Jacob Thorpe’s Pac-12 football picks

PULLMAN – After 11 weeks of college football we finally know who these teams are. At least, we think we do. The contenders have separated from the pretenders in the Pac-12, with most of the conference’s strong teams residing in the south.

This should be a pretty mild week compared to the last couple, with no ranked teams going head-to-head and the oddsmakers giving every favorite at least a touchdown advantage.

The action gets started early this week, with California visiting USC at 6 tonight for a showdown on ESPN. All other games are on Saturday.

California at USC, USC by 15: Cody Kessler may not be getting the Heisman pub, but his numbers hint that maybe he should be. The Trojans quarterback will likely add to his 25 passing touchdowns against Cal’s porous pass defense and will probably start and finish the night with just two interceptions thrown this season. USC 41-24

Washington at Arizona, UA by 9: The Huskies have robbed the offense of John Ross to get more playmakers on defense and have borrowed Shaq Thompson to bolster the offense. Chances are nobody on the offense can make up for losing national sack leader Hau’oli Kikaha if not he’s 100 percent on Saturday. Arizona 31-24

Utah at Stanford, Stan by 7 1/2: I’m not sure why Stanford is favored so heavily in this matchup of the conference’s most rugged teams. The Utes should have no problem stopping Stanford’s offense and can even get to the end zone. Whether or not they hold onto the ball when they get there will decide this game’s outcome. Utah 24-17

Arizona State at Oregon State, ASU by 9: Coming off a big win and with Luke Falk coming up next week, you’ll have to forgive the Sun Devils when this one is closer than it should be. ASU 38-28

Last week: 3-2 straight up, 2-3 against the spread

Overall: 53-21, 29-37