2023 College Football Review: PAC 12
Photo from CBS Sports
This year for the PAC 12 was about celebration, as it was the final year of the conference as we know it.
And boy, did they give us a lot to celebrate.
Let’s get to one of the best conferences in college football, one final time before its death.
1. Washington Huskies [Conference Champion] (My Prediction: 2 & Conference Champion)
The talk of the town this year was Michael Penix and Washington’s trio of excellent receivers, but we really need to discuss the excellence of their run game as the year went on, as well as their defense doing just enough to stop conference competitors Oregon in both games they faced this year.
This is a very good team, and a deserving member of the College Football Playoff.
2. Oregon Ducks (My Prediction: 4)
Last year had a lot of good Bo Nix.
I anticipated the bad Bo Nix to return this year.
He never did, and was a Heisman candidate.
Dan Lanning did excellent this year, as did Bo Nix.
It just wasn’t enough to beat Washington.
3. Arizona Wildcats (My Prediction: 8)
I said Jedd Fisch has done a good job turning around Arizona.
I did not expect that to mean he’d get the Wildcats to a 9-3 record and finishing 3rd in the conference.
What an excellent job from Fisch, and a great leap forward for Arizona football.
4. Oregon State Beavers (My Prediction: 3)
D.J. Uiagelelei performed well outside of the pressure cooker that is Clemson, and Jonathan Smith is a really good coach.
Hopefully, with the future of Oregon State up in the air and coach Jonathan Smith leaving for Michigan State, the Beavers can continue to build.
I guess we’ll see.
Shame they’ve been left out in the cold.
5. Utah Utes (My Prediction: 5)
The injury to Cam Rising meant Utah’s season was going to be tough from the start.
Despite that, they still went 8-4 and had a good season.
Now, with Cam Rising returning next year, Utah could very well be favorites to win the Big 12 next year.
6. USC Trojans (My Prediction: 1)
Surely the USC defense can’t be that bad again, right???
That’s true.
It could actually be worse.
Which is what USC’s defense was this year as the Trojans lost 5 of their last 6 to go 7-5 on the season.
Caleb Williams had some games where he saved their bacon, and some where he didn’t play well enough.
Regardless, this is turning into a very, very big issue for Lincoln Riley.
If he couldn’t do it at OU, and can’t do it at USC, then he isn’t a true title contender.
7. California Golden Bears (My Prediction: 10)
Cal made a bowl game!
Were they perfect this year? No. The offense remains a problem under Justin Wilcox.
But hey, the PAC 12 was actually very tough this year.
6-6 and a bowl appearance is a nice season.
8. UCLA Bruins (My Prediction: 6)
The rumors that UCLA was going to fire Chip Kelly confused me.
After all, this was the first year without QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
UCLA isn’t the type of program that can just seamlessly replace him with a 5 star recruit no questions asked.
Stuff like this takes time.
Thankfully, they aren’t firing him.
But I guess his seat is hot for 2024.
9. Arizona State Sun Devils (My Prediction: 9)
Arizona State went 3-9 last year, and Arizona State went 3-9 this year.
That may sound bad, but there were times this year that ASU did not have 5 scholarship offensive linemen.
This was a very, very thin roster.
3-9 at that point is honestly a win.
10. Stanford Cardinal (My Prediction: 12)
This is not an easy job at all to take over.
Troy Taylor took on the task, and Stanford went 3-9.
Like I said, this is not going to be easy.
But hey, two of those wins were at least over the teams below them.
Not last!
11. Washington State Cougars (My Prediction: 7)
Jack Dickert does have Washington State playing fun football!
He even had the Cougars at 4-0 with some nice wins over Oregon State and Wisconsin!
And then the wheels just…fell off.
The Cougs dropped 7 of their last 8 and found themselves near the basement.
While Oregon State may be headed on the right path before the giant question mark around their future, Wazzu is unfortunately not.
12. Colorado Buffaloes (My Prediction: 11)
I said they’d be fun.
Check!
I also said they’d be super duper thin, have a tough schedule, and as the year goes on it’ll be hard for them to win games.
Also check!
But do not listen to the media regarding this team.
The hype surrounding their 3-0 start may make it look like they were a total disappointment, but remember, this Colorado team went 1-11 last year, and the PAC 12 was a more difficult conference this year than in previous years.
4-8 is progress!
