Pac-12 Undefeated No More, Oregon Ducks Best One-Loss Team?
The word of the year so far in the Pac-12 Conference is parity. Teams are better than in years past thanks to better recruiting and better coaching. Teams are worse because of injury and the talent behind the starters not being quite up to snuff. Teams across the conference have beaten opponents and themselves over the last few weeks, including the Oregon Ducks losing last weekend to Arizona, who with the win remained the lone team in the Pac-12 that was undefeated.
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That was, until Saturday night.
The USC Trojans ranked as high as sixteen the week before came into Tucson and won by two points. Arizona had their chances, in fact two of them to tie the game – make that three chances. They recovered an onside kick and missed a field goal in the end leading to their first loss of the year. Every team in the Pac-12 now has a loss. With Oregon beating UCLA, considering these two were the ‘Powerhouse’ teams entering the season, the Ducks now take the top spot in the Pac-12 moving forward. They are also likely, along with Arizona, one of two teams with National Championship hopes still alive.
One statistic that seems to be growing this season is a troublesome one for home teams. Visiting teams have a 14-4 record this season, of course one of those was against the Oregon Ducks last weekend with the Arizona win and for Oregon on Saturday in the 42-30 win at UCLA. Add to that statistic that Oregon State, with a win this week hosting Utah would give the Beavers a 4-1 record, the same as Oregon and that alone shows that this is clearly an ‘Anything Can Happen’ year in the Pac-12 Conference.
The Oregon Ducks host the Washington Huskies this weekend at Autzen. Kickoff is set for 5pm Pacific Time on Fox Sports 1.
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