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Midseason Pac-12 Football Conference Champion Prediction

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By @calling_allfans

Pac-12 Football

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The best conference in college football right now is the SEC, but the second-best and deepest conference is the Pac-12. Six Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 25 in the current AP Poll: Arizona (10), Oregon (12), UCLA (18), Arizona State (20), Utah (24) and Stanford (25).

Prior to the start of the season, most football fans had Oregon as the class of the Pac-12 and figured the Ducks would win the conference and challenge for the national title. With all of the upsets and no team emerging as the team to beat, however, the college football rankings are in flux and the same can be said for the Pac-12.

So which Pac-12 team has the best chance to win the conference championship on Friday, December 5 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara?

Only Arizona remains undefeated, but even if the Pac-12 champion has a loss, they will probably still be invited to the first ever college football playoff. Even though the Pac-12 is the second-best conference in college football, only the conference champion will find themselves in the playoff; all other teams won’t make the cut for the top four. So which team will it be?

None of the teams in the North that you could make a case for have a noticeably easier schedule than the rest of the teams in that division. All four teams (California, Oregon, Stanford and Oregon State) that could potentially represent the North division have one conference loss. The team in the North that has looked the best this season, even though they are coming off of a loss to Arizona, is Oregon.

The Ducks have a quality win over Michigan State and they know if they run the table and win the Pac-12, they’ll be in the playoff. The Ducks just need to move on from the loss to Arizona and work to make sure they don’t suffer a head-scratching loss the rest of the way because they have the talent to run the table and get to the Pac-12 Championship game. The Ducks will come out of the North.

Based on the schedules of the teams who have a realistic shot at the winning the South, the two teams with the easiest schedules from Week 6 on are Arizona and Arizona State. Arizona does have to play UCLA and Utah on the road, but road teams are a combined 11-3 thus far in league play and one of those wins was when the Wildcats beat the Ducks on the road.

In addition, Arizona has Washington State, Colorado and Washington still ahead on their schedule. Those teams are a combined 1-6 in league play this season. Arizona State still has Stanford (at home), Utah (at home) and Arizona (away) on their schedule, but they also have Washington and Washington State still ahead.

Of the two, Arizona is the better football team and they are currently undefeated, while every other team has at least one conference loss. The Wildcats will represent the South division of the Pac-12 in the conference championship.

Some fans don’t like rematches, but this would mean Oregon would get another crack at Arizona with a trip to the playoffs on the line. Even though it’s incredibly difficult for one team to beat another multiple times during a season, Arizona has beaten Oregon the past two seasons when the Ducks were ranked in the top five, and they have the easiest path to the conference championship.

Arizona is a talented football team, particularly at the wide receiver position, and they will win the Pac-12 this season.

Justin Patrick is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @calling_allfans, like him on Facebook and add him to your network on Google. You can also email him at [email protected]

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