Year two of the Pac 12 should be an interesting one. The USC Trojans will be eligible again for post season play, and seemingly unscathed from the NCAA probation and scholarship limitations. With many teams losing top tier talent, this conference is likely from the outset a two horse race.

North – Projected order of finish

Oregon – The blur offense will put up numbers without a doubt. The defense will try to be as aggressive as the offense is week to week. A few key personnel losses should be adequately filled by the Ducks depth. On the road in week 10 at USC is the most difficult game which likely will have a rematch in the conference title game.

Stanford – The Cardinal lost a ton of talent to the NFL. Entering this season the Cardinal faces an awful schedule and has questions at quarterback and the secondary. USC visits early which could spell a lot of trouble.

Washington – The Huskies aim to become a contender. Coach Sarkisian is in his fourth year at the helm, and expectations continue to rise. Good recruiting classes have built this program to the point where they will try to make this leap, this year is probably just one year too early.

California – The Golden Bears are a nightmare team. Sometimes it may be an opponents nightmare; sometimes their own nightmare. This team could be in the hunt for the conference or out of it by week 6.

Washington State – The Cougars will probably get beat up a bit this season, but the other members of the conference best get their licks in now. New Head Coach Mike Leach will bring his offense and once the system is in place the Cougars will contend. Leach has shown he can beat the big boys with third tier talent. As an aside his press conferences are hilarious especially when he starts talking about pirates. Its good to see Leach back in the coaching ranks.

Oregon State – The Beavers have missed out on bowl games the last few seasons. Mike Riley could be on the hot seat. The Beavers do not have the talent to contend, but could be respectable. A bowl game could quiet down the naysayers.

South – projected order of finish

USC – The Trojans have talent and maybe the best quarterback in the nation in Matt Barkley. The AP poll has the Trojans on top with a bit of a margin. There is a lot of talent here, depth may be an issue with the scholarship limits from the probation. USC will be a contender in the Mythical National Championship.

Utah – The Utes made themselves at home in their new conference. If USC were still ineligible, the Utes would be in the title game. This program is trending up, joining this conference has already paid dividends with exposure and better recruits. If USC stumbles along the way Utah will be ready to capitalize.

UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State – All have new coaches in charge, Jim Mora, Jr, Todd Graham, and Rich Rodriguez, respectively. Each of these schools have languished with previous coaches, and each will struggle with getting staff and recruits in place. There is going to be a rebuilding curve for these schools.

Colorado – The Buffaloes were not good last year. The benefit of that was the ability to season a lot of young players. Colorado is probably two more years away from being in contention.

Oregon vs USC title game

Oregon in an upset to win conference title.