How will Fox handle UW-Utah and USC-Oregon

The most anticipated Saturday of the Pac-12 season is fast approaching with no specifics for the two biggest games.

On Nov. 11, all eyes turn to the Pacific Northwest as No. 20 USC visits No. 6 Oregon and No. 18 Utah heads to No. 5 Washington.

Two College Football Playoff contenders, three Heisman Trophy candidates and four Pac-12 title hopefuls — all crammed into the upper left corner of the college football universe.

It’s exactly the high-stakes scenario the conference had in mind when it set the 2023 schedule last winter.

And the Pac-12’s television partners are elated, as well — to the point that neither game has a kickoff time, which makes it difficult for fans to make travel and party plans.

Which game is likely to start when? We can make a reasonable guess.

First, some important background information:

— This is the rare week in which one network owns the top two picks in the weekly draft of Pac-12 games.

Typically, Fox and ESPN trade off access to the best games. But in the behind-the-scenes machinations before the season, Fox identified Nov. 11 as the date it wanted to monopolize the top of the Pac-12 draft.

As a result, the network will show both showdowns.

— The top-heavy nature of the Pac-12’s Nov. 11 schedule allowed Fox and ESPN to set the kickoff times for the other four games.

Only the duels in Eugene and Seattle have been placed on six-day holds, meaning the start times will be announced after the results of games this weekend.

— There are three broadcast windows for the two Fox games.

One of the Nov. 11 showdowns will be shown at either 12:30 p.m. or 4 p.m.

The other will be shown at 7:30 p.m., a rare night game on the company’s broadcast network. (Usually, FS1 shows the conference’s 7:30 p.m. kickoffs.)

Which game is going in which window?

The decision depends, in part, on the outcome of the Pac-12 matchups this weekend, especially the USC-Washington affair in the L.A. Coliseum.

In our estimation, a victory by USC would ensure priority broadcast for the Trojans’ date at Oregon, meaning the 12:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. window.

If Washington beats USC on Saturday afternoon, both games on Nov. 11 would feature a top-10 team (Oregon and Washington), and the decision becomes more difficult for Fox.

But the network’s calculation also depends on matchups in other conferences — particularly the Big 12, where No. 7 Texas plays TCU and No. 9 Oklahoma faces West Virginia.