Pac-12 Football: Preview and Predictions for 2022 Season
The Pac-12 has no teams in the College Football Playoff. Utah and Oregon open the season on the road against SEC foes. The Pac - 12 is expected to go 3-5 against FBS competition. The season preview is chock full of the biggest stars, top storylines and must-watch affairs.
Caleb Williams, a top candidate to win the Heisman Trophy, will play quarterback at USC. Jordan Addison, who played for Pitt, is a former wide receiver. Noah Sewell is the face of Oregon's defense. Cameron Rising is second-team quarterback for Utah. Washington State's Cameron Ward is an Incarnate Word transfer who could be a star. in the future. The team is also looking for a coach. It's a good idea to pick a team that is in contention for the College Football Playoff.
The USC roster is a portal all-star team. The Pac-12 has been left out of the College Football Playoff mix in each of last five seasons. It will be the two top teams playing for the conference championship this year. The league has scrapped the North/South setup and will play for conference title. No. 7 Utah, No 11 Oregon and No 14 USC are the clear top candidates. They play each other before Labor Day. If they start out 0-1, they could be eliminated. There will also be a change in the format. This year's championship game will take place in Los Angeles.
Utah Utes are ranked in the preseason AP Top 10 for the first time in program history. Iowa State and North Carolina were ranked last season but went a combined 13-13. Oregon has finished six of the past seven seasons ranked 19th or worse. The Ducks have nonconference games against Georgia and BYU before opening Pac-12 play at Washington State. USC has a lot of new talent from the transfer portal. Tuli Tuipulotu might be the most disruptive force in Pac 12.
Lincoln Riley went 55-10 over the past five seasons at Oklahoma. He went to three College Football playoffs and a New Year's Six bowl. Dan Lanning was Kirby Smart's defensive coordinator at Georgia. David Shaw is on the hot seat at Stanford after a 3-9 season. Kalen DeBoer was the coach at Fresno State last year. Washington signed him. The team is hoping that this MWC acquisition works out as well as when it took Chris Petersen from Boise State a decade ago.
No. 11 Oregon plays Georgia in Atlanta on September 3. No. 15 Michigan State plays Washington on Sep. 17. USC plays No 7 Utah on Oct.15. Oregon and USC won't play each other during the regular season. Notre Dame plays Cal at Notre Notre in mid-September and Stanford at the Fighting Irish in October. The game will be played at end of the season to determine if either team is still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Utah is a strong first runner-up. USC's offense should be special this season. Caleb Williams is the quarterback, Travis Dye is running back and Austin Jones is backup runningback. The receiving corps is deep and talented. O-line is very good. USC got one of the best transfers in LT Bobby Haskins and one the top LG Andrew Vorhees. They're not going to be "2005 USC" good, but it will be a disappointment if they don't have a top-10 offense this year.
No. 2 defense is Utah. Oregon is taking the No. 1 spot. Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe are the highest-rated 2020 recruiting class. The defensive line is going to miss Kayvon Thibodeaux, but Brandon Dorlus and Bradyn Swinson are good players. Colorado transfer Christian Gonzalez is a promising player. Dan Lanning is the new defensive coordinator. He could bring the defense back to the "top 10 in the nation" status it held in 2019.
Utah Utes are the current Pac-12 champion. Oregon Ducks are second, USC Trojans third, UCLA Bruins fourth, Washington Huskies fifth, Oregon State Beavers sixth, WSU Cougars seventh, California Golden Bears eighth, Arizona State Sun Devils ninth, Stanford Cardinal tenth, Colorado Buffaloes 11th, and Arizona Wildcats 12th.
Utah is the projected Pac-12 champion. The team will play Oregon in a rematch of a regular-season game. Last year, Utah won 38-7 in the regular season and 38,10 in Pac 12 championship. Oregon's defense is elite, but the offense is a bit of an unknown. Utah's team is expected to be a B-plus on both sides of the ball.
