The Pac-10 became the Pac-12 this year, assimilating Utah and Colorado and splitting into Northern and Southern divisions. Ryan Eshoff offers his opinion on how the new teams will affect conference power rankings.
North
1. Stanford (conference champion)
Stanford and Oregon will finish with the same conference record, but the Cardinal will win the matchup between those two schools in Palo Alto. The Ducks rallied from 18 down to hand Stanford its only loss last year, and Heisman favorite Andrew Luck won’t let that happen again.
2. Oregon
The Ducks will drop their opener against Louisiana State in the best game on the college football schedule this season. They’ll also fall to Stanford as LaMichael James struggles to find running room behind an offensive line that was exposed against Auburn last season and needs to prove itself.
3. Oregon State
The Beavers will have to fight their way through a rigorous nonconference schedule that includes Wisconsin and Brigham Young, but they do avoid having to play USC. The always exciting wide receiver James Rodgers returns from injury to team with quarterback Ryan Katz and give Oregon State its own dynamic duo.
4. Washington
There’s an Alaska-sized gap between Stanford and Oregon and the rest of the North. The Huskies will get a big year from running back Chris Polk, and they have a guaranteed win on the schedule: Nov. 12 against USC, whom they’ve upset each of the past two seasons.
5. California
The Bears are rebuilding on offense after losing quarterback Kevin Riley and running back Shane Vereen (maybe the former isn’t such a bad thing). Who knows how many more less-than-stellar seasons it will take in Berkeley for coach Jeff Tedford to be looking elsewhere for employment?
6. Washington State
Well hey, the Cougars threw the ball pretty well last season. They won’t win many conference games this year, but they won’t go O-fer, and they’ll continue the slow-but-steady climb out of one of the worst stretches of college football in recent memory.
South
1. Utah
We should have a pretty good handle on the Utes by the middle of September when they have their Pac-12 opener against USC and the Holy War against BYU in back-to-back weeks. Here’s thinking that one of the most consistent winners of the last five or six years doesn’t miss a beat in its new conference.
2. USC
If we weren’t talking so much about Andrew Luck, we’d be talking so much about Matt Barkley. The Trojan quarterback is darn good. ‘SC has to play two of its toughest annual contests on the road this season: They’re at Notre Dame and at Oregon.
3. Arizona State
The Sun Devils are being highly touted, but they’ve been hit hard by injuries and are still coached by Dennis Erickson, who this 49er fan doesn’t have complete confidence in. Despite all the returning talent, they still seem a bit iffy, and a September that sees them play Missouri, Illinois and USC in consecutive weeks should answer a lot of questions.
4. UCLA
This year’s schedule is more favorable to the Bruins than the 2010 edition; sure they add Utah, but they replace Kansas State with San Jose State and don’t have to face Oregon or Washington, two of last season’s losses. A bowl berth is an absolute must.
5. Arizona
Oct. 1 will be the conclusion of a four-week gauntlet that sees the Wildcats play Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon and USC in succession. Mike Stoops’ boys will have to summon all of their survival skills to claw their way back to bowl eligibility by season’s end.
6. Colorado
I can’t wait to see Ralphie the Buffalo run onto the field against Pac-12 opponents 10 times a year. Great mascot. Another intriguing storyline: UCLA will host Colorado on the Bruins’ senior day, and senior receiver Taylor Embree is the son of new Colorado coach Jon Embree. Will Papa Jon make an appearance at his son’s side minutes before he tries to stop him?