The lead-in to the 2022 Pac-12 season was full of controversy. UCLA and USC will soon be leaving the conference. Washington and Oregon aren't quite sure where their football futures stand. And of course, there's Utah, considered by many to be the only conference school with a real chance of appearing in the coveted College Football Playoff this coming winter.
The first five weeks of this campaign have been rough for Pac-12 supporters. Utah dropped its opening game to Florida in Gainesville back on Sept. 3, and in the same weekend, Oregon was demolished by reigning national champion Georgia. Since then, the Pac-12 has stabilized, and it still has outside hope of representation in the CFP. But, what's the main reason why the Pac-12 keeps struggling to punch a ticket to the big dance?
"I think we cannibalize each other," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham explained to The DA Show on Wednesday. "The same thing may happen this year. A lot of good teams in this league are capable of beating anybody else in the league on any given Saturday. So it's tough to run the gauntlet here and you must do that if you want access to the CFP."
With powerhouses Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State as top CFP candidates, reaching the tournament will be even more challenging for Pac-12 schools if Clemson sustains its return to championship-caliber form. Whittingham does believe, though, that the Pac-12 may have more potential winners than most conferences.
"There's three or four teams in the middle of the league that've elevated their play, and there's half a dozen teams capable of winning this conference," the Utes coach said.
Utah (4-1), which currently ranks 11th in the AP Top-25 poll, will visit Pac-12 foe No. 18 UCLA (5-0) on Saturday afternoon, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 ET. According to ESPN's Playoff Predictor, the Utes have a 71-percent chance to reach the CFP if they win out and capture the Pac-12 title. The entire football conversation with Whittingham can be accessed in the audio player above.