Tag: Pac-12 championship

Oregon Ducks win Pac-12 North, secure rematch with Utah in conference championship

Oregon will have a chance to three-peat as Pac-12 Champs next week in a rematch against the Utah Utes.

Oregon Duck fans can’t say that they won the Pac-12 North Division for a second-straight year after beating the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday, but they can boast about the opportunity to win a third-straight Pac-12 Championship next week.

The Ducks dispatched with the Beavers, 38-29, winning the Pac-12 North for the second time in the past three years. While Oregon won the conference championship last year, they technically didn’t win the north division, and only played in the title game because the Washington Huskies, who won the north, were unable to play in the game due to a COVID outbreak.

Now, the Ducks have secured a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game next week, where they will get a rematch against the Utah Utes in Las Vegas on December 3rd.

It was Utah who embarrassed the Ducks a week ago, winning 38-7 in Salt Lake City, knocking Oregon out of contention for the College Football Playoff.

The Ducks will surely be looking for revenge, and hoping to become the first three-peat winner of the conference since Oregon did so from 2009-2011.

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Oregon Duck fans’ worst nightmares come to life in ugly 38-7 loss to Utah Utes

It feels like Duck fans have been scared of a loss like this all season. On Saturday night it finally happened, in nightmarish fashion.

Well, it finally happened.

The Oregon Ducks had been so good all season at winning games that they had a chance to lose. I guess it doesn’t come as a huge shock to see them finally drop one.

It’s pretty unfortunate that it was this one, though.

The final score was 38-7, but it honestly felt like it could have been worse. Momentum never came for the Ducks. Things never got clicking. They were never able to string together a few good plays, whether on offense or defense and before any of us could come up with a plan in our heads for how Oregon might actually be able to mount a comeback, the game was over.

The knockout blow? A 78-yard punt return as the first-half clock expired, giving Utah a 28-0 lead.

We can talk about what went wrong for the Ducks until we’re blue in the face. There is a long list of things to correct, and Mario Cristobal will surely have them working on it as soon as they arrive at the Oregon facilities on Sunday morning. While the Ducks’ College Football Playoff dreams are dashed, the season isn’t over. Coming up this week, they may have to play for a chance to advance to the Pac-12 Championship against the Beavers. Want to talk about high stakes and anxiety? That matchup will certainly be wrought with drama.

We can get into all of Oregon’s mistakes later, though. For now, let’s talk about what was lost on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. An Oregon team that was ranked No. 3 in the nation finally did what everyone outside of Eugene was waiting for them to do. They lost, and they lost badly.

All of those flaws that they’ve been dealing with throughout the season? They showed up again, in an ugly fashion. The injuries that threatened to derail the season multiple times? Yep, those decided to pop up as well. Right before kick0ff, it was clear that Johnny Johnson III, Jaylon Redd, DJ Johnson, and Keyon Ware-Hudson all had not made the trip to Utah for the game. In the first half, stand-out safety Verone McKinley III also went down with an injury and would not return.

The nation at large will look at this outcome and call the Ducks frauds, claiming that they always knew Oregon’s win over Ohio State in Columbus was a fluke, and that they had no business ever being in contention for the CFP.

I’m going to choose to call it as I see it — a team whose luck ran out at the worst possible time.

Mario Cristobal and the Ducks have been staving off disaster all season long. It started in Week 1 with a nail-biting win against Fresno State and continued the week after when they somehow dismantled Ohio State without Kayvon Thibodeaux or Justin Flowe on the field. Whether it was injuries to CJ Verdell, Bennett Williams, Dru Mathis, Johnny Johnson, or emergency surgery for offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, the Ducks have all year long been able to look these hardships in the face and continue forward.

On Saturday night in Salt Lake City, they were delivered a knockout blow from which they couldn’t recover.

It’s not an indictment on Cristobal, or Moorhead, or Tim DeRuyter, or even Anthony Brown. It’s an acknowledgment that with their current health, and their current flaws, the Ducks were no longer a team that deserved to be considered for a playoff berth, and they didn’t have any business beating a really good Utah team.

