Pac-12 Football Game Picks: Washington and Utah Will Be Closely Watching Cal

The Bears' outcome vs. UCLA on Friday has impact for the Huskies and Utes.

You think Cal has nothing tangible to play for Friday in its season-ending game against UCLA?

Washington and Utah — which along with Oregon — are still chasing a berth in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC, will be watching closely as the Bears tackle the Bruins at Memorial Stadium.

Oregon can land in Las Vegas a week from Friday merely by beating its rival, Oregon State.

The Huskies and Utes need some help, and it involves the Bears.

In a nutshell, Washington will be cheering for Cal to beat the Bruins while the Utes need the Bears to lose.

Here is the full explanation, courtesy of the Pac-12:

Oregon: Needs a win over Oregon State OR a loss by Washington. An Oregon win would make the Ducks the home team while USC would be the home team with an Oregon loss.

Washington: Needs a win over Washington State AND an Oregon State win over Oregon AND EITHER a Cal win over UCLA OR BOTH a UCLA win over Cal AND a Colorado win over Utah.

Utah: Needs a win over Colorado AND an Oregon State win over Oregon AND a Washington win over Washington State to create a 3-way tie at 7-2. Utah would also need a UCLA win over Cal to assist in the tiebreakers. Utah would win the 3-team tiebreaker in Step 4 (strength of conference record). A Cal win over UCLA on Friday would eliminate the Utes.

Cal is coming off a 27-20 victor over Stanford in front of a sellout crowd at the 125th Big Game. Cal quarterback Jack Plummer talks in the video at the top of the story about the impact that fan support had on the Bears' performance.

Our picks:

Week 12 records: Jeff 5-0-1, Jake 2-3-1

Season records: Jeff 52-30-1, Jake 45-37-1

All picks against the spread

Betting line from sisportsbook.com

Friday

-- Arizona State (plus-4) at Arizona, Noon, FS1

Jake: You can never tell was Arizona is going to do, except they’ll score a lot and let the pother team score a lot. Pick: Arizona

Jeff: Arizona has lost five of its past six games, but the exception was a win at UCLA. On the flip side, the Cats lost by 18 points to Cal. Such a conundrum. Pick: Arizona

-- UCLA (minus-9.5) at Cal, 1:30 p.m., FOX

Jake: Cal will have trouble handling Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for 102 yards against Cal last year. We’re betting on a garbage-time touchdown by the Bears. Pick: Cal

Jeff: The “collaborative” Bears were good enough to beat a bedraggled Stanford team but UCLA is a different matter, even one whose biggest goals are gone. The 1-2 punch of DTR and Zach Charbonnet won’t allow Cal to stay this close. Pick: UCLA

Saturday

-- Oregon (minus-3.5) at Oregon State, 12:30 p.m., ABC

Jake: Oregon State has been impressive lately, especially at home, and I’m not sure Bo Nix’s ankle will be 100%. Pick: Oregon

Jeff: These guys don’t like each other and the Beavers have won two of the past times they met in Corvallis. Even so . . . Pick: Oregon

-- Utah (minus-29.5) at Colorado, 1 p.m., Pac-12 Networks

Jake: The Utes are still in the running for a conference title, and they’ll make sure the Buffaloes don’t ruin it. Pick: Utah

Jeff: Not sure the home-field “advantage” means much here. The Buffs have lost their past three games by an average margin of more than 41 points. Pick: Utah

-- Notre Dame (plus-5.5) at USC, 4:30 p.m., NBC

Jake: The Irish have been playing well lately and USC’s defense has been suspect all season. USC will win but not by much. Pick: Notre Dame

Jeff: The Irish have beaten the Trojans four times in a row, but that streak ends here. Too much on the line for USC. Pick: USC

-- Washington (minus-2) at Washington State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Jake: This one could be wild with temperatures near freezing and snow possible Saturday night in Pullman. Michael Penix Jr. will throw a late touchdown pass to win by four. Pick: Washington.

Jeff: The Huskies are rolling and they will remember losing this game a year ago. By a 40-13 margin in Seattle, no less. Pick: Washington

-- BYU (minus-6.5) at Stanford, 8 p.m. FS1

Jake: Two disappointing teams matched up late on a Saturday night. I expect about half of a small crowd to be BYU backers. Pick BYU

Jeff: It’s hard to be impressed by BYU’s 30-point win over Utah Tech last week, but Stanford hasn’t scored more than 20 points in its past six games. Pick: BYU

Cover photo of UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson trying to elude Cal's Trey Paster in 2021 by Jayne Kamin-Oncea

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo