Pac'12's Finale Primed for Epic Sendoff

Coming to light in the discussion of conference realignment is the reality that this should be an epic season in the Pac-12 conference. Perhaps one of the best seasons in the conferences’ century long history.

In the latest coaches poll, the conference had 5 teams inside the top 20. All polls have a bias of some sort so I had to pick one and figured this was the best to use. Regardless of which one you look at, the Pac-12 is well-represented on all of the them.

As with most, USC is considered the team to beat in the conference. And with good reason. They return Heisman winner Caleb Williams at quarterback, who likely ends up as the No. 1 draft pick in next year’s NFL draft. The Trojans will have no problem scoring points. Lincoln Riley will once again lean on Williams with his play-calling, no doubt resulting in big plays and big points.

But will they be able to stop anyone on defense? The Trojans might have the worst defense of any team in the top 25. Which means they will likely find themselves in a lot of shootouts. They should win most, if not all games in the conference, but that might be the kiss of death if they manage to reach the playoffs.

Washington at No. 11 feels like a sneaky pick. They’ll be good offensively again led by Michael Penix and possibly the best wide receiver duo in the country. Kalen Deboer knows how to run his offense and will put points on the board. But last year defense was a liability. Did the Huskies fix those issues? Do they have depth on either side of the ball to handle injuries that will occur in the season? Deboer better hope so.

Utah at No. 14 seems like a safe pick here. The Utes have been a model of consistency under Kyle Whittingham. He returns his starting quarterback, Cam Rising, who most years would be considered one of the top 2 or 3 QB’s in the conference. But it simply speaks volumes to how loaded the conference is at the position. Unfortunately for Utah they face Florida, Baylor, UCLA and Oregon State in 4 of its first 5 games. They could drop out of the early top 25 but surge late in the year as they hit their stride.

Your beloved Ducks check in at No. 15, one spot behind the Utes. Like Utah, Oregon returns starting quarterback Bo Nix, who most years would be the top QB in the conference. Dan Lanning in his second year should be better overall and the defense seems to be taking a step in the right direction. There’s no doubt you wonder about the transition from Kenny Dillingham to Will Stein as OC and how the offensive line can come together. But it’s all right there for Oregon as one of the more ‘balanced’ teams in the conference.

Lastly is Oregon State at No. 18. The beloved Beavs might just be playing for more than the season. Jonathan Smith brings in DJ Uiagelelei to lead this team in the final season of the conference. And right now the Beavs are really stuck in conference ‘no man’s land.’ Does that impact them or can they tune out the uncertainty that will certain be a topic all year? Here’s the crazy part, the only (current) top 20 team OSU faces until the last two weeks is Utah. Unfortunately the Beavs could be sitting at 1 loss before they finish with Washington and at Oregon.

Keep in mind, UCLA is hovering right around the top 20-25, depending on where you look. Chip Kelly has remained active in the transfer portal, almost electing to recruit there instead of at the high school level. We know he’ll have offense but the key will be can the Bruins be competitive defensively?

It’s going to be an amazing last season in the conference. Bring on the chaos.