NCAA: Washington is the 2016 Pac-12 champion!

[MMC]

Let's get these threads started

Click to read more...

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Stanford.

 

[End of Line]

Going off the board here but I have to say Washington.

 

[USC Trojans]

Heart says USC, but with the brutal schedule, brain says the Farm.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Its going to be another wild year in the PAC.

 

[Chairman Mallard]

Homer vote.

 

[sigma six]

Me too.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

There really isn't a cupcake in the conference. Oregon State being the closest.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Ucla

 

[Rocko604]

Fanboy in me says Washington, but my head and vote went with Stanford.

Agree with Gene, there could be some upsets this year. Even a team like Colorado had four conference losses of 7 points or less, including a 35-31 loss to UCLA.

That said, I still think it's Stanford and they go to the playoff.

 

[John Price]

Trojan

 

[Bonzai12]

There really isn't a cupcake in the conference. Oregon State being the closest.

Colorado is awful

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Colorado is awful

They lost 4 conference games by 7 points or less.

 

[sjsharks92]

Yet again the Pac-12 is the deepest conference in the country. 1-11 all the teams are strong (sorry Oregon State).

I think Stanford will pull it out. I'm guessing Chryst wins the starting QB job and even with his lack of experience he has the talent to thrive, especially considering he'll have McCaffrey, Bryce Love, Dalton Schultz, and Michael Rector to help break him in. Stanford's defense should be very strong this season even without Blake Martinez in the middle. Watch for Solomon Thomas and Quenton Meeks to become stars.

As usual USC is probably the most talented team in the conference but their schedule is miserable and I'm not sold on Helton in the least. Plus it sounds like the QB situation is a bit of a mess. Regardless of whose under center though they shouldn't be too bad with that dominant O-line, Juju, and the stable of RBs.

UCLA could contend for the Playoffs if Rosen turns into a national star and the defense is as good as advertised. They're going to need to finally crack Stanford to do that, but with their loaded defense I wouldn't put it past them.

Similar to UCLA I think Washington could also contend for the playoffs if Gaskin/Browning take another big step and the defense plays to it's ability.

Washington State isn't as talented as the aforementioned schools but with their offense they could take down any of them under the right circumstances.

I think this is the year Colorado finally becomes a decent team in the Pac. They have an absolutely brutal schedule as well (playing Michigan, Oregon, USC and Stanford on the road), but Mike MacIntyre will have most of his own guys in his system now. I could see them going 5-7, maybe even 6-6 if they can steal a game or 2 from someone.

Oregon appears to be falling off a bit. Helfrich just hasn't had the same recruiting success as Chip Kelly did, particularly in the 2 big states, CA and TX. Not sure how Prukop will fair but even if he and the rest of the offense are great this defense looks bad. They're probably the 4th best team in the North but who knows how that division will shape up.

Honestly the whole conference is kind of a crap shoot. I'd be stunned if any of these teams made the CFP but that's largely because I just can't see anyone getting through this conference with fewer than 2 losses.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Oregon is in a transition but getting Brady Hoke was a steal. Not much of an HC but DC/recruiter is right up his alley.

 

[sjsharks92]

Oregon is in a transition but getting Brady Hoke was a steal. Not much of an HC but DC/recruiter is right up his alley.

Hoke was a great get. He won't be able to do much this season though. The personnel just isn't there on his side of the ball. Perhaps in another year or 2 he'll be able to really makes some waves. At the very least Oregon could use the recruiting boost.

 

[sjsharks92]

Colorado is awful

Not really. They certainly aren't a contender yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish 7th or 8th in the conference overall. That's their ceiling right now I'd say, but that's saying quite a bit.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Hoke was a great get. He won't be able to do much this season though. The personnel just isn't there on his side of the ball. Perhaps in another year or 2 he'll be able to really makes some waves. At the very least Oregon could use the recruiting boost.

Another thing with Oregon is that they don't recruit like an Alabama or Georgia. They are scheme specific. Coach them up types. Not saying UGA and Bama don't do that but Oregon routinely finds diamonds and turns them into stars.

 

[sjsharks92]

Another thing with Oregon is that they don't recruit like an Alabama or Georgia. They are scheme specific. Coach them up types. Not saying UGA and Bama don't do that but Oregon routinely finds diamonds and turns them into stars.

That is true. Guys like Deforest Buckner, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, and Kiko Alonso weren't star recruits. By most scouting sources they were 3 star guys but all of them turned into studs at Oregon.

But at the same time, they haven't been scoring the elite athletes that they were just 4-5 years ago. Guys like Arik Armstead or De'Anthony Thomas or LaMichael James were all elite recruits (5 star) when Oregon got them. They haven't been able to get recruits of that caliber since Chip left. The void is becoming especially true at QB where for a 2nd season in a row they'll be relying on a D-II transfer commit. That's not a sustainable approach.

I get what you're saying that Oregon doesn't have the recruiting pull of a school like Alabama (very few do), but even by Oregon's standards over the last decade, the recruiting has been slipping the past few seasons.

 

[DaveG]

This is the one conference that I literally have no idea what to expect from year to year anymore. I mean damn I wouldn't be surprised if frigin Washington wins the whole thing.

 

[sjsharks92]

This is the one conference that I literally have no idea what to expect from year to year anymore. I mean damn I wouldn't be surprised if frigin Washington wins the whole thing.

Washington has a very real chance at winning the conference. Great coach and the team is loaded with talent, particularly on defense. But yes, there are about 6 teams that could win the conference and nobody would be surprised.

 

[DaveG]

Yep, and of course the reaction from people out East here and especially the Southeast would be an inevitable "whoa, when did THEY get good (again)?" if it were to happen.

 

[sjsharks92]

Yep, and of course the reaction from people out East here and especially the Southeast would be an inevitable "whoa, when did THEY get good (again)?" if it were to happen.

Oh the people out East and in the southeast wouldn't say that. They'd just say "see!! I told you the Pac-12 was weak!!"

No conference in the country that has more tough games than the Pac.

 

[sjsharks92]

Wow I just looked this up since I was interested in Oregon's recent recruiting. I went back to their 2008 class and check out how loaded this class was. The notables are:

DE Dion Jordan
QB Darron Thomas
QB Jeremiah Masoli
RB Kenjon Barner
RB LaMichael James
RB LeGarrette Blount
LB Kiko Alonso
TE Mychal Rivera

That's one helluva class.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

Chip, Helfrich and Belotti were nails as a recruiting trio. More notable Ducks from the Chip era as OC/HC



T.J. Ward
Walter Thurmond
Patrick Chung
Jonathan Stewart
Max Unger
Kyle Long
Marcus Mariota
Jairus Byrd

Lots of NFLers.