Fiesta Bowl 2018: Date, Game Time, TV Schedule and Matchup Prediction
Nothing has gone the way the Pac-12 wanted it to this season.
The league's pair of superstar quarterbacks will be nowhere near the stage in New York when the Heisman Trophy gets handed out on December 9, and there won't be a representative from the conference in the College Football Playoff.
To add to the Pac-12's list of woes from the 2017-18 season, the conference champion won't even get a chance to play in the Rose Bowl since that game is a national semifinal this season.
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The consolation for the winner of the Pac-12 Championship will be the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on December 30.
The opponent for USC or Stanford will be determined by a few factors, but here's our best guess at who will be participating in the game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Fiesta Bowl Information
Date: Saturday, December 30
Game Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Matchup Projection
Stanford vs. Wisconsin
The Pac-12 Championship could go either way, but Stanford gets the edge over USC for a variety of reasons.
Going into Levi's Stadium off a bye may seem like a plus for USC, but Power Five teams who have had a bye before the conference title game are 2-7, per AP's Dan Greenspan:
In addition to that statistic going against the Trojans, they have one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in the nation in Sam Darnold. The 20-year-old is tied for the eighth-most interceptions in the country with 12.
Stanford is 3-0 in the Pac-12 Championship, and it has improved since its loss on September 9 to USC that started a two-game losing streak in which the Cardinal also fell to San Diego State.
Since September 23, the Cardinal are 8-1 with their only defeat coming at the hands of Washington State. USC is 7-2 in the same span with road losses to Washington State and Notre Dame.
With Friday's Pac-12 Championship essentially being a home game for Stanford, USC's mettle on the road will be tested.
The victorious team in the Pac-12 won't have to worry about its ranking, either, as Stanford would move into the top 10 due to the attrition in the top eight from other championship games.
One of those other title tilts, the Big Ten Championship, produces the second team in the projected matchup.
The Wisconsin Badgers have been in the spotlight for most of the season due to their unbeaten run to Indianapolis, Indiana, but that will end against the red-hot Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night.
The location of the Fiesta Bowl isn't ideal for the Badgers, but when you look at the potential losers in Week 14 and where they might end up in the New Year's Six, Arizona makes the most sense for the Badgers.
Wisconsin has never appeared in a Fiesta Bowl but has faced Stanford twice in postseason play, with the latest occurrence coming at the 2013 Rose Bowl.
Stanford has appeared in the Fiesta Bowl once in 2012, when it suffered a 41-38 overtime defeat to Oklahoma State.
While it is unfortunate neither of these teams, especially the Pac-12 champion, won't be able to end their seasons in the traditional fashion at the Rose Bowl, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten matchup alive, especially since the other three New Year's Six bowls are located in the south and will occupy teams from the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and the best Group of Five team.
A matchup between Stanford and Wisconsin would put two of the nation's top running backs on display in the same location.
Stanford's Bryce Love is second in the nation with 1,848 rushing yards, while Wisconsin freshman Jonathan Taylor sits third on that list with 1,806 yards on the ground. Only San Diego State's Rashaad Penny has more yards than both of them at 2,027.
Love would face the toughest matchup of the two star backs, as Wisconsin leads the nation in rushing defense. The Badgers are the only team in FBS to concede fewer than 1,000 rushing yards.
Regardless of which player shines the brightest in this projected Fiesta Bowl showdown, it would be an intriguing matchup for both fanbases, and it could present a running back battle for the ages.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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