Kalen DeBoer speaks on importance of playing in final Pac-12 Championship game

In the final season of the Pac-12 as we’ve long known it, Oregon and Washington rematch in a top-five contest for the conference championship and, more importantly, a shot at a College Football Playoff bid.

Washington reached the title game unblemished at 12-0, while Oregon comes in with an 11-1 record having only lost to these same Huskies in Seattle at the buzzer on a missed field goal. That was a very tough pill to swallow but the Ducks rebounded strong, finishing the season with some dominant wins to now enter the neutral site rematch as more than a touchdown favorite over UW.

Regardless of the spread, these are two top-five teams who already produced one of the most thrilling games of the college football season the first time they met.

Ahead of the game, Husky head coach Kalen DeBoer admitted that he’s proud of what his team has accomplished to date, especially in a Pac-12 as strong as 2023’s.

“I mean, I think, even just this season, you know, us doing what we’ve done, where we’ve ran ran the table and won every game — I wasn’t aware until I think even Saturday that, under the Pac-12, we were the only ones to win every every game and and be undefeated. So I’m proud of that, our guys should be proud of that,” DeBoer said.

Of course, no trophies have been won yet and Washington has a chance to not just win the Pac-12 title in their final year as a member but also guarantee their spot in the playoff at 13-0 with a pair of wins over No. 5 Oregon.

“And so, you know, that’s not he goal. The goal is to win a conference championship and continue to move on. So you know, it’s just been a great year of football in the Pac-12,” DeBoer added.

DeBoer is certainly aware of how deep the conference was in 2023. Despite the 12-0 mark, Washington was far from dominant in its nine conference games. As mentioned, the Oregon game went to the wire, but so did several others.

They needed a game-winning kick to defeat five-win Washington State in the Apple Cup at home last weekend — only scored 15 points in a one-possession win over Arizona State — and held on by two at Oregon State; and also beat Utah and Arizona by just a touchdown each.

This team is battle tested and has one more just ahead of them in order to advance to 13-0, securing that Pac-12 title and CFP spot in the process.