2023 preseason expectations PAC12
Welp, we might as well take a look at the PAC12 next as talking about them has suddenly become all the rage. Yes, they are going to play out one final season together. We will look back on this year as the last that uttering “P5” was a thing.
See first comment for image.
There’s a clear top-half and bottom-half with a 30-spot gap right in the middle. No other conference has a gap of more than 20, except for Vanderbilt being ranked 23 spots lower than the SEC’s #13 team.
They have 6 of the top 23 teams, led by USC, who is expected to face strong competition from Washington, Utah & Oregon. Oregon St & UCLA could provide a spur in someone’s tuchus.
And good for OSU! (NTOSU) I was pleased a couple weeks ago to see them ranked this high, being viewed as a quality contender. But now that things have transpired, this is their last chance to really make some noise and audition for 2024 inclusion somewhere.
Of the PAC12’s top 6 teams, 4 are going to the B1G next year and another is considering the Big XII. The Big XII continues to pick up scraps that the B1G/SEC aren’t interested in, adding 2-3 teams from the bottom half of the PAC12.
If there’s only 4 left standing, OSU (20), WSU (53), Cal (64), & Stanford (87) seem to fit in quite nicely with Boise St (43), Air Force (58), SDSU (67), & Wyoming (86), if you catch my drift.
The PACX will raid the MWC, making a west coast version of what had been the AAC. And then everyone will be concerned with where Hawaii lands. And then we’ll remember that they live in Hawaii and no one will continue to be concerned.
Prior threads:
First of all Buckeye Chuck 45-23!!
second thank you for the chart! I’m a visual person!
Damn
I'm going to cherish the normalcy of this fall, then things will get very funky.
Id love the B1G to grab the remaining 4 pac teams including the Beavs and Wazzu but Cal and Stanford seem more likely.
I'd like to see the old Pac 8 become the new B24 West. Then add 2 more schools, maybe FND and Free Shoes, and split the 16 teams into B24 Central and B24 East.
I think it is more likely the opposite happens and the MWC "raids" the remainder of the PACX. They have a TV deal already and the PACX doesn't.
The Big XII continues to pick up scraps that the B1G/SEC aren’t interested in, adding 2-3 teams from the bottom half of the PAC12.
This x 100. Is the Big12 just playing a numbers game? The only team they've picked up with a pulse is Utah.
What the hell. I'm gonna pull for Wazzu or Oregon St. to have a miracle year.
I mean cincy and ucf have been excellent g5 teams. I assume you mean higher profile teams
Can we just take a moment to note what has happened to Stanford as a (now obvious) validation of Harbaugh's ability as a head coach? They sucked before he got there, he made them pretty darn good, after he left for the 49ers David Shaw successfully carried on with the foundation Harbaugh built, and now they suck again.
In psychology (and probably other fields) we refer to this as an A-B-A experimental design. Rarely do the effects seem so clear and profound.
Well this is sort of awkward…
I've seen this movie before - it was the Death of the Big East.
Live Footage of PAC-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff
I vote for Oregon State because an old girlfriend went there, and it'd be fun to tease her.
The Big Ten: "We don't want to have blood on our hands. We don't want to be responsible for the death of the Pac-10, our Rose Bowl partner of 100 years."
Everyone: You took USC!!! And you took UCLA! And then you took Washington and Oregon and you want to say you didn't kill them!?! You're holding the bloody knife! Your hands are covered in cougar claw marks and your suits are covered in beaver blood!!!
You did kill them!
And the fact that the B10(16) “outbid” them after they tried to save the PAC makes it seem like they’re peeing on, and then dancing on the grave.
Probably a minority opinion but I don’t like it. Yes. I’m yelling at clouds right now too.
Trick trivia question “How many schools comprise the Big 10?”
All I know is they better rename is the "B.I.G / Pac" Conference or I'm outta here.
People seem to think one of the main thing to consider is how a school's football program is performing currently. But teams like Cal and Stanford, while down now, have been good in the past, and there's no reason they couldn't be good again in the future. Maybe part of the reason they suck is because they're languishing in a dying conference? They could be reinvigorated by a change of scenery, so to speak, by joining the B1G. They're a culture fit, in my opinion, as well.
It's usually mentioned that no one in the Bay Area cares about Cal and Stanford, partly because of all the transplants. But how many of those transplants come from B1G country? Joining the conference would give those people a reason to care about the local teams, and should juice the attendance at games and TV viewership right away. Anyway, that's just my two cents.