As an Oregon fan, we’ve been worried about this result coming ever since we saw a team struggle to beat Fresno State in the first game of the year. We’ve been able to stave off that fear throughout the months of September, and October, and for a good part of November.

But as the season comes to an end, that fear eventually turned into a nightmare.

With any luck, and a kick in the butt from Mario Cristobal, this team may be able to wake up from that nightmare and still make the most of what’s left in the season.

There’s still a Pac-12 Championship and a Rose Bowl to win.

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Huskies’ player says Oregon didn’t deserve spot in Pac-12 Championship game last season

Washington players are still talking about lost opportunities last season due to COVID. Oregon players have their heads down, focused on Saturday.

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The difference in coaching philosophy is stark at this point.

On one side of things, you have the head coach of a team bad-mouthing his upcoming opponents and going back on previous quotes, saying his words were taken out of context. On the other side, you have a head coach who will barely give the “bulletin board material” the time of day, saying instead that every ounce of his team’s focus is on the upcoming game.

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No matter which side you agree with, it’s clear that the players learn from the coach, and this week, we heard more yapping come out of the Washington Huskies locker room. This time it was stemming from defensive back Kyler Gordon, who still can’t seem to get over the fact that Oregon took his team’s place in the Pac-12 Championship last season and made the most of it.

“I was pretty sad; I’m not going to lie,” Gordon said, via the Seattle Times. “I would have loved having a chance to play in the Pac-12 championship and do all that. Just to see a team we were in front of (Oregon) be able to take that (spot), it was like, ‘I don’t think you deserve that. You don’t. Let’s be real: you don’t.’ So it was sad to let that happen.”

Gordon certainly has a point. If you are going by the records, Washington deserved to be in the conference championship game ahead of the Ducks. However, a COVID-outbreak in the Huskies’ program forced them to cancel their game against the Ducks and subsequently forfeit their chance to play USC for a conference title. The Ducks got the nod, and they made the most of it, grabbing their second-straight Pac-12 title.

Nobody can fault Gordon, or any other Washington player, for that matter, for feeling bummed about the missed opportunity. However, it’s interesting to note that they’re still talking about it.

That seems to be the major difference between the Ducks and the Huskies this season, aside from, of course, the onfield talent. Washington has made themselves concerned with what Oregon is doing, who they consider ‘recruiting rivals,’ and how they made off with something that wasn’t theirs last year. Mario Cristobal and the Ducks have had their heads down, focused on doing the one thing that really matters this week: Beating Washington and continuing their path towards the College Football Playoff.

In the end, we will see which philosophy works better.

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USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship Prediction, Game Preview

USC Trojans vs Oregon Ducks: Pac-12 Championship prediction and game preview.

USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship prediction and game preview.

USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship Broadcast

Date: Friday, December 18
Game Time: 8:00 ET
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Network: FOX

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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions

USC (5-0) vs Oregon (3-2) Game Preview

For latest lines and to bet on the NFL, go to BetMGM 

Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The Pac-12 Championship

– USC probably has a weeeeeee bit of a better shot at the College Football Playoff than you might think. It would take an amazing performance by the Trojans, an ugly blowout, and a whole lot of luck from Notre Dame beating Clemson in the ACC Championship, and a Northwestern upset over Ohio State in the Big Ten title game wouldn’t hurt, but at least there would be a decent discussion if the Pac-12 champion is unbeaten. But …

– Oregon is pretty good at this whole CFP dream-killing thing. It was hardly a sure thing that Utah was going to the College Football Playoff last year if it won the Pac-12 Championship – Oklahoma would’ve been in the discussion – but it had a better-than-decent shot.

Oregon 37, Utah 15 ended that, and the game wasn’t even that close. It’s been a rough few weeks for the Ducks with two straight losses, but the season is made – and there’s possibly a trip to the New Year’s Six – with a win.

– These two have played fantastically fun games throughout this abbreviated season. The last three Oregon games were all decided by four points or fewer, and USC has played three thrillers – coming back late to beat Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA – and a fun one against Utah. This should be fun.

