PAC 12 Thread v6.0

[Duckboy33]

Looks like Oregon and Colorado will be the only PAC 12 teams accepting bowl invites this year.

Oregon will play Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. Colorado will play Texas in the Alamo Bowl

 

[DieSonneTeufeln]

Looks like Oregon and Colorado will be the only PAC 12 teams accepting bowl invites this year.

Oregon will play Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. Colorado will play Texas in the Alamo Bowl

Ah Fack! 2 PAC losses right there

 

[PSUTE]

Ah Fack! 2 PAC losses right there

Colorado and Oregon aren't bad this year. Texas gonna Texas, ISU has it going this year...

 

[DieSonneTeufeln]

Colorado and Oregon aren't bad this year. Texas gonna Texas, ISU has it going this year...

Using transitive properties is sloppy with the season we all just had, however...

 

[trojanfan12]

Nice pickups for USC yesterday.

Landed 4* CB Ceyaire Wright who is the #7 CB in the country.

Also landed Korey Foreman 5* DL and the #1 recruit in the country. He should pair well on the DL with his former teammate Drake Jackson.

Bumped the USC recruiting 2021 recruiting class to #8 in the country.

 

[DHoey]

What a cuck of a conference.

 

[WABLTY]

Chase Lucas has been mocked as high as late 1st round (seemed like a stretch, probably more 3rd or 4th round) says he's going back to ASU for another season. Evan Fields and Jack Jones are back as well. I don't think Tyler Johnson, Merlin Robertson or Jermayne Lole will get high enough grades to bounce early.

Crosswell announced for the draft after he left the team midseason, and Frank Darby will go, but they both barely played this year. So it would appear ASU is returning basically its entire offensive and defensive depth chart, barring one of the juniors going early. Half of the defense will be 4th or 5th year starters.

 

[trojanfan12]

USC still in play for 4* LB Raesjon Davis from Mater Dei.

 

[RegentDenali]

Rough season and sucks that covid kept us from the pac champ game / bowl, but I'm very optimistic at the Husky program in 2021. We're returning most of the team and should be right there for a run for PacN Champs again.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not sure what to expect from USC next season. They'll be as talented as anyone in the country, but how good they are will depend on how quickly some of the new recruits can adjust to the college game.

The o-line has to get better. There was a little improvement over the previous year, but not nearly enough. Hopefully, whoever replaces Drevno can get the o-line back to standards. When a team can't line up and get 1 yard at critical points in a game...that's a problem.

They also need to play smarter. Overall, the team was better. But there were still a lot of the same old issues...too many penalties and turnovers.

 

[Duckboy33]

Here are my initial thoughts for 2021 (with the understanding that the transfer game could change things significantly):

North:

In 2021, I think Oregon and Washington will be the frontrunners to win the division. Not a huge shock, Oregon or UW has won the North five of the last seven years (with Stanford winning the other two). On paper, these teams should have the most talent but both have a few question marks. I think the rest of the division is just a small step behind. All are certainly capable of beating Oregon or Washington on any given day. I don't think there are any truly bad teams in the North. Stanford, because of Mills and Shaw, are probably the most capable of winning the division from the 2nd tier.

Tier 1:

Oregon - Oregon's young players took some licks on defense with a few NFL guys opting out before the season. However, they did show improvement in the 2nd half of a short season and I think that will benefit them in 2021. The secondary won't be as strong as in 2019 (or what it would have been in 2020 before the opt outs) but the front seven should be a lot stronger with Sewell and Flowe (who was out for almost the entire season) returning. Offensively the Ducks return a lot of the offensive line after having 5 new starters this year. The big concern for Oregon is the QB position. It seems like the coaches lost faith in Shough and the QB position will be up for grabs in 2021. My guess is BC transfer Anthony Brown or true freshmen Ty Thompson will win the job in 2021. Either way, they have to get better play from the QB in 2021 if they want to win the PAC 12 and compete nationally.

Washington - Washington returns almost everyone on both sides of the ball which should be a huge advantage. Offensively UW has to find a way to be more explosive. They struggled with the long ball despite having some good WRs. It will be interesting to see if Dylan Morris will continue to start at QB or whether true freshman Sam Huard starts. Whoever it is, has to give UW more of a down field threat to keep the defense honest. Defensively they should continue to be solid, even without Molden in the secondary. That's Lake's speciality and they have a lot of starters back.

