Welcome to the Hotline’s weekly assessment of the eight teams in the rebuilt Pac-12 that imagines them competing in the conference this season. (We’ll even recognize one lucky team as the regular-season champion.) The power rankings will be published each Sunday throughout the regular season.

(Here are last week’s rankings.)

On the final night of the final weekend of the regular season, a path into the College Football Playoff opened for the collection of teams that will form the rebuilt Pac-12.

Can a conference that won’t exist for seven months pounce on the opportunity and ride CFP momentum into its first season of competition?

It seems unlikely.

Cal’s victory over SMU added a layer of complexity to the ACC race that could have sweeping repercussions.

The result knocked the Mustang

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