HK3: The Pac-12

As part of the comprehensive HK3 proposal for college football, below is a sample four-year scheduling application of the HK3 scheduling protocol, for the realigned Pac-12 per the HK3 conference realignment structure.

Since the 1915 establishment of the Pac-12 Conference (P12), 14 full-member institutions have joined. Of the 14, 12 remain members of the conference, as just Idaho and Montana departed in 1959 and 1950 respectively.

All but one of these 12 members are included in the reimagined P12. Colorado is returned to the Big 12, where it, as a founding member, enjoyed far greater success (particularly when factoring in the precursor Big Eight) than its decade in the P12.

To replace Colorado, and to round out the P12, the (newly independent) BYU Cougars is added over the alternative considerations of Boise State and Hawaii. This enables all 12 members to have strong in-state rivalries, whereas Boise State and Hawaii’s biggest rivals reside in the unchanged Mountain West Conference.

P12 Scheduling Protocol

Alongside the rest of the FBS, the P12 regular season would start 82 days before Thanksgiving, barring any Week 0 showcase game involvement, on a weekend typically coinciding with Labor Day Weekend.

The P12 regular season schedule is as follows:

• Weeks 1–12 — Regular Season
• Week 13 — Regular Season Rivalry Week
• Week 14 — Regular Season Championship Week
• Weeks 16–18 — Postseason Bowl Championship Series (BCS)
• Weeks 20–22 — Postseason College Football Playoff (CFP)

For each P12 team, the scheduling criteria is as follows:

• 14 weeks
• 12 games (2 byes each)
• I. 8 (+1) conference games (9 total games)
• II. Big East crossover games (1)
• III. P6 rotational crossover games (1)
• IV. Mountain West (G6) crossover games (1)

The P12 Week 13 Rivalry Week games are accounted for in either the I. conference games (10/12), or the IV. Mountain West crossover games (2/12). 11 designated rivalry games are in-state (excluding BYU vs. Hawaii), while 10 are in-conference (excluding BYU and Utah). The W13 rivalries are:

• I. Arizona — Arizona State (Duel in the Desert/Territorial Cup)
• I. California — Stanford (Big Game)
• I. Oregon — Oregon State (Civil War)
• I. UCLA — USC
• I. Washington — Washington State (Apple Cup)
• IV. BYU — Hawaii
• IV. Utah — Utah State (Battle of the Brothers/Beehive Boot)

Based on the pre-determined start date for college football, Week 13 rivalry games would always fall on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

I. Conference Games

All P12 teams would play 8 (+1) conference games, for a total of 9 each (54 total P12 conference games). Five conference games are annual, mimicking the feel of divisional play without the actual existence of divisions.

Each team would play 3/6 of their remaining conference opponents each year on an A-B-C rotational basis, whereas each team has 2As, 2Bs, 2Cs. Each team would:

A: Play both As in even years (alternating one home/one away)

B: Play both Bs in odd years (alternating one home/one away)

C: Play one C in back-to-back years (home/away); play the other C in back-to-back years (home/away)

Over a four year period, each team would play their two As, two Bs, and two Cs both home and away, once each. Therefore, over a standard four year college period, each school is guaranteed to host and visit every conference opponent at least once.

Weeks 1–12: 43 P12 conference games would take place within Weeks 1–12, with two P12 teams (BYU, Utah) playing all eight of its non-championship week conference games within the span.

Week 13: Rivalry Week comprises five additional P12 conference games, as well as two non-conference games between the P12 and Mountain West.

A summary of the P12 annual conference games, the P12 A-B-Cs, and all P12 conference games contained in Weeks 1–13 for the four-year scheduling application is below:

Week 14: Week 14 comprises the final conference games (ninth for each team, 54th for the conference), which includes the P12 Championship Game in Las Vegas, NV. Those games are determined and scheduled via the standings after eight conference games, as followed:

• 1 vs. 2 (P12 Championship Game) — Las Vegas, NV
• 3 vs. 4
• 5 vs. 6
• 7 vs. 8
• 9 vs. 10
• 11 vs. 12

Scheduling Notes — P12 Championship Game could, perhaps should, be played in Los Angeles.

