Utah Football’s Path To Pac-12 Championship Game In Las Vegas
Nov 3, 2021, 9:47 PM
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 19: An exterior view shows Allegiant Stadium, the USD 2 billion, 65,000-seat home of the Las Vegas Raiders, on September 19, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders will play their first game as Las Vegas' NFL franchise at the glass-domed facility against the New Orleans Saints on September 21, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the league's first "Monday Night Football" broadcast. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – After Utah football picked up big wins over Arizona State, UCLA and USC, they are nearly a lock to represent the south in the Pac-12 title game.
ESPN’s FPI gave Utah a 95.2% chance to win the south division and a 52.3% chance to win the Pac-12 championship. There is still four games to play for the Utes and things could change drastically especially since it’s the Pac-12.
How Many Wins Before Utah Locks Up Pac-12 South?
If Utah can get three wins out of their next four, they will lock up the south division. It could be earlier depending on the result on Friday against Stanford and next week at Arizona, along with how Arizona State and UCLA play down the stretch.
Arizona State has a home game against USC before traveling to Washington and Oregon State. Tough stretch coming up for the Sun Devils.
UCLA has the easiest remaining schedule between them, ASU and Utah but are two games back of the Utes plus the head-to-head tiebreaker going Utah’s way after a win last week at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
🔝 plays from Utah vs UCLA 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rn1jvDXWV1
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) November 2, 2021
How The North Division Is Shaping Up
ESPN FPI gave the Oregon Ducks a 62.8% chance to win the division and a 34.7% chance to win the conference. Oregon’s lone loss is to Stanford, who is basically out of contention for the division title.
The Ducks have the toughest stretch of their schedule coming in the next month with games at Washington and Utah, while hosting Washington State and Oregon State, all teams that are in contention for their division title. Oregon has their sights set higher than just reaching the title game, they are currently in the College Football Playoff after being ranked No. 4 in the first rankings of the season.
Those games are also big because the three teams below Oregon in the standings are opponents in the next month with tiebreakers on the line. For the other three schools to have any chance at getting to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, they must be Oregon.
One rep at a time.
The Ducks are No. 4 in the first @CFBPlayoff rankings of 2021.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/gQRRABsN71
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) November 2, 2021
Pac-12 Standings
Here is the current Pac-12 standings (as of 11/3/21):
North Division
- Oregon (7-1, 4-1)
- Washington State (5-4, 4-2) – Tiebreaker over Oregon State
- Oregon State (5-3, 3-2) – Tiebreaker over Washington
- Washington (4-4, 3-2)
- California (3-5, 2-3)
- Stanford (2-4, 3-5)
South Division
- Utah (5-3, 4-1) – Tiebreaker over Arizona State, UCLA, USC
- Arizona State (5-3, 3-2) – Tiebreaker over UCLA
- UCLA (5-4, 3-3)
- USC (4-4, 3-3)
- Colorado (2-6, 1-4)
- Arizona (0-8, 0-5)
Pac-12 South Division Race
Utah’s remaining games:
- @ Stanford – Friday, November 5
- @ Arizona – Saturday, November 13
- vs. Oregon – Saturday, November 20
- vs. Colorado – Friday, November 26
Arizona State’s remaining games:
- vs. USC – Saturday, November 6
- @ Washington – Saturday, November 13
- @ Oregon State – Saturday, November 20
- vs. Arizona – Saturday, November 27
UCLA’s remaining games:
- BYE – Saturday, November 5
- vs. Colorado – Saturday, November 13
- @ USC – Saturday, November 20
- vs. California – Saturday, November 27
Pac-12 North Division Race
Oregon’s remaining games:
- @ Washington – Saturday, November 6
- vs. Washington State – Saturday, November 13
- @ Utah – Saturday, November 20
- vs. Oregon State – Saturday, November 27
Washington State’s remaining games:
- BYE – Saturday, November 6
- @ Oregon – Saturday, November 13
- vs. Arizona – Friday, November 19
- @ Washington – Friday, November 26
Oregon State’s remaining games:
- @ Colorado – Saturday, November 6
- vs. Stanford – Saturday, November 13
- vs. Arizona State – Saturday, November 20
- @ Oregon – Saturday, November 27
Washington’s remaining games:
- vs. Oregon – Saturday, November 6
- vs. Arizona State – Saturday, November 13
- @ Colorado – Saturday, November 20
- vs. Washington State – Friday, November 26
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.
