If the Pac-12 is going to emerge from a yearslong College Football Playoff drought and return to the national championship stage, it’s going to need some road warriors in 2022.

Utah opens its season on the road against Florida, and also has tricky road matchups against Washington State and Oregon (tricky for different reasons, of course). USC has to play Utah on the road. Oregon has to play Georgia in what should be considered a road contest.

And that prompted a question: who have been the best road teams in the Pac-12 over the last five seasons?

The answer: Utah.

Washington and USC are the only other league teams with a winning record in true road games.

  1. Utah — 14-10 record (.583 winning percentage)
  2. Washington — 11-9 (.550)
  3. USC — 13-12 (.520)
  4. Stanford — 13-13 (.500)
  5. Oregon — 11-12 (.478)
  6. Washington State — 10-13 (.435)
  7. Arizona State — 10-14 (.417)
  8. California — 9-16 (.360)
  9. UCLA — 8-17 (.320)
  10. Colorado — 5-17 (.227)
  11. Arizona — 5-19 (.208)
  12. Oregon State — 5-21 (.192)

Utah’s road schedule this season features Florida, Arizona State, UCLA, Washington State on a Thursday night, Oregon, and Colorado. That’s six true road games for a team that seems to be the Pac-12’s best shot at making the College Football Playoff in 2022. (USC could argue it belongs in consideration, but the Trojans beginning the season outside the top-10 in the AP doesn’t bode well for its chances.)

FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt recently pointed out that Utah and Oregon are both playing six road games (Oregon has five true and the Georgia game) this season. The SEC, by comparison, only has one team doing the same: Vanderbilt.

So, maybe there should be a little more attention paid to USC. The Trojans have the third-best road record over the last five years and a couple of marquee contests on the road this season. The slate features Stanford, Oregon State, Utah, Arizona, and UCLA. A win over the Utes on Oct. 15 could instantly make USC more of a factor in the CFP discussion. So could a victory over UCLA, depending on how the Bruins fare this season.

Washington is the other team worth mentioning. The Huskies play five of their nine conference games on the road this season, including both big rivalry games at the end of the year — UCLA, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, and Washington State.