The UCLA Bruins may have lost 31-6 to the Utah Utes in a dismal afternoon and evening in Salt Lake City, but somehow in the topsy-turvy world of the Pac-12 South Division the Bruins still remain in control of their own destiny in the race toward the inaugural Pac-12 Football Championship Game.
The Arizona St. Sun Devils went to Pullman and lost 37-27 to the Washington St. Cougars, leaving the door open for UCLA. Keeping in mind that the USC Trojans are ineligible for postseason play, there are three teams still in contention to win the Pac-12 South. Here are the standings:
| Pac-12 South Division Standings | ||||
| Team | Conference | Overall | vs Div | Remaining Games |
| USC* | 5-2 | 8-2 | 3-1 | at Oregon, UCLA |
| UCLA | 4-3 | 5-5 | 1-2 | Colorado, at USC |
| Arizona St. | 4-3 | 6-4 | 3-1 | Arizona, Cal |
| Utah | 3-4 | 6-4 | 1-2 | at WSU, Colorado |
| Colorado | 1-6 | 2-9 | 1-2 | at UCLA, at Utah |
| Arizona | 1-7 | 2-8 | 1-2 | at ASU, Louisiana-Lafayette |
| *USC is ineligible for postseason play | ||||
There can be three possible winners of the Pac-12 South. Here are the scenarios:
UCLA
Will win the division with two wins regardless of what the other teams do. If UCLA loses a game, they will need both ASU and Utah to lose. The Bruins hold the two-way tiebreaker over ASU, but not against Utah.
Arizona State
Need to win twice and have UCLA lose once. If the Sun Devils lose once, they can still win the division if UCLA loses once and the Utes win twice. In that scenario, there will be a three-way tie at 5-4, and the Pac-12 tiebreaking procedure is as follows:
- Head-to-head: All three teams would be 1-1 against the other two, which brings us to the second tiebreaker...
- Record in games played within the division: if ASU's one loss is to Colorado, their division record of 4-1 would be superior to both Utah (3-2) and UCLA (2-3). If ASU's loss is to Colorado, their 3-2 divisional record would be the same as Utah but UCLA would be eliminated and the tiebreaker would become a two-team tiebreaker. ASU beat Utah 35-14 on October 8, so again the division title would belong to ASU.
Utah
Needs to win twice, have ASU lose twice, and UCLA lose once. Utah would win any tiebreaker with UCLA by virtue of Saturday's win.
The winner of the Pac-12 South will play at the winner of the Pac-12 North, almost certainly Oregon, on Friday, December 2.
For for UCLA football news and analysis, be sure to read Bruins Nation.