USC on Probation and Arizona State Injured: Pac-12 South Wide Open

With USC on probation and Arizona State out with injuries, the Pac-12 South is currently wide open to anyone who wants it.

The preseason favorite Arizona State has been simply decimated by injuries and USC is still on a postseason ban following the Reggie Bush scandal and consequently cannot play in the championship game.

The rest of the division is Arizona, Colorado, UCLA and Utah. Not exactly the powerhouses of the conference.

Colorado and UCLA should really be non-factors in the division based on their performances last season.

Arizona has the returning talent on defense and at the skill positions to make some damage but they don’t return a single starter on the offensive line.

Does this pave the way for Utah to get to the championship game in its inaugural season? Not necessarily.

Utah doesn’t return any players in its secondary and is from top to bottom a young team that will be playing a tougher week to week schedule than it has in the past.

Southern Cal will have the most talented team in the division and have been under the spotlight before while Arizona State hasn’t been relevant in college football in quite some time and has faltered every time they’ve been good in their bowl.

With 19 returning starters from a team that nearly beat Wisconsin, Oregon State, USC and Stanford, the Sun Devils should still be the favorites to win the division.

But because of the injuries, not by nearly as much. The biggest loss is at cornerback where Omar Bolden tore his ACL in a non-contact drill in the spring. Bolden was the Sun Devils’ best and most experienced defensive player and it leaves a thin secondary even thinner against some of the nation’s best quarterbacks.

Linebacker Brandon Magee is also out with a torn Achilles tendon. He, Shelly Lyons and Vontaze Burfict have all played linebacker together since high school and that type of cohesion simply can’t be taught.

Magee is projected to return to the lineup soon but it’s uncertain whether he will be available for a September 10th matchup against an underrated Missouri team. He should be back by the time conference play starts on September 24th but he may not be 100 percent.

Based purely on the number of returning starters, I said that Arizona State is one of the teams that could make a national title run. It was a longshot then and it is an even longer shot now.

The Sun Devils may still be the best team that can play in the Pac-12 championship but it means there is going to be a lot of work that needs to be done in order to get there in convincing fashion.

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