NCAA Football: Pac 12 South preview

I love college football. LOVE it. It was my first love. One that started all the way back in 1984. I was a kid living in Oklahoma, and the Sooners were the hottest ticket in town. I was hooked. The Jamelle Holieway-Spencer Tillman-Lydell Carr option took me in and never let go.

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Fast-forward 30 years later, and I am still a college football junkie. I spend my Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and most of Tuesday watching every game I could record over the weekend. For love of the game, I guess.

For the last four years, I have picked every single 1-A vs. 1-A college football game against the spread. I will do the same this year. But leading up to that, I am going to do a conference by conference preview. That’s right, for love of the game. And for those of you that are rabid fans like I am.

This piece will focus on the Pac 12 North . Teams are in the projected order of finish. The AAC is here. The Coastal division is here. The Atlantic division is here. The Big 12 preview is here. The Big Ten East is here. The Big Ten West is here. The Pac 12 North is here.

Can Hundley lead the Bruins to a Pac 12 title or more? Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

1. UCLA

Schedule: at Virginia, vs. Memphis, vs. Texas at Jerry World, at Arizona State, vs. Utah, vs. Oregon, at California, at Colorado, vs. Arizona, at Washington, vs. USC, vs. Stanford

Prediction: This team lost very little from last year’s 10-3 team, so there is a good reason they are in the preseason top ten. Brett Hundley returns to try to lead this team to the promised land. Paul Perkins has been jumped on the depth chart by Jordon James, but they will both see quite a few carries. The WR unit lost Shaq Evans, but there is plenty of depth to replace him. The defense is rather young, but they wouldn’t be playing if they weren’t ready. The linebackers are a question mark after losing Jordan Zumwalt and Anthony Barr. The only sure thing is Myles Jack. This team will go as far as their defense takes them.

This is a tough schedule. They are at Arizona State, Washington, and a “neutral site” that just happens to be about two hours from the Texas campus. However, if this were the year UCLA were to make a run, this would be it. They get Oregon, Arizona, Washington, USC, and Stanford all at home. I’m saying they go 10-2, but I wouldn’t be overly surprised if they ran the table.

Taylor Kelly will be the key to the Sun Devils success this year. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

2. Arizona State:

Schedule: vs. Weber State, at New Mexico, at Colorado, vs. UCLA, at USC, vs. Stanford, at Washington, vs. Utah, vs. Notre Dame, at Oregon State, vs. Washington State, at Arizona

Prediction: Losing Marion Grice hurts, but D.J. Foster ran for over 500 yards last year. It’s not like he hasn’t seen much of the field. Leading receiver Jaelen Strong is also back. QB Taylor Kelly has plenty of weapons left on his side of the field. This offense is a very good unit. LB Carl Bradford was an all conference player last year, and will be difficult to replace. The Sun Devils have two true freshman starting on defense. They need to step up and produce quickly.

This is a tough schedule, but at least they dodge Oregon and get UCLA and Stanford at home. I’m not saying that they will win those games, but it certainly makes it more possible. I have the Sun Devils at 9-3, but if their defense struggles, they will finish behind USC in the south, and could lose at least five games.

If Kessler becomes a consistent passer, this team could be really dangerous. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

3. USC:

Schedule: vs. Fresno State, at Stanford, at Boston Colllege, vs. Oregon State, vs. Arizona State, at Arizona, vs. Colorado, at Utah, at Washington State, vs. California, at UCLA, vs. Notre Dame

Prediction: With Max Wittek gone to Hawaii, the Trojans are a little thin behind QB Cody Kessler. There will be no benching him if he struggles again this year. Javorius Allen and Tre Madden will again split time in the backfield. On paper, this team looks very similar to the one that finished with ten wins last year. The loss of Marquse Lee could hurt quite a bit. I can’t count the number of times he made Kessler look good last year. Devon Kennard is about their only major loss on defense. Hayes Pullard and Quinton Powell lead a LB unit that is the strength of the defense. Watch out for DT Leonard Williams. He takes up a lot of space in the middle.

