Phil Steele believes the Pac-12 will be 'cannibalization' in 2023

Heading into the 2023 season, the Pac-12 looks as intriguing as it has in years. People from the east coach to all the way out west are fascinated by how their crop of teams could impact the upcoming college football campaign.

One of those people is Phil Steele based on what he recently said on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’. He described what the league is about to go through as “cannibalization” because, at the end of the day, not all of the teams can be winners, especially with what’s on their schedules and when they play each other.

“My term for the Pac-12 this year is probably cannibalization. Everybody’s going to beat each other, you think, towards the top,” Steele said. “USC’s got to play Oregon on the road. They’ve also got to play Notre Dame on the road. When you look at Oregon? They’re probably going to be an underdog at Utah and at Washington. Washington, which, by the way, avoided USC and Utah last year, plays USC and Utah this year. They have to travel on the road to face USC and Oregon State.”

Additionally, Steele sees Oregon State as a program that could catch people by surprise the most and put themselves in the mix. With QB DJ Uiagalelei in the fold now in Corvallis, he sees a lot of success on its way for the Beavers as they come off their first 10-win season since ’06.

“The one team not a lot of folks are talking about is Oregon State. Watch these guys this year because they’ve got the schedule to be that sneaky team like a TCU,” explained Steele. “Oregon State has been very tough at home. They’re 12-1 at home the last two years and their only loss was to USC by three points. And, this year, their stadium is finished now. So, opposed to playing in a stadium under construction, they’ve got the full stadium this year. (And) most of their tough games are at home.”

“They get Utah at home, they get UCLA at home, they get Washington at home. They avoid USC in conference play, toughest road trip is at Oregon, which is the civil war, which gives them a shot there,” Steele said. “Other than that, they don’t play one of the big boys on the road. So I think Oregon State even has a shot.”

USC, Oregon, Utah, and Washington have separated themselves from the pack in large part due to the quarterback play of Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Cameron Rising, and Michael Penix Jr.. Then, after that, we have your Oregon States and UCLAs as the next ones up. From there, things get just as interesting, specifically with new coaches like Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State and, of course, Deion Sanders at Colorado.

Even with all that parity, though, Steele still sees the league as the Trojan’s to lose. Combining the defensive improvement with the star that Williams is has him believing in them to win the Pac-12 in 2023.

“My pick for the Pac-12 this year? I went with USC,” Steele said. “USC’s defense was abysmal last year but they are much stronger this season. Going over the team with Coach Riley, I like the transfers he’s brought in. He’s got 6-7 transfers coming in that are going to earn starting spots on the defensive side of the ball.”

“They got some guy you might have heard of? Caleb Williams at quarterback, won the Heisman Trophy last year. Offensive line looks solid. And, when you look at the schedule, the only two games I have them as a slight underdog in is at Notre Dame and at Oregon,” said Steele. “USC is my pick to win the Pac-12.”