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USC or Oregon have been in five of the nine Pac-12 Championship Games since the league began hosting them in 2011, but they have never faced each other with the conference title on the line. That will change. Friday night when the No.13 Trojans face the Ducks, who replace Washington after the Huskies informed the league they could not play due to COVID-19 concerns.
It’s the conference title game that was predicted in the league’s preseason media poll; however, the road to a battle between USC and Oregon in the championship game has taken some strange twists and turns in an already bizarre year. The Ducks (3-2) reached 9th place in the AP’s top 25 in a 3-0 start and finished 15th in the first standings in college football playoffs before back-to-back losses to Oregon State and Cal have ended their chances to make a splash on the national stage.
On the other hand, the Trojans enter the contest with a perfect 5-0 and are looking to make a statement. While Ohio State has the same record, the Buckeyes are No. 4 in the college football playoff standings while USC is No. 13. So even with a dominant win over the Ducks, it It is highly unlikely that the Trojans will be able to reach the semi-finals. Still, USC has a lot to play for, and a major bowl offer is in the game. Let’s take a closer look at the game and the scenarios to follow before making expert picks both directly and against the spread.
Storylines
USC: The Trojans have won three of their matches in dramatic fashion and could just as easily be 2-3 after narrow wins in Arizona State, Arizona and UCLA. But give USC credit because while his airstrike has seemed ineffective at times, second-year quarterback Kedon Slovis has repeatedly played important games at important times. It helps that he has three excellent receivers to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyler Vaughns and Drake London, who combined to catch 12 of Slovis’ 15 touchdown passes. A win in that game would make USC 6-0 for the first time since 2006, which was the pinnacle of Pete Carroll’s tenure as a coach. Reaching that milestone in 2020 would be huge for current coach Clay Helton, who needed a good season to cool off discussions in the hot seat.
Oregon: Cristobal is not in the hot seat, but he would have been running for Auburn even though his third season in Oregon did not go as planned. After a 12-2 season capped off with a Rose Bowl victory, the Ducks had a lot to replace. In addition to losing star quarterback Justin Herbert, Oregon has also been hit by a wave of withdrawals. Among them was left tackle Penei Sewell, whose start left Cristobal using five new starters on his offensive line. Offense wasn’t the main issue, however, in a 41-38 loss to Oregon State that knocked the Ducks down from the undefeated ranks. The Beavers raced all over Oregon in that game before the offense clashed with Cal the following week. But with Washington 3-1 unable to play this week and the Ducks holding a 3-2 Stanford tiebreaker, the Ducks are where they wanted to be – playing in the Pac-12 title game with a chance to experience young players in a great setting.
Information display
Event: Pac-12 Championship Game
Dated: Friday December 18 | Time8 p.m. ET
Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – Los Angeles
TV: FOX | Direct: fuboTV (Try for free)
Oregon at USC
Last Chances:
USC Trojans -3
Nothing in this Pac-12 season makes sense, so why should the title game? An undefeated USC would be a better representative of the league during the bowling season than a two-loss Oregon team that didn’t really deserve to be in the league title game. But the magic of USC’s clutch is doomed to wear out at some point, and you can bet the Ducks are ready to wash away the taste of back-to-back losses against foes under 500 league. Picks: Oregon (+3)
What college football picks can you confidently make in Week 16, and which team will win a shocking shock in a conference title game? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread – all from a proven computer model that has grossed over $ 3,500 in profits over the past four seasons and more – and find out.
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