Pac-12 Football Predictions: Week 9

Heading into the second half of the Pac-12 slate, the matchups are just getting bigger and bigger.

UCLA football (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12) is somehow still keeping its head above water in the race for the Pac-12 South despite losses to Arizona State and Oregon this month. Up next is Utah, which started conference play 3-0, but lost to Oregon State last weekend, making Saturday's matchup between the Bruins and Utes a possible deciding one for the division title.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Arizona State will try and hold onto its lead in the South, hosting a Washington State team in its second week under an interim coach. Oregon will try to extend its lead in the North going up against bottomfeeder Colorado, while the only other truly meaningful matchup will be Oregon State going to Cal.

The conference is as wide open as it's ever been, and there are any number of teams who could find themselves in the championship game come year's end.

Here are All Bruins' picks for each of the contests including a Pac-12 team in Week 9:

Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) vs. Washington State (4-4, 3-2)

Saturday, 12 p.m. PT
Tempe, Arizona
Line: Arizona State, -15*

The Cougars are a team that really doesn't make a ton of sense this year. Talent-wise, they're fine, but are still probably in the bottom half of the Pac-12. After losing to Utah State in its opener and finishing September 1-3 with a blowout loss at home to USC in the Trojans' first game without Clay Helton, Washington State turned things around in a turbulent October. They beat Cal, Oregon State and Stanford, and after firing Nick Rolovich for not taking the COVID-19 vaccines, they only lost by two points to No. 25 BYU. This is a team that can compete and put up a fight no matter the weird, wild circumstances, even if it doesn't make sense on paper. Arizona State is the frontrunner in the South, and they can really only afford one loss the rest of the way if they want to be playing for the conference championship. This is one of those games they could drop, but quarterback Jayden Daniels is probably playing too well to let his team get upset right now. Daniels has a 159.9 passer rating and eight total touchdowns to zero picks since the start of Pac-12 play, and he should have his way with the Cougars defense enough to where the Sun Devils will squeeze out the win.

Straight Up: Arizona State
Against the Spread: Washington State

No. 7 Oregon (6-1, 3-1) vs. Colorado (2-5, 1-2)

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. PT
Eugene, Oregon
Line: Oregon, -24*

As weird as it may seem, the Ducks are technically still in contention for a College Football Playoff bid. Their last two wins have been decided by a total of 10 points, and they aren't particularly dominant, but make no mistake – Oregon will beat Colorado this weekend. The Buffaloes' offense is historically bad and their only FBS win came against winless Arizona. Still, the way in which the Ducks have been winning their games suggests they won't be able to cover this pretty large spread against a Power Five team, even a bad one. Oregon has played six games against FBS teams and all but one contest has been decided by seven points or fewer. The only one that wasn't was against that imperfect Arizona team, a team that even Colorado beat, and it was a 22-point win in Eugene. So going against a slightly less horrible team, still at home, expect the Ducks to win and the Buffaloes to cover.

Straight Up: Oregon
Against the Spread: Colorado

USC (3-4, 2-3) vs. Arizona (0-7, 0-4)

Saturday, 4 p.m. PT
Los Angeles, California
Line: Washington, -20.5*

If the Wildcats pull this one off, the Trojans may have to fire their second head coach this season. Last week provided the classic stoppable force vs. moveable object dilemma when Arizona played Washington in a Friday night stinker, and the Wildcats actually almost won, leading for most of the game until midway through the final quarter. They've had their chances to win, and who knows, maybe going up against a talented but bipolar USC team is all they need, but Arizona has gone from bad to worse since quarterback Jordan McCloud got hurt against UCLA. While the Trojans have been on the losing end of a few blowouts this year, they are not at risk of being in that spot against the Wildcats this weekend. USC has won by 23 or more points in all of its wins, so safely assuming they're going to beat Arizona, recent history would be able to suggest the Trojans can cover as well.

Straight Up: USC
Against the Spread: USC

Cal (2-5, 1-3) vs. Oregon State (5-2, 3-1)

Saturday, 4 p.m. PT
Berkeley, California
Line: Oregon State, -1.5*

The line in this game does not make a ton of sense. Oregon State is no powerhouse, but its offense is humming and its only loss in conference play came against a pretty talented Washington State team that was hot at the time. Other than that hiccup, the Beavers been really solid against Pac-12 opponents, averaging 37.5 points per game since their Week 1 loss to Purdue. Meanwhile, Cal is averaging 18.3 points per game since the start of conference play and has yet to break 26 points, only reaching that mark in its lone FBS win against dreadful Colorado. The Golden Bears don't have much of a homefield advantage at California Memorial Stadium either – they've been .500 there for each of the last three seasons and their 57% of capacity average reported attendance is worst in the Pac-12. Take Oregon State to win this one, and stop sleeping on the Beavers.

Straight Up: Oregon State
Against the Spread: Oregon State

Utah (4-3, 3-1) vs. UCLA (5-3, 3-2)

Saturday, 7 p.m. PT
Salt Lake City, Utah
Line: Utah, 6.5*

Looking into the past can sometimes be deceiving in college football, with rosters and staffs changing so drastically from year to year. It's hard to ignore the recent history between the Bruins and Utes, however, considering Utah has won four in a row and the last three have ended with an average score of 46-10 in their favor. This UCLA team is better than any of the ones that played Utah from 2017 to 2019, so don't expect a blowout of that proportion. Still, Kyle Whittingham seems to have Chip Kelly's number, and he seems especially fond of playing Jerry Azzinaro's defenses. The Utes and Bruins both stumbled last week against Oregon teams, so whatever momentum they lost there, they both have a chance to regain this time around. UCLA just doesn't have a good track record going up to Salt Lake City with the division on the line, and that's what's at stake here. Taking into account quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson's injury and possible absence, it's hard to side with the Bruins here in any capacity.

Straight Up: Utah
Against the Spread: Utah

Stanford (3-4, 2-3) vs. Washington (3-4, 2-2)

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. PT
Stanford, California
Line: Stanford, -2.5*

Don't let the records deceive you – the Cardinal are the better team heading into this matchup. Neither team is particularly rolling right now though, with both Washington and Stanford having lost two of their last three. This is more than likely going to be the closest matchup of the weekend, but probably not the most entertaining. The Huskies play things close no matter what, with their Pac-12 games being decided by seven, three, seven and five points so far. The Cardinal are a bit more sporadic, losing by two or three scores to UCLA and Arizona State but going down to the wire against Washington State and Oregon. Tanner McKee is coming off his best game of the year, and Dylan Morris just has not proven himself outside of that fourth quarter against Cal, so Stanford will probably win the quarterback battle. That should give Stanford the slight edge, but Washington should keep the deficit razor thin, per usual.

Straight Up: Stanford
Against the Spread: Washington

*Odds via SI Sportsbook

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated