With less than a week to go now before the college football season kicks off, it’s time for The Dirt to make some predictions. Beginning with conference standings and conference winners, I’ll take a look at all six BCS conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC). Next up, the Pac 12:
Pac 12
· Preseason Top 25 Teams
AP Poll Dirt Poll
3. Oregon 2. Oregon
7. Stanford 5. Stanford
25. USC 18. USC
20. Arizona State
23. Utah
· Predicted Finish
North South
1. Oregon 12-0 (9-0) 1. Arizona State 9-3 (6-3)
2. Stanford 10-2 (7-2) 2. USC 8-4 (5-4)
3. Washington 7-5 (5-4) 3. Utah 7-5 (4-5)
4. Oregon State 6-6 (4-5) 4. Arizona 6-6 (4-5)
5. California 6-6 (4-6) 5. UCLA 5-7 (3-6)
6. Washington State 5-7 (2-7) 6. Colorado 2-11 (0-10)
· Bowl Teams: (9)
o Oregon
o Arizona State
o Stanford
o USC
o Washington
o Utah
o Oregon State
o Arizona
o California
· Pac 12 Championship Game:
§ Oregon over Arizona State
· Pac 12 Champion: Oregon Ducks
· Key Games:
o 9/3: #4 LSU Vs #3 Oregon
o 9/10: #11 Wisconsin Vs Oregon State
o 9/8: #9 Oklahoma State Vs Arizona
o 9/9: Arizona State Vs #21 Missouri
o 10/29: #25 USC Vs #7 Stanford
o 10/29: #3 Oregon Vs Washington
o 11/26: #7 Stanford Vs #16 Notre Dame
o 10/22: #16 Notre Dame Vs #25 USC
o 11/19: #3 Oregon Vs #25 USC
o 10/15: #3 Oregon Vs Arizona State
o 9/24: Arizona State Vs #25 USC
o 11/12: #7 Stanford Vs #3 Oregon
· Pac 12 Summary:
The Pac 12 continues to improve year in year out; and last season sent a team to the National Title game for the first time since USC in 2005. Oregon was mired in offseason issues all winter and spring; the Willie Lyles relationship and Cliff Harris driving like Jeff Gordon, but the Ducks return a ton of talent. Heisman finalist and Doak Walker award winner LaMiachael James is back to run the ball, and Darron Thomas is back behind center. Then there’s Stanford, who has a guy named Andrew Luck; you probably haven’t heard about him…
The conference added Utah and Colorado in the offseason to get to 12 teams; and this season will debut the inaugural Pac 12 Championship game which the better team will host. Oregon and Stanford will vie for the North title; while Arizona State seems to be the front runner in the South thanks to USC’s post season ban.
With Arizona’s Nick Foles; USC’s Matt Barkley; Utah’s Jordan Wynn; Oregon State’s Ryan Katz; Oregon’s Darron Thomas; and of course, Stanford’s Andrew Luck – the Pac 12 should be renamed the ‘Conference of the quarterback.’ The rest of the talent isn’t too bad, either.
Oregon and Stanford are the givens at the top, but the middle of the Pac (excuse the pun), should be pretty darn good itself. Washington continues to improve, but the loss of Jake Locker will be a big one. Utah should have a solid inaugural season, but will have to face a real opponent every week for the first time. Arizona will be solid again in the wild Mike Stoops and should return to post season play. Oregon State experienced a minor setback last year; but you can usually pencil them in for 7 or 8 wins. California was the closest to defeating Oregon last year; and they have a good shot at getting back to a bowl game. UCLA and Washington State will bring up the rear, but neither is an easy win. Though, Colorado could struggle to succeed; with no guaranteed conference win on their schedule.
In all, the Pac 12 could send 9 teams to a bowl game. Oregon State and California will be right on the edge; but UCLA could easily make it to 6 wins. The conference will come down to an October matchup in Palo Alto between Oregon and Stanford, and to the victor goes the spoils; as they should win the conference. I expect Oregon and Arizona State to face off in the conference title game; and there’s no way the Sun Devils win that one at Autzen.
If Oregon can get by LSU and Stanford, a return to the national title seems inevitable. Kirk Herbsteit picked the Ducks to make it back (and win this time) and so am I. Though, we will know a lot more about Ducks season in a little over 24 hours after their showdown in Dallas.
The Pac 12 can’t claim to be the best conference in the country until they knock off the SEC in a title game; or simply win a title game for that matter. However, the argument can be made they’re a very, very close second (as in, a last second field goal away from a BCS champion last year). So Pac 12 fans, gear up – it’s going to be a wild and fun ride this season.
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