The college football game of the year in the Pac-12 Conference was a high-scoring affair, and in the end the Oregon Ducks proved too much for the Stanford Cardinal to handle, defeating Stanford 53-30 Saturday night in Palo Alto. The first loss of the season for Stanford knocked them out of the running for the BCS Championship Game, but put the Ducks in the driver's seat for both the Pac-12 title game and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Oregon is now 7-0 in conference, with home games remaining against the USC Trojans and Oregon St. Beavers. Even if they lose one of those games, they hold the tiebreaker over Stanford for the Pac-12 North Division, which means the Ducks are essentially locks to host the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday, December 2.
The Ducks have an outside shot at the BCS title game, but they might utter chaos to help them out. Oregon was ranked seventh in the BCS standings last week, and will move up to at least fifth this week, possibly even fourth if they can pass the Oklahoma Sooners. But Oregon would appear to need losses by the Oklahoma St. Cowboys and Alabama Crimson Tide, and/or a loss by Oklahoma or two losses by the LSU Tigers.
The bottom line is that a lot of things need to happen to elevate the Ducks into the top two. So it's looking like Oregon is the favorite to represent the Pac-12 in the 2012 Rose Bowl.
The 2012 Rose Bowl Game will be played on Monday, January 2, 2012 in Pasadena. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. PDT. The game will be televised by ESPN, with Brent Musberger, Kirk Hirbstreit, and Lisa Salters on the call. Stay tuned for more updates as the game approaches.