Pac-12 Media Days 2015: Biggest Takeaways from Day 1
Five weeks from today, the 2015 Pac-12 football season will finally be underway as Utah, Arizona and Colorado all take the field on the first Thursday night of the schedule.
With the season nearing and fall camps just days away, the Pac-12 passed a big milestone in the preseason countdown with the start of the league's media days in Burbank, California.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott opened the event with his annual "state of the conference" address as six schools—Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA and Washington State—faced the assembled media to preview their upcoming campaigns.
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The Pac-12 also unveiled the annual preseason media poll, which marked the return to the No. 1 spot for a proud powerhouse and another division title pick for the defending champions.
Here are four major takeaways from the first half of Pac-12 Media Days, which include conference expansion talk, position battles and a coach's entry into the great shoe war that started in the SEC earlier this month.
USC's hype train keeps rolling along
While the voting coaches of the preseason Amway Coaches Poll pegged Oregon as the top-ranked team in the Pac-12, the media that cover the conference is sticking with preseason darling USC.
The Trojans received the most votes to win both the Pac-12 South and the overall conference title, edging Arizona State in the division and Oregon in the league vote.
| USC | 21 |
| Oregon | 17 |
| Arizona State | 3 |
| UCLA | 2 |
| Stanford | 1 |
| 1 | Oregon (37) | USC (32) |
| 2 | Stanford (8) | Arizona State (7) |
| 3 | Cal | UCLA (6) |
| 4 | Washington | Arizona |
| 5 | Washington State | Utah |
| 6 | Oregon State | Colorado |
According to the Pac-12, this is the first year USC has been picked to win the conference since 2012. The Trojans finished that season with a 7-6 record. However, the media have correctly picked 12 of the last 15 conference champions.
Other notable takeaways from the poll, which was voted on by 45 media members, include Utah's sixth-place finish in the stacked South Division after going 9-4 last season and returning 14 starters.
In the North, Cal was picked to finish third in the division, even after three-straight losing seasons. Head coach Sonny Dykes' Bears return 17 starters this season, including ace quarterback Jared Goff and receivers Kenny Lawler, Stephen Anderson and Bryce Treggs.
Scott sticking with 12 schools
Thanks to the Big 12, conference expansion and realignment have once again become hot topics during the preseason.
But during his opening address Thursday, Scott said he wants to keep the conference at 12 schools for the time being.
"I do not see us expanding for the foreseeable future," Scott said, according to quotes released by the conference. "We are delighted with 12 schools. It's worked exceedingly well for us."
Scott believes having 12 schools makes the conference have the toughest schedules in the country and that increasing in size would weaken those slates.
Scott said:
"One of the reasons I pushed hard for and am delighted that we've got a College Football Playoff Selection Committee the way we have because I think now we're being rewarded for that strength of schedule, and part of it is 12. When you go beyond 12, you're going to dilute somewhat. You're going to have more erratic types of schedules within your conference and all that.
"
Just before Scott took the stage in Burbank, USA Today released the Amway poll. Exactly half of the Pac-12's teams—Oregon, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Stanford and Arizona—made the cut.
Scott, who also discussed Pac-12 officiating during his time at the podium, said he saw the poll as a sign of the 12-team conference's strength and how it is catching up in terms of national respect.
"I think the perception lag and perception gap is starting to change," Scott said. "I think many saw us as the best football conference in the country last year going into this year. Many are seeing us as the best. Many are seeing the Pac-12 South as the best division in all of college football."
UCLA, Oregon State not ready to name starting QBs
A few of the six schools who appeared at media days on Thursday are looking for new starting quarterbacks.
UCLA is widely expected to name 5-star true freshman Josh Rosen, who enrolled in time to participate in spring camp, as the replacement for Brett Hundley.
But Bruins head coach Jim Mora has repeatedly said he won't name a starting quarterback prior to fall camp, and he went on the offensive in his time with media Thursday:
New Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen was a bit more revealing when asked about his quarterback situation.
According to Gina Mizell of The Oregonian, Andersen is looking toward the third week of fall camp as a time when the coaches "need to have a pretty good feel on what direction that we're going."
Oregon State has a trio of freshmen competing for the starting job, and while true freshman Seth Collins seemed to have the lead in the spring, Andersen isn't naming a leader right now.
"It could be multiple directions," Andersen said, per Mizell. "We just don't know yet. It's too cloudy to say, 'This is our guy,' or 'This is the two guys.' I don't know what I even want to say yet, I've just got to wait for it all to filter out."
Meet the Pac-12's next two-way star
The Pac-12 has had its fair share of two-way players in recent seasons—Washington's Shaq Thompson, UCLA's Myles Jack and USC's Adoree' Jackson, to name a few.
On Thursday, Arizona State head coach Todd Graham confirmed sophomore running back Kalen Ballage will play both ways and is listed as the team's second-string "Devil-backer."
"He's going to rush the quarterback, an outside linebacker on defense," Graham said in quotes released by the conference. "Obviously, carry the football and be a playmaker for us on offense as well as return kicks. ... He was probably, I would say, the MVP of our spring training."
Ballage took 42 carries for 138 yards and three touchdowns last season as a true freshman. This spring, Ballage worked on becoming a more physical running back and fully utilizing his 6'3", 220-pound frame.
The rising sophomore also averaged 31.2 yards on six punt returns, highlighted by a clutch 96-yarder against Duke in the fourth quarter of the Sun Bowl.
"We think he's one of the most dynamic and versatile players in the country, so why not utilize that?" Graham, who was rocking some unique cowboy boots for the event, said Thursday. "We're going to do whatever we got to do to win games, and Kalen's willing to do anything we ask him to do."
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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