It’s not in Utah’s interests for Stanford to upset Washington. We don’t play Stanford, so we’ll need Washington ranked as high as possible by the time we play them. And since both UW and SU play in the North, the outcome of that game would have no impact on our ability to win the South.
Utah’s rooting interests should be follow this pattern:
1. Any Utah win.
2. Any Pac-12 team win over any non-conference opponent
3. Any Pac-12 North team over any Pac-12 South team
4. Any Pac-12 win over USC
5. A loss for any non-future opponent currently ranked up to 9 spots ahead of Utah in the polls.
6. A loss for any non-future opponent currently ranked within 6 spots behind Utah in the polls.
7. And of course, a win for any team playing ybU-p.