Stanford and Arizona State Are Locks to Square Up in the Pac-12 Title Game

Stanford and Arizona State?

Two and a half years ago, you would have laughed if I said this because Arizona State was falling from the national scene and Stanford was a nobody.

Now, when people say that Arizona vs. Stanford will be the Pac-12 championship game matchup, you have to think about this possibility because they are both atop their respective divisions.

Both have stinging defenses and powerful, balanced offenses.

Stanford has the combination of Andrew Luck, the Heisman leader, and Stepfan Taylor, who is a both powerful, bruising runners.

Arizona has Brock Osweiler, who is the pilot of this successful season and Cameron Marshall, another strong runner.

Mix that in with Vontaze Burfict and the Sun Devil defense, probably the best in the Pac-12, against that of Stanford, who hasn't allowed more than 19 points once this year, and you have two good teams.

While Stanford has to fight against Oregon—even though that game is at home—Arizona State looks like a sure lock. They currently reside in first place in the Pac-12 South, owning the tiebreaker with USC because of a 43-22 win.

A couple years ago, it was Oregon stamping their foot in the Rose Bowl and USC all over the BCS. Watching Arizona State beat USC on anyone's turf would be surprising. Now, Utah and Minnesota have almost managed wins over the Trojans at the Coliseum.

Arizona State has UCLA and Washington State on the road and that's it, excluding a battle at home against California as a big game. USC has road tests at Oregon and games at home—where they haven't looked all that good—against Stanford and Washington.

Right now, the Sun Devils look like a lock. If Stanford takes down Oregon, they look like one too.

Washington has surprised people with their 5-1 start, but they have Stanford, Oregon and USC, so I don't think they will find their way to the Rose Bowl. That leaves Stanford and Oregon, because Cal, Oregon State and Washington State aren't competitors at all.

Stanford has that one game against Oregon that looks to decide it all. I don't see Keith Price or Matt Barkley leading a charge that takes down the Cardinal, and I definitely don't see a threat in Cal or Oregon State.

Last year, this would have been a huge battle, but now, it seems a little less insignificant. Oregon hardly lost anyone, but they looked sloppy in a loss to LSU, and their wins over slumping Cal and Arizona weren't all that pretty.

Oregon is still unblemished in conference play, but losing to Cal at halftime, at Autzen Stadium, and almost giving up a 35-3 lead at Arizona isn't that good.

Now, I still think Oregon patches those small errors up in a flash, definitely in time to blow out Colorado and Washington State, and in time to survive a road test in Seattle.

I don't think it will be enough in Stanford, though. Oregon may have a dynamic duo of Kenjon Barner and LaMichael James, but will it be enough to tackle the Cardinal defense, strong all year?

And stopping Andrew Luck? Not a task anyone wants to face. If they somehow manage to slow Luck, Stepfan Taylor is up for a big game. Stanford is a lot better in November 2011 than October 2010, and Oregon hasn't shown that type of quick improvement.

Add in the home crowd, and I don't see how Stanford can't win this game, as well as the Pac-12 championship game.

The Cardinal will play host to the Sun Devils in a huge Friday night clash, determining a berth in the Rose Bowl. While Vontaze Burfict and the Devils are good, they aren't good enough.

Stanford will win the Pac-12 Championship Game 31-21, and take home a second straight BCS berth. Arizona State will win the Valero Alamo Bowl, capping off two successful seasons highlighted by division titles—Pac-12 North and Pac-12 South.

The two will only get harder to beat.