UW Huskies to face rival Oregon in Pac-12 Championship Game
Nov 24, 2023, 8:42 PM
The UW Huskies and Oregon Ducks line up for a play at Husky Stadium on Oct. 14, 2023 in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The rematch that so many have wanted to see will officially happen. The Oregon Ducks have punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship Game and they will face the UW Huskies for the second time this season next Friday.
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Oregon, ranked No. 6 in the nation in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, defeated in-state rival Oregon State 31–7 on Friday to clinch the final spot in next weekend’s title game.
An Oregon loss to Oregon State would have opened the door for Arizona. The Wildcats would have then needed a win over Arizona State in order to earn the right to face the Huskies next weekend.
Washington, which plays Washington State in the Apple Cup on Saturday, clinched a championship game berth last week by also defeating Oregon State.
The UW Huskies are a perfect 11-0 entering this weekend and are ranked No. 4 in the latest CFP rankings. It’s important to note that the top four teams in the final CFP poll, which comes out after Championship Weekend, are the ones who will compete in the playoffs for the National Championship.
Oregon ends its regular season at 11-1 and has been the top-ranked one-loss team in the country for over a month. The Ducks have been considered by many to be the best one-loss team in the country over both Texas and Alabama.
The Ducks’ lone loss came against UW at Husky Stadium in October, a 36-33 thriller that came down to a missed Oregon field goal after the Huskies scored a go-ahead touchdown with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game.
The two rivals also had a classic last year in Eugene, with Washington winning 37-34 in an upset. That game dealt a big blow to Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes and played a part in the Ducks missing out on the Pac-12 title game last year.
The stakes were high in October, but they bow have never been higher for a UW vs Oregon game.
If Washington beats Washington State on Saturday and enters the championship game at 12-0, the winner of UW-Oregon will almost certainly make it to the College Football Playoff.
An Oregon win would likely get the Ducks back to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014.
If the Huskies win their next two games and have a perfect 13-0 record, they would almost certainly get back in the CFP for the first time since 2016. That was the last time any Pac-12 team made the playoffs.
The game may also help decide who wins the Heisman Memorial Trophy as Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. are two of the frontrunners for the prestigious award, given each year to the nation’s top player.
The Pac-12 Championship Game is Friday, Dec. 1 in Las Vegas at 5 p.m., and you can hear it live on Seattle Sports and the Seattle Sports App.