Why USC, Oregon Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History

NEXT: Why USC Will Win, Why Oregon Will Win, USC vs Oregon Prediction

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship Prediction, Game Preview

USC Trojans vs Oregon Ducks: Pac-12 Championship prediction and game preview.

USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship prediction and game preview.

USC vs Oregon: Pac-12 Championship Broadcast

Date: Friday, December 18
Game Time: 8:00 ET
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Network: FOX

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– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions

USC (5-0) vs Oregon (3-2) Game Preview

For latest lines and to bet on the NFL, go to BetMGM 

Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The Pac-12 Championship

– USC probably has a weeeeeee bit of a better shot at the College Football Playoff than you might think. It would take an amazing performance by the Trojans, an ugly blowout, and a whole lot of luck from Notre Dame beating Clemson in the ACC Championship, and a Northwestern upset over Ohio State in the Big Ten title game wouldn’t hurt, but at least there would be a decent discussion if the Pac-12 champion is unbeaten. But …

– Oregon is pretty good at this whole CFP dream-killing thing. It was hardly a sure thing that Utah was going to the College Football Playoff last year if it won the Pac-12 Championship – Oklahoma would’ve been in the discussion – but it had a better-than-decent shot.

Oregon 37, Utah 15 ended that, and the game wasn’t even that close. It’s been a rough few weeks for the Ducks with two straight losses, but the season is made – and there’s possibly a trip to the New Year’s Six – with a win.

– These two have played fantastically fun games throughout this abbreviated season. The last three Oregon games were all decided by four points or fewer, and USC has played three thrillers – coming back late to beat Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA – and a fun one against Utah. This should be fun.

Why USC, Oregon Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History

NEXT: Why USC Will Win, Why Oregon Will Win, USC vs Oregon Prediction

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Washington out, Oregon in Pac-12 Championship vs USC

Washington is out and USC is in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC

The ever-revolving schedule dance of college football in 2020 has seen a major shift in the Pac-12 Championship Game

Washington is out due to COVID-19 issues and second-place Oregon will get a chance to spoil USC’s undefeated season.

The contest is scheduled for Friday at LA Memorial Coliseum.

 

Pac 12 Football Predictions For Every Game, Predicted Records

With the Pac-12 10 game schedule, here are the preseason predictions for every game and who will play for the championship

With the Pac-12 10 game schedule, here are the preseason predictions for every game and who will play for the championship

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Pac-12 Preseason Predicted Finish

North
1. Oregon
2. Washington
T3. Cal
T3. Stanford
T5. Oregon State
T5. Washington State

South
1. USC
2. Utah
3. Arizona State
4. Colorado
5. UCLA
6. Arizona

Pac-12 Championship Prediction

Oregon over USC

Pac-12 Predictions: North

2020 Cal Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 6-4
2019 Preseason Prediction: 6-6
2019: 8-5, 2018: 7-6
2020 Cal Preview

Sept. 26 at Oregon State W
Oct. 3 at USC L
Oct. 10 Washington L
Oct. 17 at Washington State L
Oct. 24 Stanford W
Oct. 31 OPEN DATE
 Nov. 7 Oregon W
 Nov. 14 at Arizona W
 Nov. 21 Utah W
 Nov. 28 at Arizona State L
 Dec. 4 UCLA W
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

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2020 Oregon Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2020 Preseason Pac-12 Prediction: 8-1
2019 Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2019: 12-2, 2018: 9-4
2020 Oregon Preview

Sept. 26 Colorado W
Oct. 3 at Washington State W
Oct. 10 at Arizona State W
Oct. 17 at USC W
Oct. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 31 Washington W
 Nov. 6 at Cal L
 Nov. 14 USC W
 Nov. 20 at Arizona W
 Nov. 28 Stanford W
 Dec. 5 at Utah W
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

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2020 Oregon State Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 4-6
2019 Preseason Prediction: 3-9
2019: 5-7, 2018: 2-10
2020 Oregon State Preview

