Athlon Sports projects Pac-12's order of finish in 2023

The 2023 season starts two years of major changes for the Pac-12. The league is doing away with divisions this year and will lose two of its highest-profile members in USC and UCLA next season.

There are also plenty of storylines, perhaps none bigger than how Deion Sanders will transform Colorado. However, according to Athlon Sports, “Coach Prime” could be in for a rough start to his tenure.

Athlon projected the final order of finish in the Pac-12 in 2023, including who will win the conference championship. Naturally, USC is the favorite as Lincoln Riley enters his second season at the helm and has the reigning Heisman Trophy winner coming back in Caleb Williams. But instead of Utah — the Trojans’ opponent in last year’s Pac-12 Championship — Athlon has Washington finishing second and heading to Las Vegas.

Here are Athlon’s full projections.

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1. USC (12-1, 8-1)
2. Washington (10-3, 7-2)
3. Utah (9-3, 6-3)
4. Oregon (9-3, 6-3)
5. Oregon State (8-4, 5-4)
6. UCLA (8-4, 5-4)
7. Washington State (6-6, 4-5)
8. Arizona (6-6, 4-5)
9. California (5-7, 3-6)
10. Colorado (4-8, 3-6)
11. Arizona State (4-8, 2-7)
12. Stanford (3-9, 1-8)
    Championship: USC over Washington

Quarterbacks take the spotlight in the Pac-12 in 2023

USC is getting plenty of attention, and rightfully so after last year’s impressive start to the Riley era. But Kalen DeBoer and Washington also opened some eyes as Michael Penix Jr. turned into a star after transferring from Indiana. He finished in the top 10 of the Heisman voting as he threw for 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns. He’s back again, as is offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who opted to stay in Seattle after interviewing to be the OC at Alabama.

Utah sits right behind UW at No. 3 as Cameron Rising is back for another go-round in Salt Lake City. He has led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 titles and is coming off his best year yet, totaling 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’ll try to keep Kyle Whittingham and Co. on top as quarterback play becomes a key part of the Pac-12’s identity.

But two other intriguing teams came in behind Utah. Dan Lanning is gearing up for his second year at the helm and he’ll have quarterback Bo Nix back, as well. Nix looked strong after transferring from Auburn as he tallied 3,593 passing yards, 510 rushing yards and 43 total touchdowns, and he opted to return to the Ducks rather than test the NFL Draft waters.

Then, there’s Oregon State, which made a big splash in the transfer portal by landing former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. The No. 44-ranked transfer this cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings, Uiaglelei is coming off a disappointing season at Clemson. He threw for 2,521 yards and 22 touchdowns, but saw Cade Klubnik become the Tigers’ quarterback of the future during the season and lost the starting job. Now, he’s at Oregon State, making the Beavers an intriguing team in the Pac-12 in 2023.