Tier 2:

California - While David Shaw is probably the best coach, Wilcox is probably the best evaluator. He has a much more talented roster than the star count would lead you to believe, especially on defense. They need to find a way to improve offensively to be more than a spoiler in the PAC 12 North, however.

Oregon State - Jonathan Smith has done an amazing job improving the program's talent level. The transfer portal has been a huge help for Oregon State. Losing Jefferson is going to hurt the Beavs offensively but they have a sneaky good team. We saw this year they were able to beat Oregon and nearly beat Washington. They are quickly closing the gap between them and the best of the PAC 12. They still have to find a way to improve defensively to get out of tier 2.

Stanford - Stanford's overall talent level continue to declines but David Shaw remains the best coach in the league IMO and he has an experienced, talented QB returning. That will make the Cardinal a problem for anyone in the PAC 12 and makes Stanford the darkhorse to win the division.

Washington State - Hard to know what to make of this team. New coach and had a ton of games cancelled because of COVID. I liked their freshmen QB and I think their offense will continue to be a pain for their opponents. Defensively they weren't very good and I don't necessarily see that changing very soon.

South:

USC enters 2021 as a slight favorite to win the South. They have by far the most talented roster in the south and despite their issues, went 4-0 vs. South teams in 2020 and 5-0 in 2019. UCLA, Utah and Arizona State are the teams that are most likely to knock the trojans off. I'd lean towards ASU having the best chance simply because of Daniels. There will be some good games between those three 2nd tier teams. I know I'll upset some people but I don't think Colorado's season in 2020 is a sign they are moving up the ladder in the PAC. I still think they are a step behind those other 3 teams. Arizona, on paper, should be by far the worst team in the conference.

Tier 1:

USC - They lose a few players at WR but they are absolutely loaded at that position so I think it's largely "next man up". Offensively there big issue is on the offensive line. They lost in the PAC Championship simply because their offensive line got dominated. USC can get away with their offensive line against 2nd tier teams but they will continue to struggle with upper tier competition until that problem is fixed. Defensively they lose a few great players but bring in true freshmen Korey Foreman and a few key transfers. USC should be good enough defensively to win the PAC 12.

Tier 2:

Arizona State - The Sun Devils return a lot of really talented players on offense. They should have one of the most explosive offenses in the country and Jayden Daniels could take another step forward. The issue is the Sun Devils don't have the same level of talent across the board that Oregon, UW, or USC have. They have it at certain positions but not everywhere. Herm is obviously as accomplished as they come so I wouldn't bet against them.

UCLA - The Bruins showed some promise this year despite a 3-4 record. In all 4 of their losses, you could make an argument that they should have won them all. Those are excuses but it shows that the Bruins are close. Year 4 under CK will be a big one. It's finally his team with his players and it's time for UCLA to stop being "close".

Utah - Wittingham is such a good coach and developer, you can never leave Utah out. They have to figure out their QB position but he has brought in a lot of talented transfers. With a more normal off season, I think that will help Utah a lot. This 2020 season for Utah really shouldn't be looked at too much IMO. It was marred from the beginning with COVID issues and cancellations.

Tier 3:

Colorado - This is where I know I won't make friends. I give Dorrell a lot of credit for a good season but I think this season involved a ton of lucky things going there way. And a lot of those things included scenarios that would only happen in 2020. I still think their talent level is below most of the league and they will struggle to go .500 in conference play in 2021.

Tier 4:

Arizona - This is a complete rebuild. Very little talent in the program. Gunnell was basically what they had going for them and he transferred out. I'm not betting agains the coaching staff rebuilding the program but I doubt it shows up in 2021.

 

[RegentDenali]

 

[RegentDenali]

Utah with a big local get at LB for the 2022 class

 

[RegentDenali]

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

I'm shocked their ranked.

 

[wazzu31]

I can understand Oregon but SC? They lose virtually everyone except their QB.

 

[UtahUte]

Jesus Utah Landing the RB’s out of the Portal.!!!!

 

[BamaDude]

I'm shocked any Pac team is ranked higher than 11th or 12th, and that more than two teams are in the top 15.

 

[RegentDenali]

Incredible blow to the Huskies.

7-win Sark has been a incurable STD on this program and keeps finding ways to F us. This probably being one of the worst things he could do to us ever.

 

[wazzu31]

Lucas and Borghi are both coming back both took their names out of the draft so they will be back. So we will lose at a maximum 3 starters with the Polish Punter, Watson and Woods took an invite to the NFLPA bowl so he might, even though he said he was coming back for a 5th year.