Desmond Howard believes the Pac-12 Champion is 'hands down' in the College Football Playoff

The Pac-12 has had a resounding final year as a conference in 2023. Now, ahead of the final Pac-12 Championship, Desmond Howard believes there’s no doubt that the winner will secure a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Howard made that point during an appearance on ‘Get Up’ on Friday. Considering how great their league has been this year, he doesn’t see any reason why Washington, who’d be 13-0, or Oregon, who’d be 12-1, wouldn’t be in the playoff.

“Absolutely (the winner should be in),” said Howard.

“Paul (Finebaum) talks about the SEC. The SEC as a conference this year has been the Pac-12, meaning they’ve been the most competitive conference from top to bottom this whole college football season,” Howard said. “So, because they’re coming from the most competitive conference? I believe they should be in the College Football Playoff – hands down.”

Washington, who currently sits at No. 3, is just one win away from continuing their undefeated season into the playoff. To be fair, their last two months of the season haven’t been as dominant as their start was. Even so, 12-0 is 12-0 with wins over the likes of Arizona, Utah, and Oregon State. Most importantly, though, they have the win over Oregon in their first meeting in Seattle back in mid-October.

That victory over the Ducks put them in the top-five and they’ve only moved up since then. A second win over their rival in the conference championship would only guarantee them a spot as they’d lock themselves into the field, regardless of where.

Meanwhile, on the other sideline, Oregon has done all they can to put themselves in this position. They do have the sole loss to Washington, albeit a close three-point defeat on the road. Since then, though, they’ve been hammering opponents, including Utah and Oregon State. Over their final six, they’ve posted an average margin of victory of 26 points per game.

Now, as they’ve climbed up to No. 5, a win in the Pac-12 Championship would avenge their only loss. That would almost certainly give them the berth instead.

Long story short, there’s almost no playoff scenario that doesn’t include one of Washington or Oregon. The Pac-12 has earned that with the season they’ve had as a whole and, in the end, these are the two teams left standing. All that’s left to decide now is which of them gets in this weekend – something that the Huskies and Ducks will settle themselves tonight in Las Vegas.