Worried about tiebreakers? Wondering what you should be rooting for in the next few weeks? I’ve done my best to spell out every possible outcome; including plenty of extremely complicated ones involving a highly improbable Washington State upset over Oregon State.

Short Answer:

Oregon and Arizona both control their own destiny, and if they win out, they are in.

Oregon State only needs a single Arizona loss to get in if they beat Oregon.

Stanford needs a perfect storm, but it isn’t impossible. They need a win over Cal, Arizona to beat Oregon, Oregon to beat Oregon State, and Arizona to lose a game (to ASU or USC).

Long Answer:

For OREGON to win the Pac-10 Title:

With win over Arizona, win over Oregon State…

- (Pac-10 clinched)

With win over Arizona, loss to Oregon State…

- (Oregon State loss to Washington State) AND (Stanford loss to Cal)

With loss to Arizona, win over Oregon State…

- (Arizona loss to ASU OR USC) AND (Stanford loss to Cal)

With loss to Arizona, loss to Oregon State…

- (Eliminated)

For STANFORD to win the Pac-10 Title:

With win over Cal…

- (Oregon loss to Arizona) AND (Arizona loss to ASU OR USC) AND (Oregon State loss to Washington State OR Oregon)

*In this scenario, Stanford wins outright or ends up in a tie (7-2) with Oregon, and they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

OR

- (Arizona loss to Oregon) AND (Oregon State loss to Washington State) AND (Oregon loss to Oregon State)

*In this scenario, Stanford ends up in a tie (7-2) with Oregon, and they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

With loss to Cal…

- (Eliminated)

For OREGON STATE to win the Pac-10 Title:

With win over Washington State, win over Oregon…

- (Arizona loss to Oregon OR ASU OR USC)

*In this scenario, Oregon State wins outright or ends up in a tie (7-2) with Oregon and/or Stanford, and they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both.

With loss to Washington State, win over Oregon…

- (Oregon loss to Arizona) AND (Stanford loss to Cal) AND (Arizona loss to ASU AND USC)

*In this scenario, Oregon State ends up in a tie (6-3) with Oregon, Stanford, and potentially Cal and USC. If it is a four-way tie with Oregon, Stanford, and Cal, Oregon State holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over all three. If it is a five-way tie, Oregon State holds the best record among the group of five. If it is a four-way tie among Oregon, Stanford, and USC, USC and Oregon are eliminated for having two losses in the group of four, and Oregon State holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Stanford.

With win over Washington State, loss to Oregon…

- (Eliminated)

With loss to Washington State, loss to Oregon…

- (Eliminated)

For ARIZONA to win the Pac-10 Title:

With win over Oregon, win over Arizona State, win over USC…

- (Pac-10 clinched)

With loss to Arizona State, win over Oregon, win over USC…

- (Oregon loss to Oregon State) AND (Oregon State loss to Washington State) AND (Stanford loss to Cal)

*In this scenario, Arizona ends in a tie (6-3) with Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, and potentially Cal. If it is a four-way tie with Oregon, Stanford, and Oregon State, Arizona holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over all three. If it is a five-way tie, Arizona and Oregon State have the best records among the group at 3-1, and Arizona holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Oregon State.

With loss to USC, win over Arizona State, win over Oregon…

- (Oregon loss to Oregon State) AND (Oregon State loss to Washington State) AND (Stanford loss to Cal)

*Same as above.

With loss to Oregon, win over Arizona State, win over USC…

- (Eliminated)

With two or three losses…

- (Eliminated)

That about sums it up. Easy enough, right?