The locations of Week 14 games (except the Las Vegas-based P12 Championship Game), are determined as follows:

• 1 — If there is an at least two game disparity in total number of home games (e.g. 5/6 vs 7/4), the team with lesser home games played would host (used 4x in this P12 four-year scheduling sample below).
• 2 — If no such disparity, if the Week 14 game is a rematch, the away team from the earlier matchup would host (8x).
• 3 — If not a rematch, if there is a one-game disparity in the number of home games, the team with one less home game played would host (4x).
• 4 — If no such disparity, the higher (better) seed, as ranked by the P12’s tiebreaking criteria, would host (4x).

The results of these Week 14 matchups determine the final conference standings, which consequentially determines one non-conference game (III) as well as its location, as detailed in III below.

Important to note, teams cannot be ranked outside of the corresponding rankings to the Week 14 game it played. For example, the winner of the 5–6 game is the 5th ranked team in the final standings; the loser is 6th. As a result, it would not be uncommon for a 7th ranked team to have a better final record, yet lower ranking, than the 6th ranked team.

II. Big East Crossover Games

The P12 would play a minimum of seven games against the Big East.

There are six matchups which usurp the P6 crossover game within this pair of conferences: BYU (vs. Utah State), USC (vs. Notre Dame), Louisville (vs. Kentucky), Navy (vs. Maryland), Rutgers (vs. Princeton) and Temple (vs. Pennsylvania).

Furthermore, both Stanford (Vanderbilt/Northwestern) and UCLA (Tennessee/Illinois) alternate matchups in the P12’s annual two displacement games with the SEC and B1G. These matchups would be played in back-to-back years. Regarding the sample schedule below, the P12’s displacement matchups are:

• 2022: Vanderbilt @ Stanford; Illinois @ UCLA
• 2023: Stanford @ Vanderbilt; UCLA @ Illinois
• 2024: Northwestern @ Stanford; Tennessee @ UCLA
• 2025: Stanford @ Northwestern; UCLA @ Tennessee

Remaining are eight teams in both the P12 and BEAST, allocated into the following pods:

• P12–1: Washington (1), Washington State (2)
• P12–2: Oregon (3), Oregon State (4)
• P12–3: California (5), Utah (6)
• P12–4: Arizona (7), Arizona State (8)
• BST-1: Boston College (1), Syracuse (2)
• BST-2: Pittsburgh (3), West Virginia (4)
• BST-3: Army (5), Cincinnati (6)
• BST-4: Central Florida (7), South Florida (8)

The 8-year team rotations (same for both conferences), as well as 16-year pod rotations (home/away) are as follows:

• 1s: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…
• 2s: 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5, 8, 7…
• 3s: 8, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…
• 4s: 7, 8, 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5…
• 5s: 6, 5, 8, 7, 1, 2, 3, 4…
• 6s: 5, 6, 7, 8, 2, 1, 4, 3…
• 7s: 4, 3, 6, 5, 8, 7, 1, 2…
• 8s: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 2, 1…
• P12–1: HA-HA-AH-AH-AH-AH-HA-HA…
• P12–2: HA-AH-HA-AH-AH-HA-AH-HA…
• P12–3: AH-HA-AH-HA-HA-AH-HA-AH…
• P12–4: AH-AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-AH-AH…
• BST-1: AH-HA-HA-AH-HA-AH-AH-HA…
• BST-2: HA-AH-AH-AH-AH-HA-HA-HA…
• BST-3: HA-HA-HA-HA-AH-AH-AH-AH…
• BST-4: AH-AH-AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-AH…

On a biennial basis, Utah would play Colorado. In these years, the minimum of P12-BEAST crossover matchups is 7 as opposed to 8, and Utah’s would-be opponent would play Pittsburgh/Syracuse’s would-be opponent, according to the scheduling protocol.

Additional B12/B1G games can originate from IV. An odd number of games is preferable as it would ensure a victor in a proposed, to-be-named B12-B1G annual conference trophy.

III. P6 Rotational Crossover Games

The P12 would rotate between the other P6 conferences, excluding the Big East which it plays every year, for an all-conference top-down series of games.

