Those offseason prognosticators did not get everything right – what else is new? – but they sure were right about the Pac-12 South. The conference’s fun-in-the-sun division appears to be the substandard west coast group once again. Maybe the cold toughens teams up. Maybe good football recruits just kind of hate the beach.
Or maybe the coaching is just better up north. After all, the conference named two Co-Coaches of the Year in 2015, and both (Stanford’s David Shaw and Washington State’s Mike Leach) coach in the conference’s better half.
1 Stanford (2-0; last week: No. 2): The Bay Area’s Finest continue to show the L.A. schools that football is a nerd’s game.
2 Washington (3-0; last week: No. 1): Lost in all the talk about the UW defense is the little fact that Jake Browning has thrown 12 touchdowns and just one interception.
3 Utah (3-0; last week: No. 4): The Utes had 10 sacks last week. 10! At that point the referee bears a moral obligation to call the fight.
4 Oregon (2-1; last week: No. 3): The Ducks may be missing their running back. And their left tackle. And the general sense of cool they’ve lived off for a decade. But UO will still finish near the top of a mediocre Pac-12.
5 Arizona State (3-0; last week: No. 7): The Sun Devils have given up 83 points over the last two weeks, but are somehow one of just four undefeated Pac-12 teams.
6 California (2-1; last week: No. 9): Cal had a big win over Texas. But Texas was only ranked so highly because of a big win over Notre Dame. Now, Notre Dame is not looking so hot, so who knows what the Golden Bears actually just did?
7 USC (1-2; last week: No. 6): With the best players and the most money to pay coaches, the Trojans have no excuses for being a very pedestrian team.
8 UCLA (2-1; last week: No. 8): Ditto.
9 Colorado (2-1; last week: No. 5): Yes, the Buffaloes looked very good at Michigan. They also looked very, very bad at Michigan, for longer.
10 Washington State (1-2; last week: No. 11): The Cougars go into their cocoon for a week of hibernation. Will a better team emerge?
11 Oregon State (1-1; last week: No. 10): QB Darrell Garretson is not in the conference’s Top-10 in passing efficiency. I wonder if former QB, now receiver, Seth Collins, has noticed.
12 Arizona (2-1; last week: No. 12): Here’s a sneak preview for tomorrow’s Pac-12 picks: Find a bookie, take the Huskies.
