Washington football wins Pac-12 North with Oregon game canceled

The Pac-12 North will be decided off the field with Oregon and Washington called off.

Washington football does not have to beat Oregon football to win the Pac-12 North this season.

At 3-1 on the year, the Washington Huskies are slated to play the division rival Oregon Ducks for the Pac-12 North crown. Oregon is 3-2 and would have a shot to win the division if they upend the Huskies at home on Saturday. However, Washington has paused team activities due to COVID-19. If this game is canceled, it means Washington will win one of the emptiest division titles ever.

Washington winning the Pac-12 North and not having to play Oregon is wrong

When the Pac-12 initially canceled its season, it had to deal with the aftermath of that decision-making process. The single biggest issue that has plagued the Big Ten, the MAC, the Mountain West and the Pac-12 after initially canceling is the relative inability to postpone and re-schedule games. A lack of foresight of built-in scheduling flexibility has led us to this ridiculous conclusion.

While we would typically have no issues with crowning Oregon or Washington division champions, as these are the two best teams in the Pac-12 North today, for this to potentially happen without them facing each other is utter blasphemy. If Washington wanted to duck Oregon (pun intended), the Dawgs would be rewarded in doing so with a division title in Jimmy Lake’s first year on the job.

Ultimately, the Pac-12 has next to no shot of getting a team into the College Football Playoff. The only two undefeated teams left are the Colorado Buffaloes and the USC Trojans in the Pac-12 South, who had their head-to-head game canceled earlier this season. So whoever wins the Pac-12 this year will get to be easily the worst team playing in a New Year’s Six bowl. Fantastic.

Whoever wins the Pac-12 North will not be favored over the Pac-12 South, if you can believe that.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.