Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota’s graduation to the NFL has opened the door for the rest of the Pac-12 to challenge the Oregon Ducks for the top spot. According to the betting odds, it’s the USC Trojans that are in the best position to challenge for conference supremacy.
USC has been a forgotten team since Pete Carroll left but they might finally be back on the map. They are listed as the outright favorite to win the Pac-12 at +200 odds but Oregon, UCLA, Stanford and even Arizona State are expected to be in the mix and that could make the conference that much more dangerous on the national level.
Here is a look at what to expect in the Pac-12 for the 2015 college football season.
Best Coach In The Pac-12: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
The Pac-12 isn’t held in the same high regard as other power conferences like the SEC and even the Big Ten when it comes to its coaches and part of the problem is that two of the conference’s best recently graduated to the NFL ranks.
Remember that Pete Carroll moved on up to the Seattle Seahawks and Chip Kelly took over as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. David Shaw deserves honorable mention in this spot but Helfrich gets the nod as the best coach in the Pac-12 despite only two full years on the job at Oregon.
Helfrich took the reins from Kelly a couple of years ago and the expected letdown that many predicted would accompany that move never did happen. The Ducks have won 24 games and played in a national title game since. Oregon will be in tough this season without Mariota but Helfrich and his staff are confident they can repeat as Pac-12 champions after recruiting quarterback Vernon Adams. It’s impossible to ignore that based on how the program has performed over the last two seasons.
Who Will Win The Pac-12: USC
The Trojans have been one of the most difficult teams to predict over the past couple of seasons. The college football experts still don’t know if they have what it takes to perform at a high level consistently enough to win a Pac-12 title.
Even so, they are listed as the favorites to win the conference for a reason. Senior quarterback Cody Kessler has the potential to put up some big numbers this season and it will be up to the offense to step up and really set the tone for this team.
The Trojans have been sputtering on that side of the football since the days of Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, but Kessler could be their best quarterback in years. He’s experienced, he’s polished and he should be in the Heisman Trophy conversation by the time the season is over.
The defense has some work to do after they lost Leonard Williams in the offseason but the good news is the schedule should help them out. They have the benefit of playing Stanford, Arizona and UCLA at home. The real tests for the Trojans will come on the road at Arizona State and Oregon as they look to reestablish themselves among the top teams in the nation.
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Sleeper Team To Win The Pac-12: Arizona State
The Sun Devils might be too talented to call a sleeper pick to win the Pac-12 but considering USC, Oregon, UCLA and Stanford are all considered ahead of them according to the betting odds to win the conference, we will make them our sleeper play.
Arizona State has finished in the Top 25 in back-to-back years under head coach Todd Graham and with senior Mike Bercovici poised for a breakout year in his first full season as the team’s starting quarterback, there is no reason to limit how high this team’s potential ceiling could be. The Sun Devils have gone from an underachieving program to a perennial 10-win team under Graham.
After rebuilding from the bottom, Arizona State is finally ready to contend for a conference title as a sleeper pick to win the Pac-12 this season.
