Who do we cheer for in remaining games?

[Whitty]

Thinking about the rest of the Pac-12 conference games. What teams should we be cheering for/against going forward? I’d love a rematch vs UCLA, but obviously want whatever situation gives us the best shot at making the title game, regardless of opponent.

What is the best outcome from the Oregon/UCLA game this weekend from Utah’s perspective?

And yes, I know, just win the remaining games on our schedule and we’ll be fine!

[Utesbyfive]

Since the Pac-12 championship and the Rose Bowl is again, the Ute’s ceiling, we should be rooting for everyone ahead of us in the Pac standings to lose. We need UCLA to lose since they hold the tie-breaker against us. So root for Oregon. The Utes just have to take care of business and win out. .

[AlaskaSteveUteAlum]

Root for UCLA to win all of its remaining games. If the Utes win all of the remaining games too, then it will be UCLA vs. the Utes in the PAC-12 Championship game. Both USC and Oregon will have at least two league losses.

[NarfUte]

this^ I’d rather play UCLA again vs. USC if Utah were to make vegas, but winning at Autzen is gonna be tough for us 

[Utes 69]

wrong, we can’t root for teams that beat us to win out. if Utah wants to play with the big boys they need to win the games they play. should not rely on other teams. 

[alexsmith]

I’d disagree, cheering for teams you lost to looks better because it validates the loss more. If UCLA and Utah wins out, you get a top 5 12-0 UCLA playing a top 10 10-2 Utah for the title, and at this point in the season, there’s nothing I’d rather have

[tedward]

Also, in this scenario, if you win the Championship Game, you go to the Rose Bowl. If you lose the Championship Game, you also go to the Rose Bowl. Not a bad scenario to be staring at in early December.

[Central Coast Ute]

At this point SOS doesn’t matter, Utah isnt making the CFP. Screw the LA schools. They need to lose every game from here on out.

[EagleMountainUte]

Rematch against fUCLA obviously being optimal. 
I don’t see that happening though. fUCLA rarely beats USC. I actually see a rematch of SC to be most likely.

I cheer for Oregon st, Stanford and Wazzu in all games except when they play Utah. The rest of the teams I don’t waste any time on them. 

[The Miami Ute]

We definitely do not want to play USC again this season. On the other hand, while they have an electrifying offense, their defense is just a couple of notches above mediocre. It wouldn’t surprise me if they end up with two or 3 more losses on their record. Remember that USC has essentially been in dogfights in every single PAC-12 game they’ve played this season. They skirted disaster versus Oregon St and Wazzu but came a cropper versus Uta,

[CityCreekUte]

Utah. 8-1 is in the championship.
The nice thing about the ceiling is that it doesn’t matter style points or how many wins against who or what. So just win.
Assuming that version of things since UO and USC don’t play USC is the least likely rematch.
But the 1 hypothetical if someone knows..if the Ducks beat the Bruins and the Bruins beat USC and everything else.. I’m curious how the tiebreaker works with 3 8-1 teams.
Utah -> Oregon
Oregon -> UCLA
UCLA -> Utah.

[dystopiamembrane]

Tiebreaking procedures are on the pac-12.com football standings page. 

[UtesRule]

Utah

[RedUte14]

We should root for UCLA the rest of the way, to beat Oregon and USC. Makes our path easier.

[Central Coast Ute]

I don’t want either LA school even sniffing the title. I hope they lose all games

[dystopiamembrane]

Amen.

[St George Ute]

Based on my interpretation of the tiebreaker rules:

Scenario 1: Utah wins out (8-1, 10-2), Oregon (8-1, 10-2) beats UCLA (8-1, 11-1), UCLA beats USC (7-2, 10-2) = 3-Way tie for 1st (Utah, OR, UCLA) – Utah & UCLA in the ‘ship as both have wins against USC (next highest in the standings)

Scenario 2: Utah wins out (8-1, 10-2), Oregon (7-2, 10-2) loses to Utah & UCLA, UCLA wins out (9-0, 12-0), USC (7-2, 10-2) loses to UCLA = UCLA 1st place, Utah 2nd with wins over both USC & OR

Scenario 3: Utah wins out (8-1, 10-2), Oregon (7-2, 9-3) loses to both Utah & UCLA, UCLA (8-1, 11-1) loses to USC, USC (8-1, 11-1) Wins out = 3-way tie (Utah, UCLA, USC) – Utah & UCLA in as both have wins against OR (next highest in standings)

Scenario 4: Utah 8-1 (8-1, 10-2), Oregon (8-1, 10-2) loses to Utah, wins all others, UCLA (7-2, 10-2) loses to Oregon & USC, USC (8-1, 11-1) wins out = 3-Way Tie for 1st place (Utah, Oregon, USC) Utah gets in with wins over OR & USC, Oregon in based on strength of conference schedule.

[2008 National Champ]

I believe (i could very well be wrong) that the common opponent tie-breaker means all teams have to have played. So your scenarios 1 and 3 would need to change. Scenario 1 can’t use SC for common opponent since Oregon doesn’t play them. Scenario 3 can’t use Oregon since SC doesn’t play them. You would need to find the next highest opponent that all three teams had played.

* If I have it wrong, I’d like to give a pre-emptive Mea Culpa

[tarheelute]

Not rooting for UCLA, but if Utah and UCLA win-out its the clearest path back to the Rose Bowl.

Otherwise, both UCLA and USC can lose every game, leaving Oregon and Utah to fight it out.

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