Who Would Have Won the New-Look Pac-12 Conference in 2024?

Jared Miller | Dec 16, 2024

Oct 17, 2019; Stanford, CA, USA; Detailed view of the Pac-12 Conference logo on the field at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this story:

In a couple of years the Pac-12 is going to look vastly different than it does right now and that's a good thing. Right now only Washington State and Oregon State are in the once-proud conference but that will be changing soon enough. Announcements from Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State (plus Gonzaga for basketball) earlier this year assured that the league would be salvaged and that WSU and OSU won't be alone indefinitely.

As of right now, starting in 2026, the Pac-12 will have seven football members. How would that have looked this year, though, based on how those seven teams performed? Here's what that version of the Pac-12 standings would have been like had it been in effect this year. These standings are, of course, based off of would-be conference records for the seven schools involved.

1. Boise State Broncos (12-1, 4-0 Conf.)

To no one's surprise, Boise State would have been the top dog in this iteration of the Pac-12 as it was in the Mountain West this year. The Broncos won 11 regular season games along with their conference championship and beat all four of their future conference opponents that they saw (Washington State, Utah State, San Diego State and Oregon State) and made light work of all of them. In all likelihood the Broncos would have still been a CFP selection however, it should be noted, that a league needs to have at least eight football-playing members to have its conference champion be eligible for an auto-bid into the playoff.

2. Oregon State Beavers (5-7, 3-2 Conf.)

Despite only winning five games in 2024 and failing to reach a bowl game, Oregon State still would have finished second in the league standings. The Beavers took down San Diego State, Colorado State and actual current Pac-12 foe Washington State. The late-season win over the Cougars would give OSU the second place spot due to the head-to-head tiebreaker as WSU finished with a similar conference mark of 3-2. Assuming the conference will function as most others do, the Beavs would end up clashing with Boise State in the Pac-12 championship.

3. Washington State Cougars (8-4, 3-2 Conf.)

The other current Pac-12 team, Washington State, comes in third following an 8-4 regular season that saw them win three games over their soon-to-be conference foes. The Cougars dispatched Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State while falling to both Oregon State and Boise State. WSU earned itself a bowl bid for the first time since 2022 but ended its regular season on a three-game slide in, losing by a combined seven points in those contests.

4. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6, 1-1 Conf.)

Coming in at the middle position is Fresno State and that makes sense after a 2024 campaign that saw the Bulldogs go an even .500 at 6-6. They played the lease amount of would-be conference games of anyone in the new Pac-12, battling just Colorado State and Washington State. Fresno State took down CSU in a close one back in late November but lost their October matchup to the Cougars at home. The Bulldogs did do just enough to snag a bowl bid, though, and will be facing Northern Illinois in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl later this month.

5. Colorado State Rams (8-4, 1-2 Conf.)

In spite of a solid regular season in which the Rams won eight games and earned a bowl bid, they still would finish fifth in the Pac-12. Colorado State lost to both Oregon State and Fresno State but managed to salvage one league win over Utah State in the finale. CSU won six of its final seven games after a sluggish 2-3 start and will be bowling for the first time since 2017. The Rams are set to take on Miami (OH) in the Arizona Bowl on December 28.

6. Utah State Aggies (4-8, 1-3 Conf.)

Utah State had a rather forgettable season and would have done so in the revamped Pac-12 as well. The Aggies won just four games and only one of those wins came against a future conference opponent; a late-season 41-20 victory over San Diego State. Outside of that, USU lost to Boise State, Washington State and Colorado State. Injuries certainty played a role as the team lost one of its best players in Jalen Royals down the stretch. The Aggies snap a three-season streak of playing in a bowl game.

7. San Diego State Aztecs (3-9, 0-4 Conf.)

Finishing last in the new Pac-12 would be the Aztecs. San Diego State had a tough season in 2024, winning just three games and none over any of its future league mates. Their only victories came against FCS East Texas A&M (formerly Texas A&M-Commerce), Hawaii and Wyoming. The Aztecs lost six straight games to close their season and missed out on a bowl game for the second year in a row.

More Reading Material From Washington State Cougars On SI