Assume our first 2 games are cancelled: We win the remaining 4 to go 4-0. Another south team goes 5-1. Does the other south team automatically win the south because they have more wins? What if there’s a 4-1 team?
Depends on a lot. Simple answer, winning percentage. Complicated answer: there are a bunch of tiebreaker rules that you can see here.
The winner of each Division will be determined by the best winning percentage (both divisional and cross-divisional) within the conference. In the event of an unbalanced schedule where there is a tie for the best record in the loss column, head-to-head results will take precedence over winning percentage.
I don’t think Utah beats USC if that is their third game and our first, so this is probably a non-issue. USC will probably blow through this schedule.
The real question is, if USC is 6-0 and Oregon is 5-1 or 4-2 do you risk a conf title game and losing a playoff seat or let USC play Cal or Stanford for their 7th game and go 7-0 guaranteeing you a playoff spot?