Previewing who could emerge as the top team in the Pac-12 in 2023

On3’s J.D. PicKell has no quit in him when it comes to covering college football. While we are in the dog days of the offseason, the college football expert has been on a roll breaking down storylines across the country. And on a recent episode of The Hard Count, PicKell took on a fan question on the Pac-12 conference.

One fan challenged the On3 college football expert to give his thoughts on which program would win the conference in 2023.

“You’ve got USC, you’ve got Oregon, you got Washington, you got Oregon State; who knows what UCLA can be with Chip Kelly. If you look across this conference, theirs a lot of teams that have a legitimate shot to win it. I didn’t even mention Utah. Utah is back-to-back Pac-12 champions,” said PicKell.

For PicKell, there is a more profound question that needs answering. It’s not a matter of who will win the conference, but will that winner be able to run the table and earn a College Football Playoff bid?

“I’m going to take it a step further here. My question isn’t who’s going to come out of that conference and who’s going to win it. My question is even more so, do they rise to the level to where we’re talking about a Pac-12 team in the College Football Playoffs? Think about it that way. There’s the whole conversation around; yeah, it’s gonna be just demolition Derby; it’s gonna be gladiator style to where they’re going to go at each other’s necks for 12 weeks. And whoever walks out of that title game champion, good for them; they’ve earned it.”

In recent history, winning the Pac-12 has not equated to a CFP appearance. Despite Utah winning the Pac-12 in back-to-back seasons, the Utes have only been awarded Rose Bowls bids. And it doesn’t help that they had three losses by the end of the regular season.

“My question is, what if USC flexes up a little bit and just says, no, we’re the top dog; run through this conference undefeated… finds themselves in the College Football Playoff. What if Oregon’s that team?
“Whoever wins this conference will absolutely have earned it. But the thing that I’m watching for, the greater unknown in my mind, is who rises up and to what degree. Because… I lean toward putting a Pac-12 team in the College Football Playoff.”

The quality of the Pac-12 has been a question of college football experts in the past. But one would have a tough time downplaying the talent and level of play the conference is expected to be at in 2023. If any of the teams motioned about can run the table, the Pac-12 should be able to break its CPF appearance drought.