The UCLA Bruins will represent the Pac-12 South Division in the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Football Game. The Bruins clinched their spot in next Friday's championship game with the Colorado Buffaloes' 17-14 win over the Utah Utes on Friday afternoon in Salt Lake City.
Utah placekicker Coleman Petersen won the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors last week by converting three field goals against the Washington St. Cougars. But on Friday, he missed all three attempts against Colorado, including a 26-yarder with 14:15 remaining in the game and a 48-yarder with 29 seconds left. Both field goals would have tied the game.
The win for Colorado snapped a 23-game road losing streak, and left the Utes with a 4-5 conference record.
The worst case scenario now for the Bruins is to finish at 5-4 in the conference, tied with the Arizona St. Sun Devils (assuming both a UCLA loss to the USC Trojans on Saturday, and an ASU win over the California Golden Bears on Friday night). UCLA owns the tiebreaker with ASU thanks to a 29-28 victory over the Sun Devils on November 5.
The inaugural Pac-12 Championship Football Game will be played on Friday, December 2 at 5 p.m. PT on Fox. For more UCLA football news and information, be sure to read Bruins Nation.