Pac-12 Football: 2012 Schedule Release and Analysis

While the Pac-12's website didn't quite crash like the SEC's did a week ago when it announced its 2012 football schedule, the conference did create a buzz on Wednesday with its release of next season's slate. The second annual Pac-12 Championship Game will be played Friday, November 30th. Here are some highlights of the release:

General Notes

*Likely preseason top-five teams Oregon and USC will meet in Los Angeles on November 3rd, the same day Alabama travels to LSU.

*The Big Game between Stanford and California moves to October. The battle for the axe will take place October 20th in Berkeley.

*USC's first four conference games are against teams who finished 2011 with a winning record, while Oregon is the only one of the Trojans' final five opponents to do so

*USC and Stanford will play the first conference game of the season, September 15th in Palo Alto.

*September 8th features five marquee non-conference games: Illinois at Arizona State, Nebraska at UCLA, Oklahoma State at Arizona, Wisconsin at Oregon State and Washington at LSU.

*California will play 12 consecutive weeks without a bye.

*Eight games on Thursday and Friday are scheduled, with three of those coming the day after Thanksgiving.

*Both Stanford and USC will again play Notre Dame. The Cardinal visit South Bend on October 13th, and the Trojans host the Irish on November 24th.

*Utah misses both Stanford and Oregon for the second consecutive year.

*Colorado and Washington both face Oregon, Stanford and USC in three consecutive weeks.

*Four of the six geographical rivalry games will be played Thanksgiving weekend: Washington at Washington State, Oregon at Oregon State, Arizona State at Arizona and Utah at Colorado.

Top 5 Games to Watch

1. Oregon at USC, November 3rd

2. Stanford at Oregon, November 17th

3. USC at Stanford, September 15th

4. Oregon at California, November 10th

5. USC at Utah, October 4th (Thursday)

Toughest Three-Game Stretches

California: at Ohio State (Sept. 15th), at USC (Sept. 22nd), Arizona State (Sept. 29th)

Oregon: at USC (Nov. 3rd), at California (Nov. 10th), Stanford (Nov. 17th)

Oregon State: at Stanford (Nov. 10th), California (Nov. 17th), Oregon (Nov. 24th)

Stanford: Arizona (Oct. 6th), at Notre Dame (Oct. 13th), at California (Oct. 20th)

Washington: Stanford (Sept. 27th), at Oregon (Oct. 6th), USC (Oct. 13th)

Washington State: Oregon (Sept. 29th), at Oregon State (Oct. 6th), California (Oct. 13th)

Arizona: at Stanford (Oct. 6th), Washington (Oct. 20th), USC (Oct. 27th)

Arizona State: at Missouri (Sept. 15th), Utah (Sept. 22nd), at California (Sept. 29th)

Colorado: at USC (Oct. 20th), at Oregon (Oct. 27th), Stanford (Nov. 3rd)

UCLA: at Washington State (Nov. 10th), USC (Nov. 17th), Stanford (Nov. 24th)

USC: at Stanford (Sept. 15th), California (Sept. 22nd), at Utah (Oct. 4th)

Utah: at Arizona State (Sept. 22nd), USC (Oct. 4th), at UCLA (Oct. 13th)

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