It's been a whacky 2017 college football season, to be sure. One of the conferences that has contributed to the chaos is the Pac-12, which no longer has an unbeaten, their top SOS plays has two losses and their best team has played absolutely nobody.
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So, how does the Pac-12 get a team in the Final Four? Click to Check out each scenario, sorted by team:
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Washington Athletics[/credit]
1. Washington (8-1)
The Huskies are the lone team in the conference with just one loss — a 13-7 fade at Arizona State — which gives them the best shot by default. Run the table and they'll be in the Top 8, if not Top 4. They'll need help, though.
COMPARE WASHINGTON TO: OHIO STATE | WISCONSIN | MIAMI
How They Get In
It's difficult to imagine Washington jumping the Oklahoma-TCU winner, and it's conceivable a two-loss Oklahoma team gets in ahead of a one-loss Pac-12 Champion Washington, especially if the Sooners lose Saturday to TCU and win out, including a rematch with the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 title game.
Loss by Clemson OR Notre Dame, OR both
BOTH seems unlikely but the Tigers do head to South Carolina to finish the season — not an easy game — and then will have a solid matchup in the ACC Championship.
Notre Dame will be favored in their final three games — @ Miami, vs, Navy and @ Stanford — but none of the three are show-up-and-win types.
Loss by Miami
The Irish may take care of the Hurricanes this weekend, but that wouldn't necessarily push Washington ahead of Miami. But the ACC title game likely eliminates either Miami or Clemson, assuming they end up representing their divisions, as it sits now.
There's no way Miami OR Clemson ends the season without a loss. If Notre Dame beats Miami this Saturday and then the 'Canes beat Clemson, Miami would certainly have a case over Washington, but the Tigers would be essentially knocked out with a second loss.
Loss by Wisconsin
The Badgers will be favored in their final three regular season games — vs. Iowa and Michigan, @ Minnesota — and may still be the underdog in the Big Ten title game. There's no chance a one-loss Washington jumps an unbeaten Wisconsin. If the Badgers loses before the conference championship, they could still have an argument over a one-loss Huskies, but strength of victory in this scenario would be close.[divider]
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USC Athletics[/credit]
2. USC (8-2)
The Trojans have to hope Washington wins out and lends them a very good opponent in the Pac-12 title game. Their two losses are at WSU and at Notre Dame. Their best win thus far is over Stanford Week 2. They need a better one.
COMPARE USC TO: OKLAHOMA | OHIO STATE | TCU
In addition to the above for Washington, USC probably needs Miami to lose twice; a one-loss Miami team that beats Clemson in the ACC title game has a better resume than USC can have, regardless.
USC beating Washington may eliminate their need for numerous additional two-loss teams to lose another game.[divider]
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WSU Athletics[/credit]
3. Washington State (8-2)
The Cougars beat USC, but the reason they're the conferences third-best chance is Washington State's two losses are significantly worse — 37-3 at California and 58-37 at Arizona. WSU's win over USC matters, but suggesting that's enough to flip the two schools is foolish. Plus, USC is much more likely to get to the Pac-12 title game than is WSU, who have to visit Washington in a few weeks.
COMPARE WASHINGTON STATE TO: PENN STATE | AUBURN | MICHIGAN STATE
In addition to Washington's and USC's needs, Washington State would also likely need Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Auburn to lose again, especially since the three aforementioned Big Ten teams also could end the year as two-loss conference champions and with as good or better wins and certainly better losses than the Cougars — as could Oklahoma State.
Same goes for Auburn, too, and they'd have wins over Georgia (twice) and Alabama, but nobody with a registering IQ believes that's plausible.[divider]
