The Pac-12 may be eliminated from the College Football Playoff party, but there's still plenty on the line when USC (8-4) and Stanford (10-2) meet on Dec. 5 to determine the conference champion.For Stanford, it's the opportunity to claim dominance over the conference. A win in this game would give the Cardinal three of the last four conference championships with a Pac-12 title game appearance in all but one of David Shaw's five seasons as head coach.For USC, this is an opportunity to officially announce the return of the Trojans as the top team in the conference. The Men of Troy haven't won a conference title since 2008along stretch for a program with the most conference championships with 21 (UCLA is second with 17).Then, of course, there's the matter of the Rose Bowlyou know, one of college football's most historic bowl games and the top destination for any Pac-12 team that isn't playing for national title.The winner gets to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, while the other team most likely goes to the Foster Farms Bowl. So there's that.Here's a look at how these two teams match up for this championship rematch.This Will Be a Shootout...AgainThe first time these two schools met this season, they gave the scoreboard operator arthritis. They combined for 72 points, 46 first downs and 901 total yards. This time, it could be even more electric.The defensive woes for both teams portended struggles for the rest of the season. Those struggles have come to fruition. Stanford is 60th in the country in yards allowed per play (5.48), while USC is even worse at No. 79 (5.69).The offenseson the other handare still dynamic.USC is 20th in offensive yards per play (6.55), while Stanford is 22nd in that metric (6.48).What that spells is a game that's going to see plenty of points as neither defense is adept at lining it up and getting stops. Both defenses will need some turnovers to put in a good performance.USC Will Run for More than 155 Yards This TimeWhen the Trojans lost 41-31 to the Cardinal the first time around, they ran the ball 28 times for 155 yards. That's not bad, but it wasn't enough to control the game.In their most recent game against UCLA, they ran the ball 59 times for 235 yards. Now that's inflicting some game control on the opposition.Conversely, the Stanford run defense appears to be showing some cracks as the season progresses. In Stanford's loss to Oregon two weeks ago, it allowed 231 rushing yards on 36 carries.As Notre Dame Football noted, the Irish only needed three quarters to best that number. They finished with 299 on 35 carries.It would be shocking if the Trojans didn't come out and try to utilize Ronald Jones and Justin Davis to establish the run game early and often.Stanford Will Win a Close OneEven though it shows up as a 10-point win on the schedule, it isn't as though Stanford dominated the first game between these two from start to finish. The Cardinal only took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, before a 46-yard field goal with a little under seven minutes left gave us the 41-31 final score.After that game, Shaw attributed his team's big-game experience for the win."Our guys are used to playing in big games," Shaw said, according to ESPN.com. "We need to act like it."Fast-forward through eight more wins and a heart-breaking loss to Oregon, and Shaw is still preaching a message of belief to his team.Our big thing that we talked about earlier today was belief, Shaw said, according to Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group. Belief in the work we put in, belief in our preparation, belief in our strugglesbelief that our struggles helped us to be a better team."In this big game, Stanford has two things going for it. First, it has the best player in the game. Christian McCaffrey reached rarefied company against Notre Dame, per ESPN Stats & Info:Second, the Cardinal have been in this spot more recently than USC as a program. Shaw has done a tremendous job of carrying the momentum that Jim Harbaugh created to the next level.With the game on the line in a shootout, Stanford is the more trustworthy team. The belief that Shaw has instilled in his team was on full display against Notre Dame and will carry through right into the championship game.Prediction: Stanford 45, USC 38Statistics are courtesy ofcfbstats.com.
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