They pulled it off. They both actually pulled it off. The Utes went to Washington and got that pesky Husky monkey off their backs. The Ducks went to USC and gave them a beating that Utah fans could revel in as well. The biggest remaining roadblocks to each team’s seasons have been hurdled, and now both Oregon and Utah will get some well deserved rest time. Both teams are now leading their respective divisions and are on a crash course for a Pac-12 Championship game that could end up meaning a lot more than a Rose Bowl bid. The importance of those victories cannot be understated, and this season just got one whole hell of a lot more meaningful.

In last week’s ‘What if Utah and Oregon Win Out?’ article, we danced around the fact that these two teams both winning out felt like a statistical improbability. Now that those two games are both W’s, winning out seems like a statistical likelihood.

The remaining schedules and FPI Odds

Both of these teams should win their last three games, and both the eye test and the analytics agree. Below are the list of each team’s remaining games and FPI’s predicted win percentage.

Oregon

BYE

vs. Arizona - 96.5%

@ ASU - 84.1%

vs. Oregon State - 95.5%

ESPN FPI odds of winning last three: 77.5%

Those first two games shouldn’t be taken as lightly as their percentages suggest. Oregon has struggled with Arizona, both at home or away, and Tempe is not an easy place to play in November, though the Ducks have pretty easily handled the Sun Devils the past decade and a half. I’d say that we could overlook the Civil War, but the Beavers have won that far too recently and look to be headed in the right direction for me to count them out completely.