It seems ironic that in the final year of the Pac-12, as we currently know it, we are anticipating potentially the most intriguing and competitive season that we’ve seen in quite some time, doesn’t it? Before both USC and UCLA take off for the Big Ten, there’s an expectation that the winner of the Pac-12 should have a place in the College Football Playoff, should things go according to plan.
You’ve got teams like USC, Oregon, Washington, and Utah all ranked inside the top 15 to start the year, while schools like UCLA and Oregon State deserve to be mentioned in the conversation as well.
With that much talent in the conference, it’s hard to find many weeks in the regular season that don’t hold massive importance. Going into any single game, you could face an opponent that has the potential to knock you off, ultimately hurting your chances to get to the conference championship game when all is said and done.
The Oregon Ducks don’t have the hardest schedule in the conference, but that doesn’t mean that they get a cakewalk either. ESPN recently went through and tried to identify the biggest games of the year for each team in the preseason top 25. For the Ducks, they picked the Week 7 matchup vs. the Washington Huskies.
It was a loss to Washington at home in 2022 that ended Oregon’s eight-game winning streak and gave the Ducks their first loss in conference play. It ended up as one of just two losses in the Pac-12, which proved crucial in keeping the Ducks out of the conference title game and sent them on a course to a disappointing Holiday Bowl berth. This year, in coach Dan Lanning’s second season, there are higher expectations and with this game coming earlier on the schedule it represents an important mile marker on the season. With a manageable schedule before this one, the Ducks should have a chance to move to 6-0 here with four of six games at home the rest of the way (including against USC). That would probably be good enough for a…
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