With four matchups against Power Five opponents and two showdowns against ranked teams, Saturday stands as the most important day of the season for the Pac-12.
How should we define success?
One of the conference鈥檚 most passionate and astute observers believes a split would be a victory.
鈥淎 successful weekend is 2-2,鈥 said Brock Huard, the Fox color analyst and former Washington quarterback.
Huard called the UCLA-LSU game from the Rose Bowl and will be in Denver this weekend when Colorado faces No. 5 Texas A&M.
He knows the Pac-12 rosters, has scouted the opponents and is keenly aware of the national media narrative dogging the conference.
And he knows there is only one way to change that narrative: Win.
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鈥淩ealistic is probably 1-3, and 0-4 would be a further disaster,鈥 Huard added, alluding to the poor opening weekend by the North division. 鈥淚n order, the (likelihood) is probably, 1-3, then 0-4, then 2-2.
鈥淏ut if the one win is Oregon, then it鈥檚 like LSU and UCLA. As bad as the North was, UCLA saved face for the conference and looked like a top-15 team.
鈥淚f Oregon wins at Ohio State, it reverberates. If you said to (commissioner George Kliavkoff) that Oregon would win and the other three would lose, he鈥檇 probably be OK with that. It鈥檚 what happens at the top that matters, and the conference would have big wins by Oregon and UCLA.鈥
The sport is increasingly defined by participation in the College Football Playoff, which favors top-heavy leagues at the expense of those with quality depth.
The Pac-12 is as deep, if not deeper than the ACC and Big 12. But its reputation suffers without equivalents to Clemson and Oklahoma 鈥 the CFP regulars who dominate their conferences.
鈥淚鈥檝e talked to (Pac-12) presidents, athletic directors and Kliavkoff extensively about the future and brand of the Pac-12,鈥 said Heather Dinich, a senior writer for ESPN who covers the CFP as her beat. 鈥淲hile the TV contracts and kickoff times and other factors are all extremely important, there鈥檚 also a candid realization that they need somebody 鈥 anybody 鈥 to contend for the playoff.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing how that one variable can change perception from coast to coast.鈥
That variable played out in the national narrative last week when the ACC鈥檚 three ranked teams 鈥 Clemson, North Carolina and Miami 鈥 lost their season openers.
鈥淓veryone is already hammering the ACC,鈥 Dinich said, 鈥渂ecause without Clemson, the rest is exposed.鈥
The Pac-12 also took a beating in Week 1 鈥 but not at the top: Four ranked teams survived, and UCLA toppled the 2019 national champions.
Week 2 brings additional opportunities to collect marquee wins and widen the path to the playoff. In addition to the Oregon-Ohio State and Colorado-Texas A&M duels, Washington heads to Michigan and Cal visits TCU.
Put another way:
One opponent from the SEC, one from the Big 12 and two from the Big Ten.
One game at a neutral site, three on the road and all four on broadcast television.
Also: Zero second chances.
These are the Pac-12鈥檚 last major intersection games of the season, save for USC and Stanford playing their annual home-and-home series against Notre Dame.
The perception that emerges Saturday night is unlikely to change 鈥 for better or worse.
鈥淣one will be bigger than what鈥檚 in front of Oregon,鈥欌 Dinich said.
鈥淚f they can somehow find a way to beat Ohio State on the road, the Pac-12 just might have itself a contender. I can鈥檛 even imagine what would happen if Colorado beat Texas A&M.
鈥淯ntil proven otherwise, though, the Ducks are the league鈥檚 best hope at changing the narrative.鈥
Huard doesn鈥檛 expect any 鈥渂loodbaths,鈥 even though the Pac-12 is an underdog in all four and a double-digit underdog in all but one (Washington).
Instead, he used the term 鈥渃ompetitive鈥 to describe the matchups 鈥 including the daunting task facing his alma mater.
鈥淭he Huskies will be more competitive than what you might think, despite how they looked in that loss to Montana,鈥 he said.
But to bolster its reputation, the Pac-12 might need two teams to be more than competitive.
