The 2015 Pac-12 Conference football season was the fifth season for the conference as a twelve-team league. The season began on September 3, 2015, with a trio of games, Arizona hosting UTSA, Utah hosting Michigan, and Hawaii hosting Colorado. The final game was the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi's Stadium on December 5, 2015, with ESPN televising the game.
Preseason 2015 Pac-12 Spring Football and number of signees on signing day:
North Division California: March 9 – April 18 with 24 signees Oregon: March 31 – May 2 with 22 signees Oregon State: March 3 – April 18 with 22 signees Stanford: February 23 – April 11 with 22 signees Washington: March 30 – April 25 with 24 signees Washington State: March 12 – April 28 with 24 signees
South Division Arizona: March 4 – April 10 with 25 signees Arizona State: March 16 – April 10 with 22 signees Colorado: February 13 – March 15 with 19 signees UCLA: March 31 – April 25, 2015 with 18 signees USC: March 3 – April 11 with 24 signees Utah: March 24 – April 25 with 20 signees
Pac-12 Media 2015 Pac-12 Media Day was held at Warner Bros. in Burbank, California on July 30–31, 2015.
Preseason polls
North Division Oregon (37), 262 pts Stanford (8), 232 pts California, 174 pts Washington, 129 pts Washington State, 89 pts Oregon State, 60 pts
South Division USC (32), 254 pts Arizona State (7), 200 pts UCLA (6), 180 pts Arizona, 155 pts Utah, 105 pts Colorado, 46 pts
Predicted Pac-12 Championship Game Winner: USC (21) was picked to win the Pac-12 Championship over Oregon (17) for the first time since 2012. Others receiving votes were ASU (3), UCLA (2), and Stanford (1).
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 24/7SigneesArizona 39 41 41 42 25Arizona State 26 20 17 19 22California - 29 36 34 24Colorado - 71 75 69 19Oregon 15 17 21 16 22Oregon State - 71 63 60 22Stanford 27 18 25 24 22UCLA 11 13 9 12 18USC 3 1 1 2 26Utah - 41 53 45 20Washington 28 30 23 27 24Washington State - 55 38 41 24
Head coaches
Coaching changes There were one coaching change following the 2015 season including Gary Andersen with Oregon State.
Coaches Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school Pac-12 recordArizona Rich Rodriguez 4 146–98–2 26–14 15–12Arizona State Todd Graham 4 77–41 28–12 19–8California Sonny Dykes 3 28–33 6–18 3–15Colorado Mike MacIntyre 3 22–39 6–18 1–17Oregon Mark Helfrich 3 24–4 24–4 15–3Oregon State Gary Andersen 1 49–38 0–0 0–0Stanford David Shaw 5 42–12 42–12 28–8UCLA Jim L. Mora 4 29–11 29–11 18–9USC Steve Sarkisian 2 43–33 9–4 30–24Utah Kyle Whittingham 11 85–33 85–33 14–22Washington Chris Petersen 2 100–18 8–6 4–5Washington State Mike Leach 3 96–68 12–20 7–20
Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
Rankings Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week Selected for College Football Playoff Number of first place votes Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalArizonaWildcats AP 22 22 20 16 RV RV C 22 20 19 16 RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Arizona StateSun Devils AP 15 RV RV RV RV RV C 16 RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released CaliforniaGolden Bears AP RV RV RV RV 24 23 23 20 RV RV C RV RV RV 24 22 23 19 RV CFP Not released ColoradoBuffaloes AP C CFP Not released OregonDucks AP 7 7 12 13 RV RV 23 18 15 19C 5 5 13 13 24 RV RV RV RV 22 18 16 20 CFP Not released 23 17 15 Oregon StateBeavers AP C CFP Not released StanfordCardinal AP 21 RV RV 21 18 16 15 10 8 9 7 15 13 7 3C 21 RV 24 20 18 16 11 8 8 7 15 12 7 3CFP Not released 11 7 11 9 6 UCLABruins AP 13 13 10 9 7 20 18 RV 24 22 18 RV 22 RV C 14 13 12 11 10 20 18 RV 25 22 18 RV 23 RV CFP Not released 23 19 22 USCTrojans AP 8 8 6 19 17 17 RV RV RV RV 22 RV 24 RVC 10 10 7 18 16 17 RV RV RV RV 24 RV 24 RVCFP Not released 24 20 25 UtahUtes AP RV 24 21 18 10 5 4 3 13 13 10 18 RV 21 17C RV 25 21 17 12 7 7 7 14 14 13 18 25 20 16CFP Not released 12 10 13 23 22 WashingtonHuskies AP C RV RV CFP Not released Washington StateCougars AP RV RV RV 24 20 RV RVC RV RV RV RV 23 20 RV RVCFP Not released 20
Schedule Index to colors and formattingPac-12 member wonPac-12 member lostPac-12 teams in bold All times Mountain time. Pac-12 teams in bold.
Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week.
Week 1
Players of the Week - September 7 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Josh Rosen UCLA Justin Thomas Utah Dante Pettis WashingtonReference:
Week 2
Players of the Week- September 14 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Luke Falk Washington State Gionni Paul Utah Bralon Addison OregonReference:
Week 3
Players of the Week - September 21 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Kevin Hogan Stanford Kenneth Olugbode Colorado Cory Butler-Byrd UtahReference:
Week 4
Players of the Week - September 28 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Travis Wilson Utah Kyle Kragen California Tom Hackett UtahReference:
Week 5
Players of the Week - October 5 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Mike Bercovici Arizona State Stefan McClure California Matt Haack Arizona StateReference:
Week 6
Players of the Week - October 12 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Devontae Booker Utah Travis Feeney Washington Tom Hackett UtahReference:
Week 7
Players of the Week - October 19 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Christian McCaffrey Stanford Shalom Luani Washington State Tim White Arizona StateReference:
Week 8
Players of the Week - October 26 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Luke Falk Washington State Cameron Smith USC Kaʻimi Fairbairn UCLAReference:
Week 9
Players of the Week - November 2 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Vernon Adams Oregon Travis Feeney Washington Charles Nelson OregonReference:
Week 10
Players of the Week - November 9 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Luke Falk Washington State Gionni Paul Utah Raymond Hudson CaliforniaReference:
Week 11
Players of the Week - November 16 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Jared Goff California Antonio Longino Arizona State Casey Skowron ArizonaReference:
Week 12
Players of the Week - November 23 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Vernon Adams Jr. Oregon Antonio Longino Arizona State Christian McCaffrey StanfordReference:
Week 13
Players of the Week - November 28 Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Jared Goff California Iman Marshall USC Conrad Ukropina StanfordReference:
Championship game
The championship game was played on December 5, 2015. It featured the teams with the best conference records from each division, Stanford from the North and USC from the South. This was the fifth championship game (and the fifth win for the North), with Stanford appearing for the third time (and winning for the third time) and USC appearing for the first time.
