2023 Pac-12 football predictions: Odds, picks, and best bets

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The Pac-12 Conference has a number of contenders poised to end the league’s College Football Playoff drought which dates back to 2016. There promises to be offensive fireworks in the Pac-12 in 2023 before USC and UCLA exit for the Big Ten.

Let’s take a look at our favorite Pac-12 predictions, including odds, picks and best bets.

2023 Pac-12 football predictions: USC favored over Oregon, Washington, Utah

The USC Trojans are the 2023 Pac-12 football odds favorites to win conference championship in coach Lincoln Riley’s second season. The Trojans will have stiff competition in what has developed into a deep conference.

Oregon and Washington have the next highest Pac-12 football odds, with two-time defending league champion Utah listed just behind them.

2023 Pac-12 football odds: Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley to lead USC to league title (+200 or better)

For just the second time in Lincoln Riley’s head coaching career he’ll have a returning starting quarterback. And this one happens to be the Heisman Trophy winner. That’s a scary thought.

Caleb Williams returns to Los Angeles for one last run before becoming the likely No. 1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft. He’ll have loads of talent at the skill positions despite the Trojans losing their leading rusher and receiver from last year’s 11-3 squad. Arizona transfer Dorian Singer, an All Pac-12 talent, figures to be a new favorite target of Williams.

Paramount to the Trojans’ success in 2023 will be improvement on defense. The Trojans added impact transfers, including Georgia defensive lineman Bear Alexander, to assist a defense that allowed 29.2 points a game a season ago.

At +140 odds, we’re taking USC to claim its first Pac-12 title since 2017.

2023 Pac-12 best bets: Fade the Oregon Ducks conference title hopes (Under 9.5 wins)

Bo Nix’s return under center gives Oregon all kinds of potential for 2023. The senior quarterback enters his second season in Eugene among the favorites in the 2023 Heisman odds after passing for career highs across the board a season ago.

But how will Nix and the Oregon offense fare in 2023 with new offensive coordinator Will Stein?

Nix and Kenny Dillingham (Nix’s former OC at Auburn and now the head coach at Arizona State) created offensive fireworks last season, and nothing less will be expected in Stein’s first season calling plays.

But can the Oregon defense hold up? More specifically, can the Ducks rush the quarterback? Oregon’s defense recorded just 18 sacks in 2022, which contributed to a poor passing defense despite loads of talent.

Oregon’s schedule tightens up in the back half. The Ducks travel to Utah and Washington and then host USC in a stretch that will determine their season.

We’re taking the Under on the Ducks’ 9.5 win total in 2023.

2023 college football long shot pick: Oregon State Beavers a legit Pac-12 contender (+1100 or better)

Oregon State is coming off its first 10-win season since 2006. Could even greater heights be on the horizon in 2023?

We love the Beavers as a Pac-12 long shot to win the Pac-12 in 2023 under coach Jonathan Smith, who has his alma mater on a major upswing.

Quarterback play was an issue for Oregon State in 2022, but in steps Clemson transfer DJ Uiagalelei. If Uiagalelei can live up to the hype he received as a prospect, he has the talent to take Oregon State’s offense to another level. He’ll have to secure the job in fall camp, first.

Running back Damien Martinez took the Pac-12 by storm last season as a true freshman and has a chance to cement himself as the league’s best back behind an offensive line that returns four starters.

The schedule sets up fairly well, too. Oregon State dodges USC and gets Utah and Washington at home.

The Beavers also look like a great bet to exceed their 8.5 win total.

2023 Pac-12 football picks: Taking the over on Washington Huskies win total (9.5 wins or better)

Expected Heisman contender Michael Penix Jr. is back at quarterback to lead yet another explosive Pac-12 offense. He also has one of the top receiver duos in college football returning in Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, who each went over 1,000 yards last season.

The Huskies averaged nearly 40 points per game in 2022 and should hit that mark again this season if it can fill holes on the interior offensive line.

Washington’s defense will be led by edge Bralen Trice, who terrorized quarterbacks in 2022 with nine sacks. A couple key transfer portal additions should mean a much-improved Huskies defense in 2023.

We’re taking the Over on Washington’s 9.5 win total despite a difficult schedule that includes a three-week stretch at USC, home against Utah and then at Oregon State.

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Adam Soebbing is an Illinois-based journalist with two decades of sports journalism experience, including time as the sports editor of the Quad-City Times. He's overseen coverage on college football, PGA and LPGA golf, MMA and other sports.