Pac-12 picks: Oregon, Utah should have no trouble keeping College Football Playoff hopes alive for another week

The Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson picks Week 12 of the Pac-12 Conference football season.

Stanford at Washington State

WSU by 11 (Sat. 1:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) – Las Vegas/Cheez-It/Sun Bowl play-in game? WSU and Stanford are still in the running for a postseason berth, and a win here would do wonders for their efforts. The pick: Will be in Saturday’s paper.

Arizona State at Oregon State

ASU by 3 (4:30, FS1) – Will Arizona State’s freshman quarterback return to the field after suffering an unspecified injury? Until that information is known, it’s awfully hard to pick the Sun Devils here. The pick: OSU 38, ASU 31.

UCLA at Utah

Utah by 21 (5, Fox 28) – Though it would be fitting for this Bruins team to casually bust the Pac-12’s playoff hopes – or at least 50 percent of them – I’m afraid the Vegas oddsmakers have this one right. The pick: Utah 41, UCLA 10.

Arizona at Oregon

Oregon by 27 (7:30, ESPN) – The Ducks, motivated to keep their CFP hopes alive, are coming off a bye week. The Wildcats, with the worst defense in the conference, have lost their last four and continue to deal with a quandary at quarterback. Not to mention, they conceded 56 points to Oregon State two weeks ago. The pick: Oregon 63, Arizona 17.

USC at California

USC by 6 1/2 (8, FS1) – Chase Garbers has been cleared for Cal, but the Golden Bears haven’t announced whether it’ll be him or Devon Modster starting at quarterback Saturday. If Cal wins, it could be an awfully long plane ride home for Clay Helton – and possibly his last wearing a USC polo. But given the Golden Bears’ uncertainty behind center, and Kedon Slovis’ play last weekend, I’ll take the visitors. The pick: USC 24, Cal 21.

Theo Lawson’s picks

Last week: 2-2 straight up, 2-2 against the spread

Overall: 48-21 straight up; 26-41 against the spread