Sept. 26 Cal L
Oct. 3 UCLA W
Oct. 10 at Utah L
Oct. 17 Oregon L
Oct. 24 at Washington L
Oct. 31 OPEN DATE
 Nov. 7 Arizona W
 Nov. 14 at Stanford L
 Nov. 21 Washington State W
 Nov. 28 at Colorado W
 Dec. 5 at Arizona State L
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

2020 Stanford Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 6-4
2019 Preseason Prediction: 8-4
2019: 4-8, 2018: 9-4
2020 Stanford Preview

Sept. 26 at Washington L
Oct. 3 at Arizona State L
Oct. 10 USC W
Oct. 17 OPEN DATE
Oct. 24 at Cal L
Oct. 30 Washington State W
 Nov. 7 at UCLA W
 Nov. 14 Oregon State W
 Nov. 21 Colorado W
 Nov. 28 at Oregon L
 Dec. 5 Arizona W
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team

2020 Washington Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 7-3
2019 Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2019: 8-5, 2018: 10-4
2020 Washington Preview

Sept. 26 Stanford W
Oct. 3 Arizona W
Oct. 10 at Cal W
Oct. 17 OPEN DATE
Oct. 24 Oregon State W
Oct. 31 at Oregon L
 Nov. 6 Colorado W
 Nov. 14 at Utah L
 Nov. 21 UCLA W
 Nov. 27 at Washington State W
 Dec. 5 at USC L
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

2020 Washington State Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Record: 0-0
2020 Preseason Prediction: 4-6
2019 Preseason Prediction: 8-4
2019: 6-7, 2018: 11-2
2020 Washington State Preview

Sept. 26 Utah W
Oct. 3 Oregon L
Oct. 10 at UCLA W
Oct. 17 Cal W
Oct. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 30 at Stanford L
 Nov. 7 at USC L
 Nov. 14 Arizona State W
 Nov. 21 at Oregon State L
 Nov. 27 Washington L
 Dec. 5 at Colorado L
 Dec. 12 OPEN DATE

NEXT: Pac-12 South Predictions, Schedules

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Pac-12 Football Conference Only Schedule? Here’s How It Might Look

Could the Pac-12 end up playing a conference-only 11-game schedule? Here’s how it might look.

Could the Pac-12 end up playing a conference-only 11-game schedule? Here’s how it might look.

Pac-12 Football Schedule Composite 2020

Current Pac-12 Football Schedule Analysis
North Cal | Oregon | Oregon State
Stanford | Washington | Washington State
South Arizona | Arizona State | Colorado
UCLA | USC | Utah

No Notre Dame vs. USC? No Ohio State traveling to Oregon? No USC dealing with Alabama?

The Pac-12 might want to blow off that last one, but discussions really are happening among conference members about the possibility of going to a Pac-12-only 11-game season.

And why? Ease of travel for one, but mostly because it would eliminate a whole slew of logistical headaches as everyone tries to figure out how to play a college football season through a pandemic.

Forgetting all the various parts to this – like the College Football Playoff, the bowls, and what this would do to the contracts and the budgets for the FCS programs on the various schedules … how would an 11-game all-Pac-12 schedule look?

Here are all the Pac-12 schedules as they stand right now, along with how they might end up changing if the conference really does go through with this.

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Pac-12 North

California Golden Bears

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: Arizona, Colorado
Non-Conference Games Lost: at UNLV, TCU, Cal Poly

Losing the home date against TCU only stinks if you really needed to closure on the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl disaster – the 10-7 Horned Frog overtime win was one of the worst-played college football games ever. Adding Arizona and Colorado wouldn’t be all that bad.

Aug. 29 at UNLV OPEN DATE
Sept. 5 TCU OPEN DATE
Sept. 12 Cal Poly Colorado
Sept. 19 OPEN DATE at Arizona
Sept. 26 Utah
Oct. 3 at Washington State
Oct. 10 at USC
Oct. 17 Oregon
Oct. 24 at Oregon State
Oct. 31 Washington
Nov. 7 at Arizona State
Nov. 14 OPEN DATE
Nov. 21 Stanford
Nov. 28 UCLA

Oregon Ducks

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: UCLA, Utah
Non-Conference Games Lost: North Dakota State, Ohio State, Hawaii

This totally stinks. It was going to be a blast of a non-conference home slate for Oregon, but now it has to do some moving around. On the plus side, there would be a nice week off between road dates at Cal and Arizona.

