Overrated/Underrated: Pac-12 Edition

We move oh so dangerously close (r) to the start of the college football season today. One of the next great signals is the debut of the preseason AP Top 25 released earlier today.

Last week the USA Today coaches poll was released. While I personally don’t have a vote, which is really a detriment to the polls, I do have opinions on where some of these teams are being ranked. So I’ll just write about it here.

Let’s start with a look at the Pac-12 teams ranked in the two major polls and whether I think they are underrated or overrated.

AP Preseason Poll

Coaches Preseason Poll

USC: Overrated

AP: 6

Coaches: 6

I totally get the hype behind it. USC is going to win games simply by outscoring their opponents. Lincoln Riley will lean heavily on the best quarterback in college football. But here’s the thing. They aren’t especially strong in the trenches, the defense is below average and they don’t run the ball especially well. For a nearly top five team, that is a lot of key areas to be concerned with.

And in order to finish at 6, the Trojans will need to be a 1-loss team. The final six weeks for USC, in order, @Notre Dame, Utah, @Cal, Washington, @Oregon, UCLA.

Washington: Overrated

AP: 10

Coaches: 11

But not by much. I guess I just don’t buy they are the 2nd best team in the conference. But a top 20 finish is very possible for the Huskies. They have just as much, if not more, starting talent on defense as USC. The problem for UW is going to be depth. Any injuries to any key starters and it’s a massive drop off. Starting on Oct. 14, UW will face four ranked Pac-12 opponents.

Utah: Overrated

AP: 14

Coaches: 14

I apologize now to Kyle Whittingham for what I’m about to say. But I think Utah has lost too much to repeat as conference champs and finish inside the top 20 this season. Cam Rising will do his best but you have to hope he makes it through the season for the Utes or it could get really ugly.

The first five opponents for the Utes: Florida, @Baylor, @Weber State, UCLA, @Oregon State. (They also face Oregon, USC and UW later in the season)

Oregon: Underrated

AP: 15

Coaches: 15

Well if I haven’t gone full-homer by now I might as well leave no doubt. Look, Oregon is as good as any team in the top ten not named Georgia. But they will only go as far as the defense will take them. I think it will be better. And they have the bodies and depth to be physical at the point of attack. And while nobody has a JV schedule like Georgia, but Oregon’s a bit more favorable with 2 of its 4 toughest games at home. (USC and OSU)

Oregon State: Underrated

AP: 18

Coaches: 18

I know, I’m an Oregon State apologist. Ok, not really. The Beavs arguably have the easiest schedule of anyone on this list. You get Utah and UCLA at home in your first 7 weeks. Then you go all the way to the end of November to finish with hosting Washington followed by the short drive down to Eugene for the finale. If you can get to this point and either or both of these teams are highly ranked, you can maybe squeak in a top ten finish.