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6-PAC: The Pac-12 placed 6 teams in the latest CFP rankings, the most of any conference in this poll and the most for the Pac-12 since 2016.

USC moves up to #7 this week, their highest ever ranking in the CFP and 3rd straight week in the Top 10.  UTAH jumps 3 spots to #10, their first entry to the Top 10 since 2019.  OREGON drops to #12 but the Ducks have been ranked in the Top 15 of every CFP poll the last 2 seasons.  UCLA checks in at #16 and are in the first 3 CFP rankings of the season for the first time since 2014.  WASHINGTON jumped 8 spots this week to #17, their highest ranking since 2018.  OREGON STATE re-enters the poll this week at #23.

BOWL BLITZ:  Washington State became the 7th bowl eligible team this season with their win over Arizona State last week.  This week, the Cougars will try to play spoiler as the face Arizona who needs to win both of their final 2 games to become the 8th bowl eligible Pac-12 team.

VIVA LAS VEGAS:  The 2022 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, presented by 76, is headed to Allegiant Stadium on December 2nd.  Watch the Pac-12’s best take Vegas as the top 2 teams meet and compete for the championship.  Get your tickets now at Pac-12.com/tickets.

Here are a few of the scenarios for this weekend

• USC would clinch a spot with a win over UCLA
• UCLA would be eliminated with a loss to USC
• Washington would be eliminated with a loss to Colorado
• If both USC & Colorado win this week, the championship match-up will be set with USC facing the winner of this week’s Utah-Oregon game

AWARD TOUR:    WIth their win over Oregon last week, Washington was named the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week (Arizona was also a nominee) while Huskies’ Head Coach Kalen DeBoer was named Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week.

Other national awards notes this week:

• USC’s Tuli Tuipulotu named 1 of 4 finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy
• 6 Pac-12 players were named semifinalists for the Walter Camp Award, 2nd most among conferences:  Zach Charbonnet (UCLA), Bo Nix (Oregon), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), Noah Sewell (Oregon), Tuipulotu (USC), and Caleb Williams (USC)
• 5 Pac-12 QBs were named semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, tied for the most of any conference:  Nix (Oregon), Penix Jr. (Washington), Cameron Rising (Utah), Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA) and Williams (USC).
• Nix was also named 1 of 5 finalists for the Johnny Unitas Award.
• 7 Pac-12 assistants named finalists for the Broyles Award:  Jimmie Dougherty (Arizona), Kenny Dillingham (Oregon), Trent Bray (Oregon State), DeShaun Foster (UCLA), Shaun Nua (USC), Morgan Scalley (Utah), Ryan Grubb (Washington)
• 3 Pac-12 OL units nominated for Joe Moore Award - Oregon, UCLA, USC
• 3 Pac-12 players named semifinalists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year:  Matthew Cindric (Cal), Alex Forsyth (Oregon), Edefuan Ulofoshio (Washington)

WEEK 13 SCHEDULE:

Friday, November 25th

• 1:00 p.m. MT - Arizona State at Arizona (FS1) - previously announced
• 1:30 p.m. PT - UCLA at Cal (FOX) - previously announced

Saturday, November 26th

• 4:30 p.m. PT - Notre Dame at USC (ABC)
• 8:00 p.m. PT - BYU at Stanford (FS1)

3 game selections have been held until the games this weekend have been played:

• Oregon at Oregon State
• Washington at Washington State
• Utah at Colorado

AROUND THE PAC-12

WASHINGTON STATE (6-4, 3-4) at ARIZONA (4-6, 2-5)

Sat., Nov. 19 • 12:00 pm MT • PAC-12 NETWORK

WASHINGTON STATE: Bowl eligible for the 7th straight non-COVID season.  Have won 4 of the last 5 meetings with Arizona including the last 2 by a combined 67 points.  RB Nakia Watson has 3 games this season with 100+ rush yards including each of last 2 games, becoming first WSU player with back-to-back games with 100+ rush yards since Jerome Harrison in 2005.  Watson had 3 rush TD last week, first WSU RB with 100+ rush yards and 3 TD in game since Harrison in 2005.  Defense has held 6 straight opponents under 400 total yards, first time since 2017.

ARIZONA:  First home game vs. Washington State since 2017 which Wildcats won 58-37 despite allowing 653 total yards.  Beat UCLA last week, defeating their first AP Top 10 team since 2015 and first conference road win since 2019.  Have scored 31+ points in 7 of 10 games this season, scored 31+ points 6 times in 29 games from 2019-21.  QB Jayden de Laura, the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year with WSU in 2021, is first Arizona QB with 3,000+ pass yards in season since Anu Solomon in 2014.