The P6 rotational crossover runs counter to II. As opposed to rotating matchups against the same conference, these matchups are determined by the prior season’s order of conference finish (1s play the 2s, 3s play the 4s…) against a rotation of four conferences.

For all matchups, the higher (better) seed is the home team, thus introducing a unique incentive. Not only do Week 14 matchups determine the P6 rotational crossovers for the following season, they are competed for an additional home game.

The P12 P6 rotational crossover game series, in a repeating pattern, are:

• 2022 — P12 vs. Big 12
• 2023 — P12 vs. ACC
• 2024 — P12 vs. Big Ten
• 2025 — P12 vs. SEC

The only exception to the P6 Rotational Crossover is Notre Dame (ACC) versus Navy (BEAST), which creates an annual Notre Dame-Navy Adjustment Game.

As the P12 only plays the ACC in III, the conference would take part in one Notre Dame-Navy Adjustment Game every four years.

An example (2023) of the P12’s P6 rotational crossover games, which includes its one quadrennial Notre Dame-Navy Adjustment Game, is below (assumes Notre Dame finished 2nd in BEAST in 2022):

• #2 P12 @ #1 ACC; would-be-opponent of Navy (tbd) #1 P12
• #4 P12 @ #3 ACC; #4 ACC @ #3 P12
• #6 P12 @ #5 ACC; #6 ACC @ #5 P12
• #8 P12 @ #7 ACC; #8 ACC @ #7 P12
• #10 P12 @ #9 ACC; #10 ACC @ #9 P12
• #12 P12 @ #11 ACC; #12 ACC @ #11 P12

In the sample schedule below, USC (#1 P12) would have hosted Notre Dame (#2 ACC), but instead hosts (by nature of coin toss) Oklahoma (#1 B12), which would have hosted Navy (#2 BEAST).

Note — Conference rotational matchups cannot duplicate displacement games. In other words, Stanford (UCLA) cannot play Vanderbilt/Northwestern (Tennessee/Illinois) in both the displacement and SEC/B1G-P12 games. If it were set to be so scheduled, rotational replacement games take place in which the teams (evens or odds) within 1–4, 5–8, or 9–12 are switched.

In the example below (2025), UCLA would have faced Tennessee in both the displacement game and SEC-P12 matchups. As a result, Tennessee (#5 SEC) switches placement with Florida (#7 SEC) in the SEC-P12 rotational, thus switching P12 matchups with Arizona State and UCLA.

IV. Mountain West (G6) Crossover Games

As part of the FBS conference framework, the P12 is paired with the Mountain West Conference (MWC) as its affiliate conference. Below is a summary of the P12 and MWC’s IV games:

• P12: 10 MWC, 2 BEST
• MWC: 10 P12, 2 BEAST, 1 B12, 1 SWC

IV also represents an allowance for customization within the schedule. A P12 team can forego a MWC crossover game to schedule an alternate game, thereby forging a vacancy for the MWC team to schedule elsewhere.

As referenced in II above, the P12 and BEAST would play a minimum of eight games annually as part of the protocol’s crossover series; however, the alternate game latitude would enable additional east-meets-west games to be scheduled.

Pac 12-Mountain West: There are a maximum of 10 P12-MWC annual games, depending on the number of scheduled P12 alternate games.

Two such game are fixed annual rivalry games:

• BYU vs. Hawaii
• Utah vs. Utah State (Beehive Boot)

Unavailable to the Pac-12 are Air Force and Colorado State, which would play Army/Navy (BEAST) and Colorado (B12) respectively.

Remaining are 10 teams from the P12 (Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State) to play eight teams from the MWC (Boise State, Fresno State, New Mexico, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming).

Of the eight P12-MWC matchups, two are proposed on a biannual basis (with the option available to the participating teams to convert the matchup to annual):

• Arizona vs. New Mexico
• Stanford vs. San Jose State

Finally, there would be two annual P12-Big West matchups, skewing to the Northern contingent of the P12, one of which is proposed on a biannual basis:

• Washington State vs. Idaho (Battle of the Palouse)

Regarding the four-year sample schedule, below are the P12-Big West matchups:

• 2022: Eastern Washington @ Washington; Idaho State @ Oregon State
• 2023: Idaho @ Washington State; South Dakota State @ California
• 2024: Montana @ Washington; Portland State @ Oregon State
• 2025: North Dakota State @ Oregon; Washington State @ Idaho

Sample P12 Schedules:

Below is the P12 scheduling protocol, as well as sample four-year schedules for each team. All displacement, rotational replacement, and Notre Dame-Navy adjustment games (12) are italicized. Week 14 games are identified in bold/parenthesis.

