Written By: Colby Dant (@TheColbyD) also check out:



PAC 12 South Preview

The Pac 12 is probably the deepest conference in the country there’s probably 10 teams that could flat out win the conference. While the conference’s parody is a good thing for competition it also could be a bad thing when it comes time for the playoffs.

UCLA

The Bruins start off @Texas A&M which could go either way. Sophmore QB Josh Rosen is back and when this year is over he may very well be the best QB in all of College Football. The Bruins are my pick to win the south because their schedule, they miss out on Oregon & Washington and they get Stanford, Arizona, Utah & USC at home. They do have a tough back to back away stretch @Arizona State, @Washington State. If they can survive those they might be able to make this season special.

Utah

Yeah you’re probably a bit shocked but the Utes schedule is much more favorable than USC or either of the Arizona schools. Utah has a in state rivalry game with BYU week two and those games are always crazy. The in division schedule is favorable they get USC, Arizona, Washington & Oregon all in Salt Lake City. Their toughest road game is @UCLA or @Arizona State. I like Utah to be a sleeper even though they are replacing their QB & RB. Wittingham is too good of a coach

USC

I went USC three even though their schedule is absolutely brutal. They just have more talent than the rest of the division. USC starts the season with Alabama then plays a decent Utah State team and then plays @ Stanford and @ Utah! Ouch. They could be 1-3 at the end of september with games @Arizona, vs Oregon, @Washington, vs Notre Dame & @UCLA left. Talk about a potentially brutal year for the trojans. Clay Helton may be drinking some of Sarkisian’s kook-aid when its all said and done because that seat might be quite hot after this season.

Arizona State

The schedule is tough even though the non conference is quite winnable with the toughest game being a home showdown with Kliff Kingsbury’s Red Raiders of Texas Tech. In conference not so much with the fact they drew Washington State, Oregon, Cal, & Washington from the pac 12 North. They’ll be lucky to go 2-2 vs those guys. Plus they play back to back weeks vs the LA schools (@USC, vs UCLA) and end the season on the road vs bitter rival Arizona. 4th place makes sense. Todd Graham looks like a best buy television salesman and after this year he’ll be one step closer to fulfilling that dream.

Colorado

Yep this is the year they climb out of the basement. It’s Mike MacIntyre’s 4th year in Boulder and the team is slowly improving every year. Jim Levitt should have the Buff defense the best its been in decades. This season I think the buffs bowl hopes rely on the health of star QB Sefo Liufau. If he stays healthy I think they’ll be in the first bowl game in 9 years if not they’ll be back in the basement of the division. They’ll need a few upsets along the way and they must win the in state rivalry game against Colorado State.

Arizona

Rich Rodriguez has done great things win the Arizona football program and even as I write this I think they are a much better team than a last place team but this division is full of decent football teams. The Wildcats should be 3-0 heading into a 6 game stretch where they will be the underdog in every game (vs Washington, @UCLA, @Utah, vs USC, vs Stanford, @Wash State) can you say ouch. After a hit like that they may not be able to salvage the season. I think they miss out on a bowl game this year.

Final Thoughts

I have UCLA playing in the Pac 12 Championship but keep an eye out for Utah.