone. Pac-12 teams shown in bold.

Selection of teams

  • Bowl eligible: Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, USC, Utah, Washington
  • Bowl-ineligible: Arizona, California, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington State
Arizona State, Stanford, USC, and Washington declined to pursue bowl game opportunities. UCLA and Utah opted out of playing in a bowl before their final regular season games and with their eligibility still in doubt.

Awards and honors

Pac-12 Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Pac-12 Conference football coaches at the end of the season
AwardPlayerSchool
Offensive Player of the YearJarek BroussardColorado
Defensive Player of the YearTalanoa HufangaUSC
Offensive Freshman of the YearTy JordanUtah
Defensive Freshman of the YearNoah SewellOregon
Scholar Athlete of the Year
Coach of the YearKarl DorrellColorado

All-conference teams

The following players earned [List of List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12] honors. Any teams showing following their name are indicating the number of All-Pac-12 Conference Honors awarded to that university for 1st team and 2nd team respectively.
First Team
Second Team
† Two-time first team selection
Honorable mentions

All-Americans

Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. College Football All-American consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.
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National award winners

2020 College Football Award Winners-->

Home game attendance

On September 24, 2020, the Pac–12 announced that it would only allow student-athlete families to attend football games this season, subject to local public health authority approval and in accordance with NCAA guidelines. Each individual university will determine what will be allowed in terms of family member attendance on that basis. The conference is keeping track of attendance, although the accuracy is in question. Each team will play three home and three road games, with the possibility of hosting a fourth home game based on where each team finishes within their division, with the top seed from each division playing in the Pac-12 Title Game in Las Vegas.
TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4TotalAverage% of Capacity
ArizonaArizona Stadium55,6751†00—10.330.00059%
Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium53,5990———000%
CaliforniaCalifornia Memorial Stadium62,46700——000%
ColoradoFolsom Field50,183554†00—5541850.36%
OregonAutzen Stadium54,0001†0——10.50.00092%
Oregon StateReser Stadium43,154000—000%
StanfordStanford Stadium50,4241†———110.0019%
UCLARose Bowl80,616000—000%
USCLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum76,7501†1†——210.0013%
UtahRice-Eccles Stadium45,8071†00—10.330.0007%
WashingtonHusky Stadium70,083294†25325927810842710.38%
Washington StateMartin Stadium32,9520———000%

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

NFL draft

The following list includes all Pac–12 Players who were drafted in the 2021 NFL draft.
PlayerPositionSchoolDraft
Round		Round
Pick		Overall
Pick		Team
Penei SewellOTOregon177Detroit Lions
Alijah Vera-TuckerOGUSC11414New York Jets
Joe Tryon-ShoyinkaOLBWashington13232Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jevon HollandSOregon2436Miami Dolphins
Levi OnwuzurikeDTWashington2941Detroit Lions
Walker LittleOTStanford21345Jacksonville Jaguars
Davis MillsQBStanford3367Houston Texans
Osa OdighizuwaDTUCLA31175Dallas Cowboys
Paulson AdeboCBStanford31276New Orleans Saints
Nahshon WrightCBOregon State33599Dallas Cowboys
Elijah MoldenCBWashington336100Tennessee Titans
Jay TufeleDTUSC41106Jacksonville Jaguars
Amon-Ra St. BrownWRUSC47112Detroit Lions
Drew DalmanCStanford49114Atlanta Falcons
Camryn BynumRBCalifornia420125Minnesota Vikings
Keith TaylorCBWashington522166Carolina Panthers
Deommodore LenoirCBOregon528172San Francisco 49ers
Simi FehokoWRStanford535179Dallas Cowboys
Talanoa HufangaSUSC536180San Francisco 49ers
Frank DarbyWRArizona State63187Atlanta Falcons
Marlon TuipulotuDTUSC65189Philadelphia Eagles
Roy LopezDTArizona611195Houston Texans
Gary BrightwellRBArizona612196New York Giants
Will ShermanOTColorado613197New England Patriots
Demetric FeltonRBUCLA627211Cleveland Browns
Brady BreezeSOregon631215Tennessee Titans
Thomas Graham Jr.CBOregon644228Chicago Bears
Jermar JeffersonRBOregon State729257Detroit Lions

Total picks by school

TeamRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7Total
Arizona00000202
Arizona State00000101
California00010001
Colorado00000101
Oregon11001205
Oregon State00100012
Stanford01211005
UCLA00100102
USC10021105
Utah00000000
Washington11101004
Washington State00000000
Total335448128