It's hard to believe that we are already near the end point of the regular season in college football. That only means one thing: bowl game season. In this case, we're looking at the Pac-12 conference and where highly-ranked teams like Oregon and Washington could end up, both having a good chance of making the College Football Playoff should they win out, including the conference championship game. Now, let's get into some Pac-12 bowl predictions.
Oregon Ducks, Sugar Bowl — College Football Playoff
Oregon football, even with the one loss to Washington earlier in the season, looks like the best team in the Pac-12 currently. They haven't let up since their close loss to the Huskies, and Bo Nix has been on a tear, putting himself as one of, if not the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.
Dan Lanning's Ducks football team still has two games left, with the last one being their toughest test against the current No. 12 Oregon State. Luckily, that will be at home in Autzen Stadium for the Ducks, but the Beavers are no pushover.
If Oregon football can make it past them, they'll likely be meeting Washington in a rematch for the Pac-12 Championship. If the Ducks win that, they would likely be the first one-loss team to make it into the playoff as the No. 4 team to play No. 1 in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl.
Washington Huskies, Fiesta Bowl
Washington football is still undefeated but will be heading to Corvallis this weekend to take on Oregon State. Washington has been playing with fire as of late, and this could be the weekend they suffer their first loss of the season. With that said, that still gives the Huskies football team only one conference loss, so should they beat in-state rival Washington State the following week, it would put them in the Pac-12 Championship Game against Oregon.
As mentioned above, we're saying that Oregon will defeat Washington football and Michael Penix Jr. in a rematch for the conference title on Dec. 3. That would still give the Huskies the second place in the Pac-12 standings, which will be good enough to give them a New Year's Six bowl like the Fiesta Bowl, against the likes of someone like Alabama or Ohio State. But it would put them out of the College Football Playoff.
Oregon State Beavers, Alamo Bowl
If the Beavers can take one of their last two games against Washington or Oregon, they're set up for the No. 3 spot in the Pac-12 rankings, along with a solid spot possibly in the top-10 of the College Football Playoff rankings. Either way, that should be good enough for them to garner a bid to the Alamo Bowl, which is technically for the second-place Pac-12 team, but Washington would be receiving the at-large bid in the Fiesta Bowl.
Their opponent would be the second-place Big 12 team, which at this point looks like it could be Oklahoma or Texas, with them likely rematching in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Utah Utes, Las Vegas Bowl
Still a solid year for Kyle Whittingham and his Utah team, but a big difference from facing Ohio State in the Rose Bowl last year to then possibly facing the likes of a lesser Big Ten team like Nebraska or Wisconsin this year.
USC Trojans, Holiday Bowl
After having a Week 0 game, the Trojans only have one game left during the regular season against cross-town rival UCLA this weekend. The Trojans have lost four out of their last five games and have not been quite the team most expected them to be this season, hovering around the top-4 with hopes of a College Football Playoff berth.
USC will likely be heading to the Holiday Bowl, a very familiar site for them. In three out of their last six bowl appearances, the Trojans have found themselves in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. Look for them to be Caleb Williams-less facing an ACC team like Duke, Miami, or NC State.
Arizona Wildcats, Sun Bowl
Jedd Fisch has done a remarkable job with Arizona this season. His Wildcats team has wins over three ranked opponents, with a matchup against No. 18 Utah this weekend. Arizona hasn't been to a bowl game since 2013, but now there's a chance for them to be an eight or nine-win team.
Arizona will find themselves facing one of the lower ACC teams in El Paso, TX.
UCLA Bruins, LA Bowl
Who knows what could happen with Chip Kelly and if he'll even be the Bruins head coach by this game. UCLA will get the last remaining spot for Pac-12 teams in bowl season. At least it won't be a long drive from Pasadena to SoFi Stadium. They'll face the first-place Mountain West Conference opponent, which will likely be either Air Force or UNLV.
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