No. 3 Washington, No. 5 Oregon Meet In Final Pac-12 Title Game

The Pac-12 championship game featuring No. 3 Washington and No. 5 Oregon in Las Vegas on Friday is historic on several levels. It matches the two highest-ranked teams in the 14 seasons the league has held the title game. It also marks an end of a 95-year era.

The grim reality out West is that Pac-12 football returned to prominence on the national stage this season just when it mattered least. The irony surrounding the title game is as thick as the morning fog at Pike Place Market.

The Pac-12 is six months from dissolution following a mass exodus in August, when eight schools followed 2022 defectors UCLA and USC for more lucrative financial arrangements in the Big Ten, Big 12 and the ACC.

The natural fallout from the Pac-12’s inability to secure a media rights deal commensurate with those of the other Power Five conferences makes this the last season of championship events in every sport, and football is among the first to go. The league began as the Pac-8 when UCLA joined in 1928.

Regardless, that history does not make the championship game at Allegiant Stadium any less compelling, even if it is a rematch of the regular-season meeting in which Washington (12-0) handed the Ducks (11-1) their only loss, 36-33, in a game decided when Oregon missed a field goal on the final play of the game.

“This is what we worked for since Jan. 3, our first team meeting,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Guys decided to come back to win a championship. You don’t talk a lot about it much once you get into the season, because you are focused on the next game. Now we focus on the next game, which we’ve had our sights set on since Day 1.

“The excitement, maybe even the pressure, that’s why guys came here. They came here to play in a game like this and to love it and embrace the moment.”

The winner of this game is all but certain to make the College Football Playoff Final Four, the first for a Pac-12 team since the Huskies advanced in 2017. Washington is one of four unbeaten teams in the Power Five entering conference championship weekend, and every other no-loss Power Five team has made the cut. Logically, Oregon would replace Washington in the CFP if it avenges the loss on Oct. 14 in Seattle, with one possible exception.

If No. 8 Alabama (11-1) beats No. 1 Georgia (12-0) in the Southeastern Conference title game Saturday, the SEC — the deepest league in the nation — would have two one-loss teams. Count on the SEC to then make the case that both two-time defending national champion Georgia and three-time national champ Alabama should make Final Four, as has happened twice in the last six seasons.

Although it requires more gymnastics, both Washington and Oregon could make the Final Four if some combination of No. 2 Michigan (12-0), No. 4 Florida State (12-0), No. 7 Texas (11-1) and Alabama lose in Saturday. No. 6 Ohio State (11-1) is done and cannot help itself.

Florida State plays Louisville for the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and the Seminoles appear more vulnerable after losing school career total offense leader quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending left leg injury two weeks ago. Tate Rodemaker replaced Travis in a 24-15 victory over Florida last week, and the CFP selection committee could take that into consideration when it makes its final rankings.

“Not to be funny, but you can’t get closer than ‘3’ and ‘4’ and ‘5’ and ‘6’ in what we’re looking at, and we continue to evaluate it,” CFP selection chairman Boo Corrigan said Tuesday. “The advantage we have this year, and I do believe it’s an advantage, we’ve got a lot of great teams and we’ve got a lot of great choices to make.

“We’re just evaluating it at this point where they (Seminoles) are with the body of work throughout the season, while a topic of discussion, as it should be, as injuries should be at this point, and player availability, if you will, it’s a big part of the conversation.”

The Washington-Oregon game will be the first CFP-determining domino to fall, and it features two of the top three Heisman Trophy candidates in Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix, according to FanDuel. Nix is the odds-on favorite at -200 while Penix is listed third at +1600. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels (who spent three seasons at Pac-12 Arizona State) is listed at +160.

Penix was the odds-on favorite at -137 after the Huskies’ victory over Oregon six weeks ago, when he and Nix played to a virtual draw before Penix threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze with 1:38 remaining for the go-ahead score. Penix completed 22 of 37 passes for 302 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in that game. Nix had slightly more efficient stat line, going 33 of 44 for 337 yards and two scores, but the Ducks’ last possession stalled with two incomplete passes at the Washington 25-yard line and Camden Lewis pushed a 43-yard field goal wide right as time expired.

“We didn’t finish,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “That’s the kind of things that sticks with you.”

Nix leads Division I with 3,906 yards passing, seven yards more than Penix, and in completion percentage at 78.6. Nix is second to Daniels in passing efficiency (189.9 rating) and touchdown passes (37). Penix is fourth in both categories.

“Bo’s an elite player, and we’re still playing football,” Lanning said about the Heisman conversation. “He’s more excited about playing in a championship game this weekend.”

In a normal year, the Pac-12’s resurgence and the Penix-Nix rematch would be cause for celebration, not lament.