2012 Pac-12 Conference football season

The 2012 Pac-12 Conference football season began on August 30, 2012, with Northern Colorado at Utah. The conference's first game was played on September 15 with #2 USC at #21 Stanford, and the final game played was the Pac-12 Championship Game on November 30, 2012. This is the second season for the conference as a 12-team league. Pac-12 champion Stanford was featured in the Rose Bowl, a BCS bowl, when they prevailed 20–14 against Big Ten Champion Wisconsin on January 1, 2013.

Previous season
The first Pac-12 Championship Game was held on Friday, December 2, 2011. Oregon defeated UCLA to claim their third straight conference title.

Last season, seven teams accepted bowl bids, an improvement from the four in the 2010 season. Oregon Ducks, ending the regular season with a program-second twelve wins and with a #5 BCS ranking, earned a berth in the Rose Bowl, where they defeated Wisconsin for their first Rose Bowl win in 95 years. Stanford repeated as the conference runner-up, ending the regular season with a program-first eleven wins (their sole loss was to Oregon) and with a #4 BCS ranking, giving them an at-large BCS berth. The Cardinal was defeated by Big 12 champion Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. Arizona lost to Oklahoma State while Washington defeated by Baylor in non-BCS bowls.

Preseason
2012 Pac-12 Spring Football:

North Division
 * California - Thu., March 15 to Sat., April 21
 * Oregon - Tue., April 3 to Sat., April 28
 * Oregon State - Mon., March 12 to Sat., April 28
 * Stanford - Mon., Feb. 27 to Sat., April 14
 * Washington - Mon., April 2 to Sat., April 28
 * Washington State - Thu., March 22 to Sat., April 21

South Division
 * Arizona -  Mon., March 5 to Sat., April 14
 * Arizona State - Tue., March 13 to Sat., April 21
 * Colorado - Sat., March 10 to Sat., April 14
 * UCLA - Tue., April 3 to Sat., May 5
 * USC - Tue., March 6 to Sat., April 14
 * Utah - Wed., March 21 to Sat., April 21

Head coaches

 * Rich Rodriguez, Arizona – 1st year
 * Todd Graham, Arizona State – 1st year
 * Jeff Tedford, California – 6th year
 * Jon Embree, Colorado – 2nd year
 * Chip Kelly, Oregon – 4th year
 * Mike Riley, Oregon State – 11th year
 * David Shaw, Stanford – 2nd year
 * Jim L. Mora, UCLA – 1st year
 * Lane Kiffin, USC – 3rd year
 * Kyle Whittingham, Utah – 8th year
 * Steve Sarkisian, Washington – 4th year
 * Mike Leach, Washington State – 1st year

Bowl games
The Pac-12 is participating in the following bowls (Pac-12 teams in bold):

Players of the week
Following each week of games, Pac-12 conference officials select the players of the week from the conference's teams.

Home game attendance
Oregon State's home game against Nicholls State was postponed due to Nicholls State's inability to travel due to Hurricane Isaac.

Due to reconstruction at Husky Stadium, Washington play their 2012 home games at CenturyLink Field.

This was an official Washington State home game played versus Oregon at CenturyLink Field.

Awards and honors
Doak Walker Award Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
 * 2nd - Johnathan Franklin, UCLA; 3rd - Kenjon Barner, Oregon

Maxwell Award

Walter Camp Player of the Year Award

All-Americans
Academic All-America Team Member of the Year (CoSIDA)

AFCA Coaches' All-Americans First Team:

All-Pac-12 teams

 * Offensive Player of the Year: Marqise Lee, WR, USC
 * Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year: Will Sutton, DE, Arizona State
 * Offensive Freshman of the Year: Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
 * Defensive Freshman of the Year: Leonard Williams, DE, USC
 * Coach of the Year: David Shaw, Stanford

Offense:

Defense:

Specialists:

All-Academic
First team