What do you do with a true freshman 5-star quarterback who is competing with two more experienced players at his position? Do you start him, redshirt him or lock him in as a reserve?

Those are the options facing USC head coach Lane Kiffin as he spends his summer mulling over which of his three quarterbacks will start this fall.

Is it redshirt sophomore Cody Kessler, who has patiently waited his turn behind Matt Barkley? Is it redshirt sophomore Max Wittek, who was thrust into the starting role against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech after Barkley went down with an injury against UCLA?

Or is it highly coveted 2013 recruit Max Browne, who had a great spring camp? 

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Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott earned more than $3 million last year, making him the highest-paid "sitting college commissioner," according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Scott earned every cent of that paycheck.

His innovative and forward-thinking ideas launched the Pac-12 Networks. This is the "first time a U.S. collegiate conference or any other programmer has launched a collection of networks across a variety of platforms, rather than a sole network," according to the Pac-12's official website. More:

Despite these accomplishments, the Pac-12 still manages to be viewed by many as a second-tier league. The Wall Street Journal's Rachel Bachman's article highlights this perception:

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Pac-12 teams should start paying more attention to UCLA's scheduling philosophy. It may improve the league's image. 

UCLA has played Tennessee, Kansas State and Texas twice in the past five years. This year the Bruins will play at Nebraska as part of its non-conference schedule.

That's a tough stretch for a football program trying to reverse a decade of underachievement. But scheduling high-profile teams in well-respected conferences has helped UCLA build a pipeline to high schools in states with fertile recruiting grounds.

The Bruins class of 2013 includes three Texas products: 4-star receiver Eldridge Massington (Mesquite), 4-star linebacker Deon Hollins (Missouri City) and 4-star guard Caleb Benenoch (Katy). 

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Lane Kiffin has thought about being a high school football coach. He wasn't serious about that career path, according to the Associated Press' Ralph D. Russo: 

College coaching is a grueling job. That's why the best coaches haul in seven-figure salaries. But people who are happy in their jobs usually don't fantasize about a lower-level job unless the stress of their job is getting to them. There is no escapism if one doesn't feel a need to escape.

Kiffin has to be feeling stress. All of those off the field distractions last year. That 7-6 record including a stunning loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. UCLA out-recruiting USC. The constant pressure to fix this year's team.  

Each little incident associated with Kiffin last year wasn't a big deal. But Kiffin's public persona magnified everything. From Russo:  

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Receivers bring out the best in college football fans. They bring us to our feet when a deep ball is thrown and bring us to our knees when the ball is caught. Or dropped.  

The Pac-12 consistently provides college football with some of the best receivers in the country and this year is no exception.

One Pac-12 receiver is on a notable Heisman watch list. But Oregon State and Washington's stars may throw a wrench into his Heisman campaign. 

Washington State and Oregon State were the only Pac-12 teams that had the nation's top 20 passing offenses last year. That doesn't mean there is not an abundance of receiver talent in the league. 

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They are the only remaining FBS teams to have never scheduled an FCS team. And they have done so with pride.

It is mentioned in the schools' media guides. It's talked about among their fans in an almost reverent tone.

It needs to stop. 

With the rollout of the College Football Playoff starting in 2014, USC, UCLA and Notre Dame need to swallow their pride and schedule an FCS team. If they don't, a Fresno State will beat one of the holdouts and keep it out of the national semifinals. 

In a strange way, losing to a Fresno State could actually be more damaging to a team's playoff hopes than losing to an FCS school. Why? Simply because a loss to a legitimate FBS school like Fresno State could be viewed as something more than an upset. Maybe Fresno State really is better.  

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Who is the best quarterback in the Pac-12?

Some teams have not named their starter, so the quarterbacks on those teams will be placed at the back of the pack for now. 

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota may be on everyone's Heisman list this season, but he's going to have serious competition from quarterbacks on a few teams from the Pac-12 South and at least one from the North. Who is that guy?

Let's take a peek at what the Pac-12 quarterbacks are ready to unleash this fall.

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When USC lost to Notre Dame and UCLA last year, head coach Lane Kiffin's job was thought to be in immediate peril, but USC athletic director Pat Haden spared him the pink slip.

Subsequent staff changes—defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin is out, and Clancy Pendergast is in—have led to peculation that if the defense doesn't improve, Lane Kiffin will probably be out of a job.

But the defense's performance won't decide Kiffin's future. If USC's defense underachieves, yet the team goes to a BCS bowl, all is forgiven, isn't it?  

Kiffin's cloudy future has more to do with USC losing to its two rival schools and failing to secure a higher-tiered bowl berth.

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