Desmond Howard pegs Pac-12 as CFP front runners, overtaking SEC

The SEC has ruled college football in recent years, winning five of the past six national titles. However, ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard believes it’s the Pac-12 that has the best conference this season.

Howard joined ESPN First Take on Friday and was asked if he expects a Pac-12 team to make the playoff this season. He does and added that he loves what he has seen from the league all year.

“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t. I didn’t pick a Pac-12 team to get to the College Football Playoff,” Howard said. “But as the season started to unfold, and you just realize how much talent is in the Pac-12, and how deep the Pac-12 is – you’re looking at a conference that has seven teams ranked in the AP top 25.”

The Pac-12 actually has seven teams currently ranked in the top 20 in the AP Poll. That list includes — No. 7 Washington, No. 8 Oregon, No. 10 USC, No. 15 Oregon State, No. 16 Utah, No. 18 UCLA and No. 19 Washington State.

Several of those teams have big games this weekend, with Oregon and Washington facing off in Seattle and USC playing at Notre Dame.

Howard expects multiple Pac-12 teams to remain contenders throughout the rest of the year.

“I know you guys are used to hearing this — week in and week out, year in and year out, that it’s the SEC. But it’s not the SEC this year. It’s the Pac-12,” Howard said. “So I think as we’re starting to watch these teams play, this season unfold, I do believe that the Pac-12 will probably have a team that gets into the College Football Playoff when it’s all said and done.”

Howard added that even if the Pac-12 doesn’t have a team go undefeated, it still can get someone in. He pointed to the fact that Ohio State made the College Football Playoff last year after losing late in the season to Michigan as a part of his reasoning.

This is the last year of the Pac-12 as we know it, and the league has a chance to go out with a special season.

“When the College Football Playoff committee starts to look at resume, they start to look at these Ws that you’ve acquired throughout the season, I think that’s what’s going to help bolster their claim to get in the College Football Playoff,” Howard said. “Don’t forget, a year ago you had a highly-ranked Ohio State at the end of the season. They lost big at home to Michigan, right? But they were able to get in the College Football Playoff through the backdoor, even though they had that huge loss at home against their arch rival. … So I think Washington would have a strong argument to get into the College Football Playoff, even if they lose at the end of the season.”