Sept. 5 North Dakota State at UCLA
Sept. 12 Ohio State OPEN DATE
Sept. 19 Hawaii Utah
Sept. 26 at Colorado
Oct. 3 Washington
Oct. 10 OPEN DATE
Oct. 17 at Cal
Oct. 24 Stanford
Oct. 31 at Arizona
Nov. 7 USC
Nov. 13 Arizona State
Nov. 21 at Washington State
Nov. 28 at Oregon State

Oregon State Beavers

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: Colorado, USC
Non-Conference Games Lost: at Oklahoma State, Colorado State, Portland State

The Beavers get burned more than anyone. They might have needed the home games against Colorado State and Portland State to get bowl eligible, and not having USC on the slate from the South would’ve been a plus.

Sept. 3 at Oklahoma State OPEN DATE
Sept. 12 Colorado State USC
Sept. 19 Portland State at Colorado
Sept. 26 Washington State
Oct. 3 at Arizona State
Oct. 10 at Washington
Oct. 17 OPEN DATE
Oct. 24 Cal
Oct. 31 at Stanford
Nov. 7 UCLA
Nov. 14 at Utah
Nov. 21 Arizona
Nov. 28 Oregon

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Stanford Cardinal

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: Arizona State, Utah
Non-Conference Games Lost: William & Mary, at Notre Dame, BYU

Stanford is the one team that screws up everyone. Unlike most Pac-12 teams that start out the season with three straight non-conference games, the Cardinal’s three were spread out. Not only would they have to fit in Arizona State and Utah, but they’d have to move around their dates with USC and Colorado so they wouldn’t have two off weeks in a row in the middle of October.

Sept. 5 William & Mary at Utah
Sept. 12 at Arizona
Sept. 19 USC Arizona State
Sept. 26 at UCLA
Oct. 3 OPEN DATE Colorado
Oct. 10 at Notre Dame OPEN DATE
Oct. 17 Washington State
Oct. 24 at Oregon
Oct. 30 Oregon State
Nov. 7 at Washington
Nov. 14 Colorado OPEN DATE
Nov. 21 at Cal
Nov. 28 BYU USC

Washington Huskies

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: Arizona State, UCLA
Non-Conference Games Lost: Michigan, Sacramento State, Utah State

Boo. This was going to be a shot for new head coach Jimmy Lake to get off to a hot start with a huge game against Michigan to kick things off, and then two winnable games before diving into an off-week. At least the Pac-12 season doesn’t start with a trip to Oregon with this.

Sept. 5 Michigan OPEN DATE
Sept. 12 Sacramento State at Arizona State
Sept. 19 Utah State OPEN DATE
Sept. 26 OPEN DATE UCLA
Oct. 3 at Oregon
Oct. 10 Oregon State
Oct. 17 at Utah
Oct. 23 Arizona
Oct. 31 at Cal
Nov. 7 Stanford
Nov. 14 at USC
Nov. 21 Colorado
Nov. 27 at Washington State

Washington State Cougars

Pac-12 Teams Added To Possible New Schedule: Arizona, USC
Non-Conference Games Lost: at Utah State, Houston, Idaho

Nick Rolovich might be breaking something tasteful with no Utah State, Houston or Idaho – no non-conference games against Power Five teams – to get everything in place. The Utah game would have to be moved so the Cougars could have a midseason open date.

Sept. 5 at Utah State Arizona
Sept. 12 Houston
Sept. 19 Idaho at USC
Sept. 26 at Oregon State
Oct. 3 Cal
Oct. 10 Utah
Oct. 17 at Stanford
Oct. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 31 Arizona State
Nov. 7 at Colorado
Nov. 14 at UCLA
Nov. 21 Oregon
Nov. 27 Washington

NEXT: Pac-12 South

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