This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Partly because nobody's sure what to think about a lot of Pac-12 football teams just yet, this will be another intriguing week in the conference. The schedule starts Thursday night with an especially interesting game.  Thursday's game UCLA at Stanford, 8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN One of the most surprising results of the Pac-12's 2014 schedule came in the last week of the regular season, when Stanford went into the Rose Bowl and blasted UCLA 31-10. Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan completed 16 of 19 passes for 234 yards in that game. And now Hogan has a rare opportunity to go 5-0 for his career against the Bruins, counting a conference championship game.  Stanford has made great progress ever since opening the season with a 16-6 loss at Northwestern. UCLA has been inconsistent, which is a weird description for a 4-1 team, but the Bruins struggled to beat BYU at home and then lost to Arizona State at the Rose Bowl, with a resounding victory at Arizona in between.  This game is difficult to predict, but easy to frame: Either Stanford is going to establish itself as the clear favorite in the Pac-12 North or UCLA is going to stay in the South race as a major threat to unbeaten Utah. For all of the doubts about Hogan, his history against UCLA is difficult to dismiss, and Stanford's defense should make it tough for UCLA freshman QB Josh Rosen to thrive. The pick: Stanford 31, UCLA 21.  – Kurt Kragthorpe