No. 4 USC headlines 6 Pac-12 teams ranked in penultimate College Football Playoff poll

by Ryan Kelapire
Nov 29, 2022

The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings were revealed Tuesday and the Pac-12 continues to have six teams in the poll, tied for the most of any conference.

It's the first time six Pac-12 teams have been ranked in the CFP Top 25 for three straight weeks. All six are ranked in the top 17.

  • No. 4 USC
  • No. 11 Utah
  • No. 12 Washington
  • No. 15 Oregon State
  • No. 16 Oregon
  • No. 17 UCLA

USC's No. 4 ranking is its highest in CFP history. The Trojans jumped two spots in the latest rankings after beating then-No. 15 Notre Dame to finish the regular season 11-1.

The Trojans' lone loss is to Utah, which will rematch USC in the 2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game on Friday, Dec. 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. PT on FOX.

The Utes have won five of their last six games and leaped three spots to No. 11 in the CFP rankings after routing Colorado in their regular-season finale.

Washington rose one spot to No. 12 after beating Washington State in the highest-scoring Apple Cup in series history, UW's highest ranking of the season and best since being ranked ninth in the final CFP poll of 2018.

Oregon State ascended six spots to No. 15, its highest CFP ranking ever, after a comeback win over Oregon in Corvallis. The loss dropped the Ducks seven spots to No. 17.

UCLA improved by one spot after beating Cal in its regular-season finale. It's the first time the Bruins have been ranked in each of the first five CFP polls since 2014.

The final CFP rankings will be announced Sunday, Dec. 4 beginning at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN.