Jacob Thorpe

While there is no official semifinal preceding the Pac-12 Championship Game, the emerging rivalries in the North and South divisions have effectively served the same purpose.

PULLMAN – Travis Wilson is the most important player on Utah’s football team and will be the biggest reason why Utah makes its first bowl game since 2011. Three games into his junior season, the quarterback has completed more than 65 percent of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns without an interception. He may be 6-foot-7, but he’s hardly immobile – he averaged more than 40 rushing yards per game last season and is always willing to tuck and run.

Travis Wilson is the most important player on Utah’s football team and will be the biggest reason why Utah makes its first bowl game since 2011.

PULLMAN – After four games Connor Halliday leads the nation in passing yards and that’s a fact that surprises nobody. As the quarterback of Washington State’s Air Raid offense Halliday is going to throw as much as possible, and the Spokane native proved last year that he’s capable of putting up numbers that seem eye-popping even in WSU’s pass-heavy system. Likewise, the fact that Oregon’s Marcus Mariota is No. 1 nationally in passing efficiency isn’t going to give many pundits cardiac arrest. But the fact that he’s just ahead of Utah’s Travis Wilson, who ranks No. 3, might drop a few jaws.

After four games Connor Halliday leads the nation in passing yards and that’s a fact that surprises nobody.

PULLMAN – For the dwindling number of Washington State football players old enough to remember the last trip, Saturday’s return to Rice-Eccles Stadium is a reminder of likely the lowest point in their careers. A 49-6 loss to a 3-5 Utah team was bad enough, but it is the game’s aftermath that lingers.

PULLMAN – In a small, underground room on the bottom level of their new football operations building, Washington State’s players and coaches gathered before midnight on Saturday and acknowledged that they had played a pretty good game, even in defeat. Despite missing key contributors on both sides of the ball, a combination of heart and execution had the Cougars matching points with the No. 2 team in the country until the game’s final two drives.