By Jonah Bruneau
Eugene, ORE – The commonly deemed “game of the year” to this point will get its part two Friday night in the city that never sleeps. The No. 5 Oregon Ducks (11-1) return to Las Vegas to compete for a PAC-12 title for the first time since 2021, when Utah ran them out of Allegiant Stadium. For No. 3 Washington (12-0), they make their first appearance in the conference championship game since 2018 when they hoisted the trophy at the end of the night after taking down Utah. Never before have the Ducks met the Huskies in the conference title game.
Chaos is almost destined to take place over the entire weekend, starting with Washington versus Oregon. The overall consensus seems to be “win and you’re in” for either team in regard to the College Football Playoff. However, the other four Power 5 title games can reshape much of what the final Playoff picture will look like.
The true X-factor this weekend is looking to be No. 8 Alabama. With an 11-1 record heading into their matchup with No. 1 Georgia, the Crimson Tide have had more of a down year compared to what their recent resume shows in the last decade and a half. Even so, an upset win against Georgia could potentially catapult them into a top-four spot. Now No. 7 Texas, who also has one loss, can backdoor their way into a playoff spot if they can knock off No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big-12 title contest. Their hopes are looking to heavily rely on what No. 4 Florida State does against No. 14 Louisville as a ‘Bama win against Georgia would likely be more of an impressive victory to the playoff committee. Long-story short, the Ducks get a win and let the rest of the field play itself out in an ideal situation for Oregon fans.
Goodbye PAC-12: This year’s conference title game of course will officially be the last of its kind. The name “PAC-12” is the fifth iteration of the original conference. Its first season was back in 1916, then known as the “Pacific Coast Conference”. Who was the first conference champion? The Huskies of Washington (full circle possibility, is it destiny?). Before the 1959 season, the name was changed to the “Athletic Association of Western Universities” which only lasted until 1967. The conference then became the “Pacific-8 Conference” (PAC-8) when Oregon and Oregon State joined the group. The PAC-10 came to fruition in 1978 when Arizona and Arizona State entered the family. The name would remain all the way until the conclusion of the 2010 campaign, when Utah and Colorado hopped in to make the conference what it is today with the PAC-12. Of the PAC-12 era, Oregon holds the most titles with four. That stat will remain no matter the outcome on Friday.
Game Preview: The regular season barn-burner between these two teams left viewers itching for more. Since that game, the hope was for the Ducks and the Huskies to come head to head again in the conference title game which has now become a reality. Washington, who was No. 7 at the time, survived a last second potential game-tying field goal from Oregon senior kicker Camden Lewis that would have kicked the game into overtime. Instead, the then No. 8 Ducks fell short in Seattle 36-33. Both teams have gone undefeated in their respective schedules since, however in different fashions.
Team Preview
Oregon: The Ducks have absolutely dominated in all of their remaining games following the loss to Washington. In fact, the closest margin of victory in those six games was a nine point win against USC. Their two most impressive wins in that stretch came against then No. 13 Utah where the Ducks went into Salt Lake City and rolled over the Utes 35-6, and just a week ago against a No. 16 Oregon State where the Beavers were outscored 31-7. The Ducks have comfortably covered the spread in four of those six games as well. Quarterback Bo Nix has put himself into a favorite for the Heisman Trophy ahead of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who has struggled at times in the second half stretch-run of the season. Penix, who threw an interception against Oregon, has thrown five more in the games played since.
Washington: While Oregon has breezed through their second half of the year, Washington has been pushed around week after week. Just one week after the Oregon matchup, the Huskies only tallied 15 points and won by just one score at home against a 1-5 Arizona State team that has averaged the least amount of total offensive yards in the PAC-12. Defensively, Washington went through a two-week stretch where they gave up 33 to a Stanford squad that has the second-least points scored this season in the conference, and then 42 against an USC team that ended up losing five of their final six regular season games. With all of that said however, Washington still enters Friday night with an undefeated record, a stat that only Florida State, Michigan, Georgia, and Liberty can say.
Game Prediction: There have been rumors about Penix Jr. dealing with some sort of ailing injury, yet nothing has been addressed by the team. If Penix is not particularly 100%, the Ducks will need to focus on getting pressure on him and trying to improve upon that from the regular season matchup, where senior Brandon Dorlus had the lone Oregon sack. Oregon defensive back Jahlil Florence, who intercepted Penix Jr. back in October, was seen on crutches last week against Oregon State. Coach Dan Lanning has made it known that Florence’s availability for Friday is up in the air. Besides Florence, the Oregon defense looks to be at full health. The defensive unit allowed 415 yards of offense to the Huskies back in week six, less than the 468 yards per game number that Washington has averaged on the season. If the Ducks can come out aggressive on defense and display a similar performance to the first game, the Huskies can be held in check. Combine that with the magician himself in Bo Nix and the record-breaking weapons he has such as Troy Franklin, there is your reason as to why the Ducks are 9.5 point favorites.
Score Prediction: 38-28 Oregon Wins the PAC-12