IMHO Special Pac-12 Championship Game edition: This build to be continued in 2023

In my humble opinion, cardinal and gold thoughts on what I see, what I hear, and what I think from Los Angeles. To dream: Keep pinching away so I can know it’s real. Turn on the bedroom lights to verify this is not a bad dream. Prior to this season in a Friday O/NSO column, I predicted the Trojans would finish the 2022 regular season 11-1. The one loss? At Utah. But two losses? A second loss not at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City? To dream – Part 2: I never said the Men of Troy would have a rematch with the Utah in Las Vegas and then get crushed by the Utes 47-24, effectively ending their playoffs hopes. To begin with, it took a series of upsets the weekend before with the Trojans victory over Notre Dame to position the Men of Troy as an unexpected candidate for the CFP. That ended on an excruciating evening in Las Vegas, as the Trojans got out-hit, had the injuries and the bruises to prove it, and turned missed tackles into an art form. After the initial first quarter when the Trojans jumped out to a 14-3 mirage, it was shocking and it was relentless by Kyle Whittingham’s team, who dominated the game for the most part.