Week 14 (Pac-12 Championship Game)
Bowl games Pac-12 team is bolded. Bowl Game Date Stadium City TV Time (PST) Winning team Score Losing team Score New Mexico Bowl Saturday, December 19, 2015 University Stadium Albuquerque, New Mexico ESPN 12:00 p.m. Arizona 45 New Mexico 37 Las Vegas Bowl Saturday, December 19, 2015 Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, Nevada ABC 1:30 p.m. #20 Utah 35 BYU 28 Sun Bowl Saturday, December 26, 2015 Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas CBS 11:00 a.m. Washington State 20 Miami (FL) 14 Heart of Dallas Bowl Saturday, December 26, 2015 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas ESPN 11:20 a.m. Washington 44 Southern Miss 31 Foster Farms Bowl Monday, December 28, 2015 Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, California ESPN 6:15 p.m. Nebraska 37 UCLA 29 Armed Forces Bowl Tuesday, December 29, 2015 Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, Texas ESPN 11:00 a.m. California 55 Air Force 36 Holiday Bowl Wednesday, December 30, 2015 Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California ESPN 7:30 p.m. #23 Wisconsin 23 USC 21 Rose Bowl Friday, January 1, 2016 Rose Bowl Pasadena, California ESPN 2:10 p.m. #5 Stanford 45 #6 Iowa 16 Alamo Bowl Saturday, January 2, 2016 Alamodome San Antonio, Texas ESPN 3:45 p.m. #11 TCU 47 #15 Oregon 413OT Cactus Bowl Saturday, January 2, 2016 Chase Field Phoenix, Arizona ESPN 8:15 p.m. West Virginia 43 Arizona State 42
Pac-12 vs Power Conference matchups
This is a list of the power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC) the Pac-12 plays in the non-conference (Rankings from the AP Poll): Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score September 3 Michigan Utah Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah UTAH W 24–17 September 5 Arizona State Texas A&M NRG Stadium • Houston, TX Texas Kickoff TAMU L 17–38 September 5 Stanford Northwestern Ryan Field • Evanston, IL NW L 6–16 September 5 Virginia UCLA Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA UCLA W 34–16 September 12 Oregon State Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI MICH L 7–35 September 12 Washington State Rutgers High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ WSU W 37–34 September 12 Oregon Michigan State Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI MSU L 28–31 September 19 California Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX CAL W 45–44
Records against other conferences 2015 records against non-conference foes:
Regular Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC1–0Big Ten2–3Big 121–0SEC0–1Notre Dame1–1Power 5 Total5–5Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican1–0C-USA1–0MAC1–0Mountain West11–2Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)1–0Sun Belt3-0Other FBS Total18–2FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision7–1Total Non-Conference Record30–8
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordACC1–0Big Ten1–2Big 120–2Power 5 Total2–4Other FBS ConferencesRecordC–USA1–0Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)1–0Mountain West2–0Other FBS Total4–0Total Bowl Record6–4
Awards and honors AP College Football Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, Stanford Lou Groza Award Kaʻimi Fairbairn, UCLAFairbairn Wins Groza; Named Camp All-A , UCLABruins.com, December 10, 2015
All-Americans The following Pac-12 players were named to the 2015 College Football All-America Team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF), Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (SN), and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA): First team Joshua Garnett, OL, Stanford (WCFF, AP, FWAA, SN, AFCA) Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford (SN, AFCA) Kaʻimi Fairbairn, K, UCLA (WCFF, AP, FWAA, AFCA) Tom Hackett, P, Utah (WCFF, AP, FWAA, SN, AFCA) Christian McCaffrey, All-purpose, Stanford (AP) Christian McCaffrey, KR, Stanford (FWAA)
Second team Tyler Johnstone, OL, Oregon (FWAA) Christian McCaffrey, RB, Stanford (WCFF) Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon (FWAA) JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC (AP, FWAA, SN) DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon (AP, FWAA) Kaʻimi Fairbairn, K, UCLA (SN) Christian McCaffrey, KR, Stanford (WCFF) Dante Pettis, PR, Washington (SN)
Third team Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon (AP) Austin Hooper TE, Stanford (AP) Kenny Clark, DT, UCLA (AP) Su'a Cravens, LB, USC (AP) Blake Martinez, LB, Stanford (AP) Aidan Schneider, K, Oregon (AP)
Academic All-America Team Member of the Year (CoSIDA)
Conference awards The following individuals won the conference's annual player and coach awards: Offensive Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year: DeForest Buckner, Oregon Offensive Freshman of the Year: Josh Rosen, UCLA Defensive Freshman of the Year: Cameron Smith, USC Coach of the Year: Mike Leach, Washington State; David Shaw, Stanford
All-Conference teams The following players earned All-Pac-12 honors.
Offense: