Oregon, Arizona clinching scenarios for Pac-12 title game revealed
Win or lose this weekend, the Washington Huskies will be in the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, there is still the question of what team the Huskies are going to play in the title game. Both the Oregon Ducks and Arizona Wildcats are in a position to make the Pac-12 Championship Game going into the final week of the season.
It has long been assumed that Oregon will be playing Washington in a rematch for the conference championship. However, that’s not definitively going to happen, yet.
The Ducks are still the most likely team to play Washington for the Pac-12 Championship. Oregon controls its own destiny and a win over rival Oregon State will get them in. Even if the Ducks lose to the Beavers, if Arizona loses this weekend, then Oregon is going to be in the title game.
On the other hand, if Oregon loses and Arizona wins, then the Wildcats are going to play in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
In that scenario, Oregon and Arizona would have the same conference record. However, they have no head-to-head with one another and they also both lost to Washington. So, the difference would then be that Arizona beat Oregon State while Oregon didn’t.
Oregon has been dominant since losing to Washington in October, with an average margin of victory of 26.4 points since that game. In the process, the Ducks have made themselves a College Football Playoff contender alongside the Huskies in what could be a massive Pac-12 Championship Game.
At the same time, Arizona has the easier final game. The Wildcats will be playing the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are just 3-8 and have had struggles on the offensive side of the ball this season. Meanwhile, Oregon is set to take on a ranked Oregon State team that just nearly beat Washington. The Beavers will also be incredibly excited for that game, with it be the last one while they’re both Pac-12 rivals.
Ultimately, it’s a massive final weekend in the Pac-12, where a single upset could create plenty of chaos.
Kalen DeBoer on clinching Pac-12 Championship berth
After clinching a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game, Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer shared his thoughts on the accomplishment.
“I just congratulated the guys just now in the locker room. You’re not backdoor-ing into a championship game. You’re just going in and outright claiming a spot. I know there’s a bigger picture piece to everything that we’re trying to accomplish too. But the first box is checked. You can’t win it unless you get there. I’m really proud,” DeBoer said.
“That’s one of our goals that we set forth when we started the season on January 3rd – to win a Pac-12 Championship. So you have to enjoy it. Otherwise, what’s the journey about if you just can’t, for a moment, enjoy what’s happening and what you’re a part of? The guys are excited, they’re celebrating in there a little bit. But I can honestly say that it’s not some crazy, off the wall celebration. They know that there’s more business to take care of.”