It wasn’t the regular season ending Mario Cristobal and his Ducks had envisioned.
But, then again, it is 2020 and all conventional thinking and practices have gone out the window during this topsy turvy shortened football season.
Not having the opportunity to face Washington (3-1) in their final regular-season game on Saturday because of positive Covid-19 cases within the Husky program, the Ducks (3-2) become the No. 2 seed (North Division) in the final conference standings and will face No. 21 Colorado in Los Angeles next Saturday.
Colorado (3-1), also the No. 2 seed, (South Division) lost to Utah 38-21 over the weekend and fell into the second slot to face the Ducks.
In the predetermined set up of Championship Weekend, each seed, (1 -6), will face the same seed in the opposite division. The team with the best record, and or winning percentage, is determined to be the home team.
Why are the Ducks and Buffaloes heading to Los Angeles to play in the LA Coliseum?
While no one wants to play a football game in Boulder, in late December, the substantive reason is to give the conference a smart backup plan just in case either Washington or USC aren’t able to field a team due to Covid-19 testing protocols.
It’s still uncertain whether or not the Huskies will be able to play the conference championship on Friday against the Trojans because team activities around the football program have been suspended since last Wednesday.
The suspension lasted through the weekend which forced the Oregon – Washington game to be canceled.
If the game had been played, the winner would’ve been the outright winner of the Pac-12 North and received the automatic bid into the championship game.
To the ire of the Ducks, the game was canceled and deemed a ‘no contest’ which gave the North Division crown to the Huskies.
With quarantine procedures still in place, there’s still no word as of Sunday if the Huskies will be able to fill their 53-man roster by next Thursday.
If they’re unable to do so, then Oregon would slide into the championship game on Friday evening to take on the Trojans which is scheduled to kickoff at 5:00 pm PST and air on Fox.
It’s definitely not the ending Cristobal and his staff drew up when word of this format was announced. Oregon had the opportunity to play for a second consecutive Pac-12 Championship, however that scenario disappeared late last week.
Could things change? It’s possible.
A lot can happen between now and next weekend.