Oregon Is Pac-12's Best Playoff Team but Wild South Division Could Play Spoiler

The single most exciting element of this 2014 college football season is that no team is head and shoulders above the rest. If anything, this is the perfect year to implement a four-team playoff. 

To be clear, there are a lot of excellent teams. Florida State, Mississippi State, Auburn, TCU, Michigan State—the list of undefeated and one-loss teams realistically vying for a playoff spot in November is eclectic. 

Without officially ruling any team out, the Pac-12's best chance to send a team to the playoff would appear to be 8-1 Oregon. The Ducks have a key nonconference win against Michigan State and the inside track out of the North division to the Pac-12 Championship Game. 

That happened Saturday when Oregon stopped a two-game slide against Stanford, statistically one of the best defenses in the country, in a 45-16 win. The score snapped a 31-game streak in which the Cardinal did not allow more than 30 points a game.

Stanford may be average at 5-4, but the dismantling by the Ducks is more impressive than they might get credit for. If anything, it shows Oregon is playing its best football right now. 

If Oregon makes its way to the Pac-12 title, the question isn't whether a South division team can pull the upset. That was answered in early October when Arizona traveled to Autzen Stadium and came away with a 31-24 win. 

Rather, the more pertinent question is whether any team from the Pac-12 South can upend Oregon again given the way the Ducks are cruising. 

Team	Record	Conference Record
Arizona State	7-1	5-1
USC	6-3	5-2
UCLA	7-2	4-2
Arizona	6-2	3-2
Utah	6-2	3-2
Colorado	2-7	0-6

As far as the regular season goes, Utah will have an opportunity to do just that next Saturday, Nov. 8, at home. The Utes are coming off of a 19-16 overtime loss to Arizona State, so their playoff hopes are basically over. (A 28-27 loss to Washington State in September is a killer.)

But that doesn't mean Utah can't play the role of spoiler and hand Oregon its second loss of the season. Whether that actually happens, though, remains to be seen. Similar to Stanford, Utah plays solid defense (21.3 points per game allowed, 3.19 yards per rush allowed) and is so-so on offense. 

Assuming Utah doesn't gash Oregon's pass defense—the Utes rank last in the Pac-12 in passing offense—Oregon is probably in the clear if it jumps out to a big lead. 

The Utes are part of a revolving door in the Pac-12 South. Arizona State stands alone atop the division—for now—with a 5-1 conference record. Four other teams—USC, UCLA, Arizona and the Utes—all have two conferences losses. Trying to dissect tie-breakers and possible outcomes is headache-inducing. 

"We're in the driver's seat and that's where we want to be," Sun Devils quarterback Taylor Kelly said, via The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com).

Does that make the Pac-12 South deep or average? That's a matter of perception, but the fact is four of those teams were ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 25 heading into Week 10. For what it's worth, UCLA has the nation's 11th-toughest schedule, per Jeff Sagarin's ratings. 

If nothing else, the South division is exciting and embodies the chaos of the '14 season. 

Are any of those teams legitimate playoff contenders? Arizona State is the most likely choice if it wins out, as Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press points out. At that point, it would have wins over Notre Dame, Oregon, Utah and Arizona. 

However, the Sun Devils' lone loss is a 62-27 rout at the hands of UCLA. Again, all teams this season have blemishes, even the undefeated ones. But 62-27 is a difficult score to overcome regardless. What's happening around the rest of the college football landscape could be a huge factor. 

Clearly, there's a lot at play and just as much still to be decided. The way the Pac-12 South has gone, the title game could feature anyone except Colorado. 

And the way the season has gone, no team is immune to the upset. Oregon of all teams should know that. The Pac-12 has two teams with a playoff shot. In a moment's notice, though, it could have none. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.