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2017 Pac-12 football schedule: 12 games to watch this fall

Jan 18, 2017
Dhon Santos/Pac-12 Conference

Not that we're counting, but as of Wednesday, it's just 225 days until Pac-12 football kicks off for 2017.

The Pac-12's full 2017 football schedule was released Wednesday - you can check out the entire thing here - and the calendar is littered with big-time non-conference games, coaching debuts in both Berkeley and Eugene, plenty of exciting conference action and an early Pac-12 Football Championship Game rematch.

In the midst of all of these games, we've plucked out 12 specific match-ups that caught our eye on schedule release day. Which game are you most looking forward to? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.

Sept. 2 - California at North Carolina

There's a new leader in Berkeley with the hiring of Justin Wilcox as the Golden Bears' new head coach, and a cross-country trip to a tough ACC foe is what greets him to start his California career.

Sept. 2 - Western Michigan at USC

The Rose Bowl champions, who will be led by youthful and talented quarterback Sam Darnold, open the season at the Coliseum with some #MACtion as the Broncos - they of the perfect 13-0 regular season in 2016 - invade SoCal for a must-watch September dandy.

Sept. 2 - Texas A&M at UCLA

Last season, these two teams played a barnburner of an overtime game in College Station that went the Aggies way. The rematch comes to the Rose Bowl to start the season with an SEC/Pac-12 bang.

Sept. 9 - Nebraska at Oregon

Willie Taggart begins his tenure in Eugene a week earlier, but his first true test comes in Week 2, when the Cornhuskers visit Autzen for the second-half of a high-powered home-and-home between these Pac-12 and Big Ten foes.

Sept. 9 - Stanford at USC

The Cardinal has taken the last three in this series between Northern and Southern California foes, including Nerd Nation's 2015 Pac-12 Football Championship Game victory. But each game in this series carries a ton of intrigue; six of their last eight meetings have been decided by 10 points or fewer. It's a classic Pac-12 conference schedule opener.

Sept. 16 - Texas at USC

These two squads haven't met on the gridiron since their illustrious National Championship battle. Their 2017 match-up is Texas' first visit to Troy since 1967 (which USC won 17-13 under the legendary John McKay) and will create a very early challenge for the Longhorns' new bench boss, Tom Herman.

Sept. 23 - Washington at Colorado

This one feels familiar, yes? The last we saw the Buffs and Dawgs on one field, the Huskies were cinching up a Pac-12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Washington should be back in a big way in 2017, and an early-season rematch with the ascending Buffaloes will provide some early-season intrigue.

Oct. 7 - Washington State at Oregon

You can throw out the record books lately when these two teams battle, a series in which the Cougars have taken the last two meetings. The forecast? Raining points. The last six meetings between the Cougars and Ducks have seen combined point totals of 71, 77, 100, 69, 83 and 89.

Oct. 14 - Utah at USC

They haven't been conference rivals for long, but each of their six meetings since Utah joined the Pac-12 have been intriguing. Last year's #Pac12AfterDark thriller in Salt Lake City made national waves, and USC will be looking for payback on their home turf after Utah's 2016 last-second win.

Nov. 4 - Oregon at Washington

Ducks fans probably don't want to remember last season's game at Autzen, where the Huskies dropped a 70-burger en route to breaking a 12-game losing streak to their rivals to the south. It'll be Willie Taggart's first crack at Washington and Chris Petersen's chance to start a streak of Washington's own.

Nov. 10 - Washington at Stanford

Last season, this battle of Pac-12 North giants went decisively toward the Huskies in a game that began catapulting them toward the division title. 2017 promises to be another titanic showdown between these two.

Dec. 1 or 2 - Pac-12 Football Championship Game

The only thing we can tell you about this one is that it'll match the winner of the Pac-12 North with the winner of the Pac-12 South. The only other guarantee? You'll want some popcorn.