Pac 12 Media Days: No Surprise as Media Predicts USC to Win Conference

The Pac-12 only gets one day with the media, unlike many of the other conferences in college football, but the routine is the same. The players and coaches are interviewed; a few say some bizarre things, and then the media make their predictions for who they believe will win the conference.

In the Pac-12, there aren't many great teams, so the results (per Pac-12.org) are not really that surprising. USC was picked as the favorite to win the entire conference, while Oregon got the second-most love of any other team.

Other teams that received at least one first-place vote include California, Utah, UCLA and Stanford.

The Results (first-place votes in parentheses)

North Division

1. Oregon (117) 732
2. Stanford (5) 533
3. Washington 502
4. California (1) 382
5. Washington State 228
6. Oregon State 205

South Division

1. USC (117) 729
2. Utah (1) 514
3. UCLA (2) 435
4. Arizona 385
5. Arizona State (3) 353
6. Colorado 164

Athlon Sports

Athlon Sports made its early predictions for the conference a few months ago, and the results were very similar. USC and Oregon are without question the front-runners to win their respective divisions, while everyone else is taking a backseat.

One of the main differences between Athlon Sports' predictions and the media's is that it believes Stanford will take a huge fall with Andrew Luck leaving, while the media believe the Cardinal will remain competitive.

Other than that, there aren't many drastic differences between what the media and Athlon Sports think will happen in 2012 for the Pac-12.

My Thoughts

The media got it right with USC winning the conference. The Trojans are the deepest team on both sides of the ball, have arguably the best quarterback in the country leading the way and have a very feisty defense.

One of the things I disagree with is Cal finishing fourth in the North Division. The Golden Bears return their starting quarterback and a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver. This team should manage to score a lot of points, and it returns six starters on the defensive side of the ball.

Of course, Oregon will likely hang on to return to the Pac-12 title game, but don't sleep on Jeff Tedford's club.

Overall, I think the media got it right with the order of finish for the most part.