I still have questions about whether Kessler is the right fit for this team. I also think the way Ed Orgeron was dismissed could hurt. Oh, and the Josh Shaw fiasco can’t help. As far as the Pac 12 goes, this is an easy schedule. The Trojans get Colorado, Utah, and Cal. On top of that, they dodge Oregon. Road trips to Stanford and cross-town rival UCLA won’t be easy. I have USC at 9-3 as well thanks to the comparatively soft Pac 12 schedule.

Aug 30, 2013; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats safety TraMayne Bondurant (21) sings Bear Down after the fourth quarter against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Arizona Stadium. Arizona beat Northern Arizona 35-0. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

4. Arizona:

Schedule: vs. UNLV, at UTSA, vs. Nevada, vs. California, at Oregon, vs. USC, at Washington State, at UCLA, vs. Colorado, vs. Washington, at Utah, vs. Arizona State

Prediction: RB Ka’Deem Carey, who was the heart of this offense, is gone. So too is WR Terrance Miller who was second on the team in receptions. QB B.J. Denker is also gone. All that aside, none of them were really the guy that Rich Rodriguez wanted running his offense, aside from Carey. Jesse Scroggins seems to have held off Anu Solomon at QB, at least for now. Zach Green will take over as the tailback. Nate Phillips and Austin Hill are good receivers, provided Scroggins can get them the ball. There are so many new players in this offense, that Arizona really is a wild card this year. On defense, they lost CB Shaq Richardson, and LB Marquis Flowers to the NFL. Those are two holes that will be hard to fill. Tra’Mayne Bondurant and Reggie Gilbert are still the strength of a defense that was very good last year. Just look at what they did to Oregon. If they can play at that level again, the Wildcats could be a surprise team in the South.

Games at Oregon and at UCLA look like sure losses. Aside from that, they at least have a shot in all of the other games. This is what makes preseason so tough. Most of their skill players on offense are unproven. They could be really good or really bad. Or even a little of both. I have Arizona at 6-6, but they could win nine. I just wouldn’t bet on it at this point.

Travis Wilson has the talent to lead this team to really good things. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

5. Utah:

Schedule: vs. Idaho State, vs. Fresno State, at Michigan, vs. Washington State, at UCLA, at Oregon State, vs. USC, at Arizona State, vs. Oregon, at Stanford, vs. Arizona, at Colorado

Prediction: I really love the way that QB Travis Wilson plays. Dres Anderson is a very good receiver, and James Poole is a serviceable running back. There really was no reason for the Utes to be as bad as they were last year. This team did beat Stanford, after all. Defensively, they have some holes to fill. CB Keith McGill and LB Trevor Reilly were both drafted this year. This team has a good line and a very good secondary. Yards shouldn’t come that easily against them, but they need the offense to step up and help keep them off the field.

This is a pretty tough schedule for Utah. They are at Stanford and UCLA. They are at Colorado and don’t play Cal. If they play like they did most of last season, they will be lucky to win two games. If they play like they did against Stanford, they win at least seven. I really wish I could watch the Fresno State game before I pick this. I have Utah at 4-8. I guess I have to aim for the middle!

Liufau helped the Ralphies ditch the title of Pac 12 doormat last year. What can he do for an encore? Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

6. Colorado:

Schedule: vs. Colorado State at Denver, at Massachusetts, vs. Arizona State, vs. Hawaii, at California, vs. Oregon State, at USC, vs. UCLA, vs. Washington, at Arizona, at Oregon, vs. Utah

Prediction: Sefo Liufau played well as a true freshman last year, but he lost the best receiver Colorado has had since Michael Westbrook in second round draft pick Paul Richardson. Christian Powell and Michael Adkins will both see a lot of carries again this year unless one of them separates himself from the other. Continuity has been an issue for the Ralphies since Neuheusel was dismissed. It seems they might finally have some of that this year. This is a veteran defense that played well at times last year, but the overabundance of NFL caliber QBs in this league will still make them look bad at times.

Colorado is on the right track after winning four games last year. I see four definite wins, with a couple of more possible wins. So why do I have them at the bottom? I think they lose to Utah, so even though they might have a better overall record, they still lose in-conference. I have Colorado winning four games again, which could be a huge achievement without Richardson.

Come back throughout the day for a college football extravaganza! I will have my first odds post of the year, the SEC preview, and my preseason top 25!

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