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Man, they sure do play football different down South. It's grittier. Grimier. No one escapes unscathed. It's a grind unlike any other in college football. After three years of the Pac-12's Battle of Northern Domination, the South has risen again. You, of course, knew we were typing about the Pac-12's South Division -- the Southwest -- not that adorable, quaint, scrappy crew in the SEC West, right? It's the wild, wild West in the South Division. It's a gaggle of good teams with little obvious separation and several major showdowns ahead. All we need is Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne to mosey into the saloon to make the picture complete. Or maybe tubercular Doc Holiday will step out of the shadows and murmur, "I'm your huckleberry." "Just about everybody controls their own destiny -- almost," said Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, a noted enthusiast of Westerns. "We probably could have predicted -- we did predict it -- in the preseason because there's so much parity in our league, particularly in the South. Everybody is going to beat up on everybody else and it's going to be a wild race." The six-team South has become a five-team race, with only Colorado out of contention. Four of those teams are ranked, and USC is the equivalent of 27th in the AP Poll. Three teams have just one conference loss, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, and each of them controls its own destiny. They also have yet to play each other, though the Utes visit the Sun Devils on Saturday. USC and UCLA have two conference defeats. Both lost to Utah, but USC beat Arizona and UCLA beat Arizona State. So there's plenty of room for us to end up with a labyrinthine tie-breaking procedure to decide who plays the North champion in the conference title game on Dec. 5. Last year at this time, only Arizona State had just one conference loss, and UCLA and the Sun Devils were the only two ranked South teams. In 2012, no team finished ranked and division champion UCLA finished 9-5. In 2011, first year of Pac-12 play, USC dominated the division but was ineligible for the postseason, so UCLA represented the South in the inaugural Pac-12 title game with a losing record and a lame duck coach in Rick Neuheisel. So the South being the conference's lead story is a new thing. Things could sort themselves out a bit this weekend. No. 18 Utah visits No. 15 Arizona State, with the winner earning what could be an important advantage if the race came down to a tiebreaker. No. 25 UCLA plays host to No. 14 Arizona, and the Bruins probably should view this one as a proverbial "must-win" game. The Trojans visit Washington State, a team that shouldn't be taken lightly, even with a 2-6 record, considering the Cougars won at USC a year ago. Despite all the rankings, it's interesting how many questions these teams have. At Arizona State, how will the QB situation with Taylor Kelly and Mike Bercovici play out? And is the defense truly ready for prime time? Utah also has QB questions with Travis Wilson and Kendal Thompson -- or will the Utes simply lead with their defense and special teams? Can UCLA solve its O-line woes and inconsistent and often sloppy play and live up to its preseason hype? Or might the Trojans, after an "As the World Turns" season, emerge from the carnage? While it's an undoubtedly big Saturday, it's difficult to believe things will be resolved before the last two weekends of the season. Arizona will be at Utah on Nov. 22 and then plays host to rival Arizona State on Nov. 28 in what could be a Territorial Cup for the ages. USC visits UCLA on Nov. 22, and the Bruins conclude their season at home versus Stanford on Nov. 28. USC is at home against Notre Dame on Nov. 29, when it could be celebrating a division title before even playing. No team has an easy path home, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Utah faces the toughest remaining schedule -- No. 8 in the nation -- while Arizona's is the most manageable at No. 25. Further, advanced metrics reveal a mixed predictive bag. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah have a better chance to win the South because they have one fewer loss than USC and UCLA in conference play, but USC and UCLA have a better chance to win their remaining games. USC has the best chance to win the rest of its game, according to evaluative metric FPI, at 13.9 percent. Utah's chances to win out according to FPI are just 0.6 percent. As for the ultimate picture, FPI rates Arizona State as having the best chance to win the division at 34.2 percent. Arizona is next at 21.6 percent, while UCLA is last at 12 percent. Got it? It probably will feel less confusing as we progress through November. Maybe. It shouldn't surprise you in the least that the Pac-12 blog is going to lean on an old standby to placate all the "what ifs" you wide-eyed obsessives shall muster in the short term on Twitter and elsewhere: Lots of football left to be played.
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