In addition to incorporating important conference rivalries, the protocol incorporates, in varying cadences, the following:

• Arizona vs. New Mexico
• BYU/Utah/Utah State (Beehive Boot)
• Oregon vs. North Dakota State
• Stanford vs. San Jose State
• Stanford vs. Northwestern/Vanderbilt
• UCLA vs. Illinois/Tennessee
• USC vs. Notre Dame
• Washington St vs. Idaho (Battle of the Palouse)

Arizona Wildcats

2022

Home: Arizona State, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, (Oregon State)

Away: BYU, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas Tech, UCLA, West Virginia

2023

Home: BYU, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Stanford, UCLA, (California)

Away: Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Utah, USC, Washington

2024

Home: Arizona State, Iowa, Oregon, Utah, Washington State

Away: BYU, California, Cincinnati, New Mexico, Oregon State, UCLA, (Washington State)

2025

Home: Army, BYU, Nevada, Oregon State, South Carolina, UCLA, USC

Away: Arizona State, Stanford, Utah, Washington State, (BYU)

Arizona State Sun Devils

2022

Home: BYU, Stanford, TCU, UCLA, UNLV, Washington State

Away: Arizona, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, USC, Utah, (California)

2023

Home: Arizona, Boise State, Florida State, Oregon, USC, Utah

Away: BYU, California, UCLA, Washington State, West Virginia, (USC)

2024

Home: BYU, Nevada, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington, (Washington)

Away: Arizona, Army, Michigan, Stanford, USC, Utah

2025

Home: Arizona, California, Cincinnati, New Mexico, USC, Utah, (Washington)

Away: BYU, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington

BYU Cougars

2022

Home: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah

Away: Arizona State, UCLA, Utah State, Washington, Washington State, (Stanford)

2023

Home: Arizona State, NC State, UCLA, USC, Utah State, Washington State

Away: Arizona, Hawaii, Utah, USC, Washington, (Stanford)

2024

Home: Arizona, Hawaii, Ohio State, Stanford, Utah, Washington, (USC)

Away: Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA, Utah State, Washington State

2025

Home: Arizona State, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah State, Washington State, (Arizona)

Away: Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Stanford, USC, Utah

California Golden Bears

2022

Home: Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Wyoming, (Arizona State)

Away: Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Stanford, Washington

2023

Home: Arizona State, Army, BYU, South Dakota State, Stanford, Washington

Away: Maryland, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington State, (Arizona)

2024

Home: Arizona, Boise State, Oregon, South Florida, UCLA, USC, (Oregon State)

Away: Illinois, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah, Washington

2025

Home: Fresno State, Stanford, Utah, Washington, Washington State

Away: Arizona State, Arkansas, Central Florida, Oregon, UCLA, USC, (Washington State)

Oregon Ducks

2022

Home: Arizona, Boise State, Oregon State, South Florida, UCLA, Washington

Away: BYU, California, Oklahoma, Stanford, Washington State

Neutral: USC (Pac-12 Championship)

2023

Home: California, Stanford, UNLV, Utah, Washington State

Away: Arizona State, Clemson, Central Florida, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington

Neutral: Utah (Pac-12 Championship)

2024

Home: BYU, Oregon State, San Diego State, USC, Washington, Wisconsin

Away: Arizona, Boston College, California, Stanford, Washington State

Neutral: Utah (Pac-12 Championship)

2025

Home: Arizona State, California, North Dakota State, Stanford, Syracuse, Washington State, (Utah)

Away: LSU, Oregon State, USC, Utah, Washington

Oregon State Beavers

2022

Home: Arizona, Arizona State, Central Florida, Idaho State, Kansas, USC, Washington State