#23 OREGON STATE (7-3, 4-3) at ARIZONA STATE (3-7, 2-5)

Sat., Nov. 19 • 12:15 pm MT • ESPN2

OREGON STATE: Have won 2 of the last 3 in this series but have not won in Tempe since 2009.  12.6 PPG allowed in 5 home games this season, 31.3 PPG allowed in 4 road games. Defense held Cal to 156 total yards last week, the fewest by a Beaver opponent since 2009, after the Bears had put up 469 yards at USC the week before.  Defense allowed 9 yards rushing last week, the 5th straight game they’ve allowed 100 yards or less on the ground.  4-3 this season against teams with winning records and all 3 losses coming to teams in AP Top 25.  RB Damien Martinez 4 straight games with 100+ rush yards, first OSU freshman to do it since Jacquizz Rodgers in 2008.

ARIZONA STATE: Hosting Oregon State for first time since 2018 after playing in Corvallis each of the last 3 years.  17-1 at home against Oregon State since 1980.    Will be their 6th game against an AP Top 25 team this season (1-4).  RB X Valladay needs 14 rush yards to reach 1,000 in his first season at ASU after doing it twice at Wyoming (2019, 2021).  Valladay 13 rush TD this season, had 19 total in 4 seasons at Wyoming (42 games).

STANFORD (3-7, 1-7) at CALIFORNIA (3-7, 1-6)

Sat., Nov. 12 • 2:30 pm PT • PAC-12 NETWORK

STANFORD: 125th Big Game.  Have won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Cal including the last 6 in Berkeley.  Have not lost a road game to Cal since 2008.  1-4 on the road this season but the win was at Notre Dame.  Kicker Joshua Karty is 14-14 on FG this season, 1 of just 2 FBS kickers to have not missed a field goal this year with at least 14 attempts.  Have played 17 true freshman this season.  2 Stanford players will face off against their brother who plays at Cal this week with WR Elijah Higgins  facing his brother CB Kaleb Higgins and QB Ari Patu facing OLB Orin Patu.

CALIFORNIA: 40th anniversary of  “The Play”.  Have won 2 of the last 3 against Stanford including a 41-11 victory last year on the Farm, their largest win over the Cardinal since 2004 (41-6).  Made changes to their coaching staff this week with offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and offensive line coach Angus McClure both relieved of their duties with their responsibilities handled by current staff members for the remainder of the season.  Redshirt Freshman WR J. Michael Sturdivant leads all FBS freshman in receptions (55) and is 3rd in receiving yards (615).

#7 USC (9-1, 7-1) at #16 UCLA (8-2, 5-2)

Sat., Nov. 19 • 5:00 pm PT • FOX

USC: Have won 7 of 11 meetings with UCLA in the Rose Bowl since 2000 including a 43-38 win in the last meeting there in 2020 when the Trojans outscored the Bruins 20-3 in the 4th quarter.  Have scored 40+ points in 8 of their 10 games this season and have 4 straight games with both 500+ total yards and 300+ pass yards.  QB Caleb Williams has 5 total TD in each of the last 4 games and is the only FBS QB this season with 26+ pass TD and 2 or fewer INT.  RB Travis Dye suffered season-ending injury last week.  DL Tuli Tuipulotu at least 2.0 sacks in each of last 2 games and leads FBS with 11.5 sacks this season.  1 of 3 FBS teams to not trail at any point this season by 8 or more points (Michigan, Ohio State).

UCLA: Beat USC 62-33 in the Coliseum last season, which was UCLA’s most points ever scored against USC and their largest margin of victory over the Trojans since 1954.  8-2 is UCLA’s best start since 2014.  Seeking first win over an AP Top 10 team since 2010 (#7 Texas). Only offense in FBS with 2,600+ pass yards and 2,400+ rush yards this season.  RB Zach Charbonnet 100+ rush yards in 7 of 8 games he’s played this season, only 4th UCLA RB with back-to-back season with 1,100+ rush yards (Paul Perkins 2014-15, Karim Abdul-Jabbar 1994-95, Freeman McNeil 1979-80).  Dorian Thompson-Robinson needs 74 pass yards to become 2nd QB in UCLA history with 10,000 career pass yards.

COLORADO (1-9, 1-6) at #17 WASHINGTON (8-2, 5-2)

Sat., Nov. 19 • 6:00 pm MT • ESPN

COLORADO: Have won last 2 meetings with UW by a combined 9 points after not having previously beaten the Huskies since the 1996 Holiday Bowl.  Looking for road win over AP Top 20 team for first time since 2002 (#20 UCLA).  Have played 36 true freshmen this season, most in FBS.  RB Alex Fontenot 108 rush yards vs. USC, his first game with 100+ rush yards since 2019.

WASHINGTON: Have won 9 of the last 11 meetings with Colorado and last 5 in Seattle.  Have not lost to Colorado at Husky Stadium since 1989.  Looking to go 7-0 at home for the 3rd time in last 30 years (1992, 2017).  3-0 vs. AP Top 25 teams this season and last week’s win over Oregon was their first road win over a Top 10 team since 2018.  QB Michael Penix Jr. leads FBS in passing yards and has topped 300 in 9 of 10 games (298 vs. Oregon State).  Penix needs 360 pass yards to become 2nd UW QB with 4,000 yards in a season (Cody Pickett, 2002).

#10 UTAH (8-2, 6-1) at #12 OREGON (8-2, 6-1)

Sat., Nov. 19 • 7:30 pm PT • ESPN

UTAH: Went 2-0 against Top 10 Oregon team last year including the 2021 Pac-12 Championship Game.  Looking for their first road win over a Top 15 team since 2018 (#14 Stanford) and last won in Eugene in 2015.  6 of their 8 wins this season are by at least 21 points.  RB Tavion Thomas 180 rush yards and 2 rush TD last week vs. Stanford, first game with 100+ rush yards since season-opener at Florida.  Dalton Kincaid has 649 receiving yards this season, most among FBS TE.  Defense allowed 22 rush yards last week, 4th time this season holding opponent under 50 rush yards.

OREGON: Have won 5 of their last 6 home games with Utah including the last meeting in 2017.  Had 23-game home win streak and 17-game home conference win streak snapped last week in loss to Washington.  Have won 8 of their last 10 home games against AP Top 10 opponents including a 45-30 win over UCLA this season.  1 of 3 FBS teams this season to score 40+ points in 8 games this season.  500+ total yards in 7 of their 10 games this season.  QB Bo Nix 39 total TD (24 pass, 14 rush, 1 rec) this season, tied for most in FBS.  RB Bucky Irving back-to-back games and 3 of the last 4 with 100+ rush yards.

PAC-12 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

VIKING QUEST: Vikings LB Eric Kendricks (UCLA) recovered a fumble in the end zone with 0:41 left in the 4th quarter to give Minnesota the lead in an eventual 33-30 OT win in Buffalo.  It was the first go-ahead, non-offensive TD scored by a trailing team in the last minute of the 4th quarter since 1986.  Kendricks added 10 tackles in the game, his 3rd game this season with 10+ tackles

LET’S BE FRANK: Panthers LB Frankie Luvu (WASHINGTON STATE) had 12 tackles and 2.0 sacks in a win over the Falcons, becoming just the 4th NFL player in the last 3 seasons to reach both of those totals in the same game.  It was a career-high in tackles and his 3rd game this season with 10+ tackles while also marking the first multi-sack game of his career.  Panthers WR Laviska Shenault (COLORADO) had a 41-yard rush TD in that game to become the 2nd NFL player this season to have a 40+ yard rush TD and 40+ yard receiving TD.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: Giants DE Leonard Williams (USC) had 9 tackles, half a sack and forced a fumble in the red zone in New York’s win over the Texans.  The 9 tackles  are the 2nd most in his career, with his career-high 10 coming back in 2016.

PACKING A PUNCH:  Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (CALIFORNIA) threw for 224 yards and 3 scores in a 31-28 win over the Cowboys.  It was the 82nd time in his career throwing for 3 or more scores and has 7 games this season with multiple pass TD, tied for 2nd most in the NFL.

SUNNY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN:  Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (USC) had 10 receptions for 119 yards in a 31-30 win over the Bears.  The 10 catches matches his career-high from last year and he’s now topped 100 yards receiving twice this season and 4 times in his young career.

RUNNIN’ ROOKIE: Buccaneers RB Rachaad White (ARIZONA STATE) had a career-high 105 rush yards on 22 carries in a win over the Seahawks.  White had 117 yards on 38 carries in the previous 9 games combined.