College Football Conference by Conference: Pac12 (Finally, a Conference that can count)

Part One: The Big Ten (All fourteen teams)

Part Two: The Big Twelve (All Ten teams)

Part Three: SEC (Paul Finebaum's opinion excluded)

Now Pac12:

There was a time that I did not enjoy watching Pac12 football. These were the dark days before Arizona State, Arizona and UCLA started enjoying their resurgence, and when USC just kicked the crap out of everyone.

These days the Pac12 is one of my favorite late-Saturday night views. The Arizona teams are good, there is (for the most part) competitive balance across the league and even the best teams have to work against some of the mid-tier teams.

All that said, I still like Oregon to win their division.

Without further ado.....

North

Oregon  8-4  (6-3 Conference)
Washington 8-4  (5-4 Conference)
Stanford  7-5  (5-4 Conference)
Oregon State 4-8  (2-7 Conference)
California 3-9  (1-8 Conference)
Washington State 3-9  (1-8 Conference)

South

USC  12-0  (9-0 Conference)
Arizona State 11-1 (8-1 Conference)
Arizona  10-2 (7-2 Conference)
UCLA  6-6  (4-5 Conference)
Utah  5-7 (4-5 Conference)
Colorado 4-8  (1-8 Conference)

So after it all, I'm returning to the old days of USC vs. Oregon in the championship game. All that said, I think the two Arizona teams will be nipping at their heels. I also think that Washington will get very close to Oregon and will challenge them. With a relatively weak out of conference slate the in-conference games for this should be outstanding.

Of all the games, watch for USC vs. Arizona State as a potential game of the year. On the defensive side of the ball, despite the fact that they're going to have a down year, watch out for UCLA stud LB/part time RB Myles Jack who I think has the potential of becoming a GREAT, not good, LB at the NFL level. On offense, watch for USC QB Cody Kessler who I suspect will get some serious Heisman run.

After all is said and done I think that USC wins the conference undefeated, and makes it into the College Football Playoff where they will be seeded 3rd.  I also fully expect to find them in the National Finals.  Overall I expect the conference to place 7 (possibly eight, if Utah beats Michigan in week one) teams into bowl games where I suspect they're going to do very well due to top-flight athleticism.