2021 CFP SEASON PREVIEW AUTUMN 11

Projected Final 2021 PAC 12 Standings
North PAC 12 OVR South PAC 12 OVR
1 Oregon 9-0 11-1 1 Utah 8-1 11-1
2 Washington 8-1 11-1 2 Arizona State 7-2 10-2
3 California 5-4 7-5 3 Southern Cal 6-3 8-4
4 Stanford 2-7 3-9 4 UCLA 5-4 7-5
5 Washington St 2-7 5-7 5 Colorado 2-7 3-9
6 Oregon State 0-9 3-9 6 Arizona 0-9 2-10
SPIN
San Francisco, CA – The PAC 12 was tough to analyze because most of its’ members only played a handful of
games. There were limited samples of stats, players out because of COVID, and some teams that had more time to
prepare for the season based on the local health regulations where the university is located. Predicting the South
Division was the hardest part. It is stacked with teams that could make a run at the South title: Utah, ASU and USC.
Colorado should also be decent and they might end up in a bowl. Utah and Arizona State were pretty much even. I
gave Utah the win over ASU and the PAC-12 South Title because they have home field advantage. Charlie Brewer is
an underrated QB that should get the offense moving. Add that to transfer additions at RB and the Utes seem like
the team to beat in the South. UCLA will beat USC but the Trojans will have a better conference and overall record.
I like UCLA because of Dorian Thompson-Robinson but they are a step behind Utah and ASU because of the
defensive line. I also think UCLA will give LSU all they can handle. The main reason for leaving USC out of the top
two in the South is because of the defensive line and lack of depth in the secondary. The USC offense should score
plenty of points but not enough to always outscore what the defense allows. Utah will put up a better fight than
they did in the 2019 PAC 12 Championship but Oregon will win the PAC-12 and play in the Rose Bowl. In the
North Division, Oregon got the nod over Washington because the Ducks will be solid at almost every position,
especially OL, DL and LB. One question is will Anthony Brown be the man at QB? Before transferring to Oregon
prior to last year, Brown put up numbers at Boston College but never quite broke out because of injuries, including
one that caused him to miss half of his last season there. Tyler Shough transferring out makes me think Brown
established himself as the overwhelming starter going forward. Washington should be a great team with five
starters returning on the OL. I have the Huskies handing ASU one of their two losses of the season. The best
position group for Cal will be their linebackers, especially Kouny Deng. Cal did beat Oregon last year and
Washington in 2019 which leaves the door open to an upset possibility. However, in the preseason, the North
looks like a two team race between Oregon and Washington. An Oregon team with one loss to Ohio State will be
left out of the College Football Playoff. The PAC-12 is usually the one power five team left out of the four team
tournament, only making two appearances- Oregon (12-1) in 2014 and Washington (12-1) in 2016. Regardless, this
should be the best the PAC-12 has been in years.
Twitter @Autumn_Eleven