Happy Thursday Cougs!!!
Continuing the theme this week, I’m going to give you my projections for the Pac 12 this season. But first, I have a couple of tidbits to pass along!
The first, it’s been rumored for months, but Cougfan.com finally confirmed yesterday the commitment and enrollment of European offensive lineman Moritz Christ. Thus explaining the tasteless headline and picture. Christ played one year of high school football as a junior at Leander H.S., which is just outside of Austin, TX. He then finished his prep career back in Germany. This big man (listed at 6’5” 320 lbs.) is already enrolled at WSU and plans on redshirting in 2011.
The gain comes at a good time, because career reserve offensive lineman Tim Hodgdon has left the program. Hodgdon was one of the last commits for former head coach Bill Doba in the class of 2008, and stayed committed to the Cougs when Paul Wulff took over. Hodgdon never cracked the two deeps at WSU.
Alright, back to the task at hand. Here is my prediction for final Pac-12 standings when the smoke clears in 2011…
North:
1. Stanford: 11-1 Overall (10-1 Conference)
2. Oregon: 10-2 Overall (10-1 Conference)
3. Washington State: 6-6 Overall (4-5 Conference)
4. Washington: 5-7 Overall (3-6 Conference)
5. Cal: 5-7 Overall (3-6 Conference)
6. Oregon State: 3-9 Overall (2-7 Conference)
Analysis: After picking every game, it came down to the Apple Cup to see who would finish 3rd and go to a bowl between UW and WSU. Obviously I picked the Cougs. Wouldn’t it be awesome if this scenario actually played out and the Apple Cup actually had some relevancy again? Cal will be right on the fringe of bowl eligibility as well. Not so much for Oregon State. They’ve been one of the most consistent teams in the Pac-10 in recent years, but losing both the anchor on the O-Line (Alex Linnenkohl) and the anchor on the D-Line (Steven Paea), and not to mention Jaquizz Rodgers, will hurt them big time. Stanford and Oregon are clearly the two best teams in the conference and the North title should come down to whoever wins between the two. Oregon will be REALLY good again. But I have to put my money on Andrew Luck at home.
South:
1. USC: 9-3 Overall (7-2 Conference)
2. Arizona State: 10-2 Overall (7-2 Conference)
3. Arizona: 7-5 Overall (5-4 Conference)
4. Utah: 6-6 Overall (4-5 Conference)
5. Colorado: 4-8 Overall (2-7 Conference)
6. UCLA: 2-10 Overall (1-8 Conference)
Analysis: I had a little tougher time picking the South. Having UCLA with only two wins made me want to reconsider things, but I just didn’t see them winning many of the games on their schedule. Having ASU so high also caught me off guard, but I think they will be one of the better defensive teams in the country, let alone the conference, even with some injuries they suffered in the spring. If they can get some consistent offensive production, they will be tough to beat. I think USC will take a step forward this year and win the South with Matt Barkley coming into his own and oh yea, having Robert Woods to throw to doesn’t hurt either. Arizona will return Nick Foles and Juron Criner but lose Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore, they will be good but not great. Utah will not win double digit games like they did last year in the Mountain West, but they will still be a good enough team to be bowl eligible their first season in the Pac-12.
Overall Champion: Stanford
Offensive MVP: Andrew Luck
Defensive MVP: Vontaze Burfict
Coach of the Year: Paul Wulff
Conference Game of the Year: Nov. 12th Oregon at Stanford
Non-Conference Game of the Year: Sept. 3rd Oregon vs. LSU
Freshman of the Year: George Farmer (USC)/Kasen Williams (Washington)
Coaching Casualties: Rick Neuheisel and Jeff Tedford
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