Perhaps the most talked about conference all offseason has been the Pac12. They have been affected the most by conference realignment, losing 4 teams to the Big Ten and 4 teams to the Big12. I won't talk too much about conference realignment here, if you want to read more about that you can check out the article breaking down conference realignment. With that said, maybe a more fitting title for this article would be "The Last Dance."
Colorado
It seems the media has been talking about Colorado all off season, and for good reason, the Buffalo's made Deionn Sanders their head coach and he brought a lot of changes to the roster. But are all the changes he made going to bring the team immediate success after going just 1-11 last season. Their biggest changes are Travis Hunter at receiver/defensive back and Coach Prime's son Shedeur Sanders and quarterback. Colorado brought in five more transfers on offense and seven on defense.
Colorado's win total is set at 3.5 wins. They open their season against TCU, Nebraska, Colorado State and Oregon. The only win I see here for Colorado is against Colorado State, that would put the Buffaloes at 1-3 to start the season. They then play USC, Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA. Again, I only have Colorado winning one game here against Stanford to get to 2-6. They then finish their season against Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State and Utah. I don't see Colorado winning a game in this stretch as they will finish 2-10 in Coach Prime's first season.
Stanford
The next team to look at in the Pac 12 is Stanford. The Cardinal has a new head coach in Troy Taylor (from Sacramento State). They also lost their starting QB from last season Tanner McKee to the NFL, who in 2022 led the team to a win over Notre Dame. However, that was only one win of just 3 for Stanford in 2022. Now, in 2023, the Cardinal hopes to make some noise in the final season of the Pac 12, but the odds are not on their side as their win total is set at just 2.5 wins.
They open their season against Hawaii, USC, Sacramento State and Arizona. I see the Cardinal picking up two wins here against Hawaii and Troy Taylor's former team Sacramento State as Stanford gets off to a 2-2 start. They then play Oregon, Colorado, UCLA and Washington. It's hard to see the Cardinal picking up a win in this stretch and I see Stanford stumbling to a 2-6 record. They then finish their season against Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Notre Dame. This is just a hard schedule for Stanford and a tough four game stretch to finish the season and I don't see any possible way they pickup a win down the stretch as the finish with a record o just 2-10 while going 0-9 in conference play.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils are an interesting team, they had a good 2021 campaign going 8-5 and then had a dud of season in 2022 going just 3-9 with two wins in conference play. In 2023, Arizona State is bringing in new head coach, Kenny Dillingham who played at Arizona State. The Sun Devils also brought in transfer QB Drew Pyne (from Notre Dame), WR Xavier Guillory (from Idaho State), WR Melquan Stovall (from Colorado State) and RB Cameron Skattebo (from Sacramento State). They also bring in a handful of transfers of the defensive side of the ball to strengthen that unit who in 2022 gave up 31.4 points per game.
Arizona State's win total is set at just 4.5 wins. They open their season against Southern Utah, Oklahoma State, Fresno State and USC. I see the Sun Devils getting two wins here against Southern Utah and Fresno State to get to a 2-2 start. They then play Cal, Colorado, Washington and Washington State. I again have Arizona State going 2-2 here with wins against Colorado and Washington State to get to a 4-4 record on the season. Then they finish their season with a tough four game stretch against Utah, UCLA, Oregon and Arizona. This is a tough slate of games to finish the season and I don't see the Sun Devils getting a win here to finish the season 4-8 with a 2-7 conference record.
Washington State
Washington State finished the 2022 season with a 7-6 record but were not able to beat the big dogs in the Pac 12. Can they take the leap this season to compete with the conference top teams? To do that, they're going to need help from the wide receiver position after losing their top four receivers from a year ago. They two transfer wide receivers in Josh Kelly (from Fresno State) and Kyle Williams (from UNLV). they also brought in two linebackers on defense in Devin Richardson (from Texas) and Ahmad McCullough (from Maryland). Are these pieces enough to rise to the top of the conference?
The Cougars win total is set at 6.5 wins. They open their season against Colorado State, Wisconsin, North Colorado and Oregon State. I only see two wins here for Washington State against Colorado State and North Colorado to start the season 2-2. They then play UCLA, Arizona, Oregon and Arizona State. Its hard to see the Cougars getting a win in this difficult stretch as they fall to 2-6. Washington State wraps their season up against Stanford, Cal, Colorado and Washington. I have the Cougars picking up just one win in this stretch against Colorado to finish the season 3-9 while going 1-8 in conference play.
Cal
The California Golden Bears went 4-8 in 2022 and haven't been relevant in the Pac 12 for awhile now, but they look to change that in 2023. They bring in a two quarterbacks in transfers Sam Jackson (from TCU) and Ben Finely (from NC State). They also brought in two transfer running backs in Byron Cardwell (from Oregon) and Justin Williams (from Tennessee). On defense they brought in edge rusher David Reese (from Florida) and defensive backs Nohl Williams (from UNLV) and Matthew Littlejohn (from Citrus JC).
Cal's win total is set at 5.5 wins. They open their season against North Texas, Auburn, Idaho and Washington. Cal should be able to go 2-2 in this stretch with wins against North Texas and Idaho. They then play Arizona State, Oregon State, Utah and USC. This is a very tough stretch for the Golden Bears and I only see them getting one win here against Arizona State to get to 3-5 on the season. They then finish their season against Oregon, Washington State, Stanford and UCLA. I have Cal getting two wins here against Washington State and Stanford to finish the season 5-7 with a 3-6 record in conference play.
Arizona
The Wildcats finished the 2022 season with a 5-7 record. Arizona is looking to make another jump in the 2023 season and with one of the best receiving corps in the Pac 12 they might do just that. Jacob Cowing and Tetairoa McMillan lead the way in the receiving room with Michael Wiley and Jonah Coleman leading the backfield. They will need help on the defensive side of the ball though if they want to make another jump in 2023. The Wildcats defense allowed 36.5 points per game in 2022 which ranked 118th in the nation.
Arizona's win total is set at 4.5 wins. The Wildcats open their season against North Arizona, Mississippi State, UTEP and Stanford. Arizona should be able to go 3-1 here with their only loss coming against Mississippi State. They then play Washington, USC, Washington State and Oregon State. I only see the Wildcats getting one win here against Washington State as they fall to 4-4 on the season. They then finish their season against UCLA, Colorado, Utah and Arizona State. I have Arizona going 2-2 in this stretch with wins over Colorado and Arizona State to get to 6-6 on the season with a 4-5 record in conference play.
Current Pac12 Standings:
Arizona 6-6 (4-5)
Cal 5-7 (3-6)
Arizona State 4-8 (2-7)
Washington State 3-9 (1-8)
Colorado 2-10 (1-8)
Stanford 2-10 (0-9)