Joel Klatt likes Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday.

“Oregon is favored by 9.5 over an undefeated team that already beat them this season. That is wild,” Klatt said on his weekly podcast. “I think it speaks volumes to what these teams have done since that game in October.”

Washington beat the Ducks in Seattle back on Oct. 14. Since, UW has gone on to capture a perfect 12-0 regular season. With the conference as we know it coming to an end after the year, the Huskies will go down as the only team in the Pac-12 era (since 2011) to go 12-0 in the conference.

But the march to 12-0 seems to have been a strenuous one. The Huskies won their last two games by two points and three points. They haven’t won a game by more than 10 points since Week 4. And Michael Penix Jr. hasn’t been his usual dazzling self in recent weeks.

“Penix hasn’t quite been the same since that win against Oregon. And, frankly, Washington hasn’t quite been the same,” Klatt said. “In fact, so many of these games since that win have been close ones — one-score — against teams that they shouldn’t be in one-score games with.”

Oregon, meanwhile, is rolling into the title fight. Since the loss, only USC has come closer than 14 points on the scoreboard.

“We all believe, almost to a man, that Oregon is one of the best teams in the country,” Klatt said. “They’re really deep. They’re athletic up front. They’ve got that requisite size and physicality in the middle of their defense that you have to have in order to win at the top level. And then offensively, this is one of the best offenses in the country.”

Klatt believes this is a play-in game for the College Football Playoff. He called it a quarterfinal game. Either team, with a win, makes it into the final four.

And Klatt is taking the Ducks.

“I like Oregon in this game,” Klatt said. He pointed to UW’s pass defense as a weakness and said Oregon’s strengths match up nicely against Washington’s flaws. “This one screams neutral site that Oregon goes and gets it done. Dan Lanning has been a master motivator. I think he learns that from Kirby Smart. This team has been focused. They’ve got veteran leadership. … Oregon is one of the best teams in the country. Now, their résumé is not one of the best teams in the country, and they need this win.”

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. PT on ABC.