Away: California, Oregon, Utah, Washington, (Arizona)

2023

Home: BYU, Duke, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, (UCLA)

Away: Arizona, South Florida, Stanford, USC, Washington State

2024

Home: Arizona, California, Portland State, UCLA, Washington State

Away: Arizona State, Indiana, Oregon, Syracuse, Utah, Washington, (California)

2025

Home: Boston College, Mississippi State, Oregon, San Diego State, Stanford, Utah, Washington

Away: Arizona, BYU, UCLA, Washington State (UCLA)

Stanford Cardinal

2022

Home: California, Oregon, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Washington State, (BYU)

Away: Arizona State, Oklahoma State, San Jose State, USC, Utah, Washington

2023

Home: Fresno State, Oregon State, USC, Utah, Washington, (BYU)

Away: Arizona, California, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State

2024

Home: Arizona State, California, Northwestern, Oregon, San Jose State, Washington State, (UCLA)

Away: BYU, Minnesota, UCLA, USC, Washington

2025

Home: Arizona, BYU, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, USC, Washington

Away: California, Oregon, Northwestern, Oregon State, Washington State

Neutral: USC (Pac-12 Championship)

UCLA Bruins

2022

Home: Arizona, BYU, Illinois, Kansas State, San Diego State, USC, Utah

Away: Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, (Washington State)

2023

Home: Arizona State, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington State, Wake Forest

Away: Arizona, BYU, Illinois, USC, Washington, (Oregon State)

2024

Home: Arizona, BYU, Fresno State, Northwestern, Stanford, Tennessee, USC

Away: Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Utah, (Stanford)

2025

Home: Arizona State, California, Oregon State, San Jose State, Washington, (Oregon State)

Away: Arizona, BYU, Florida, Tennessee, USC, Washington State

USC Trojans

2022

Home: Arizona State, Fresno State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Utah, Washington

Away: California, Notre Dame, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington State

Neutral: Oregon (Pac-12 Championship)

2023

Home: Arizona, California, Nevada, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon State, UCLA, (Arizona State)

Away: Arizona State, BYU, Stanford, Utah

2024

Home: Arizona State, Iowa State, Stanford, UNLV, Utah, Washington State

Away: California, Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, Washington, (BYU)

2025

Home: Boise State, BYU, California, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA

Away: Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Utah

Neutral: Stanford (Pac-12 Championship)

Utah Utes

2022

Home: Arizona State, Baylor, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah State, Washington State

Away: Arizona, Army, BYU, UCLA, USC, (Washington)

2023

Home: Arizona, BYU, Cincinnati, North Carolina, USC, Washington

Away: Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah State

Neutral: Oregon (Pac-12 Championship)

2024

Home: Arizona State, California, Central Florida, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah State

Away: Arizona, BYU, Penn State, USC, Washington State

Neutral: Oregon (Pac-12 Championship)

2025

Home: Arizona, Auburn, BYU, Oregon, USC

Away: Arizona State, California, Oregon State, South Florida, Utah State, Washington, (Oregon)

Washington Huskies

2022

Home: Boston College, BYU, California, Eastern Washington, Oregon State, Stanford, (Utah)

Away: Arizona, Oregon, Texas, USC, Washington State

2023

Home: Arizona, Oregon, San Jose State, UCLA, Washington State

Away: California, Oregon State, Stanford, Syracuse, Utah, Virginia Tech, (Washington State)

2024

Home: California, Montana, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, USC

Away: Arizona State, BYU, Oregon, Washington State, (Arizona State)

2025

Home: Arizona State, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah, Washington State, Wyoming

Away: California, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, West Virginia, (Arizona State)

Washington State Cougars

2022

Home: BYU, Nevada, Oregon, Syracuse, USC, Washington, (UCLA)

Away: Arizona State, Missouri, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah

2023

Home: Arizona State, California, Idaho, Oregon State, Stanford, (Washington)

Away: Boston College, BYU, Miami, Oregon, UCLA, Washington

2024

Home: BYU, Oregon, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, (Arizona)

Away: Arizona, Michigan State, Oregon State, Stanford, USC

2025

Home: Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, (California)

Away: BYU, California, Idaho, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, Washington