The 2020 Pac 12 Preview with the top players, biggest games, most important transfers, and thoughts on each team.
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5. Pac 12 2020 Preview
Quick Note: Like everyone, we’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen in this unprecedented time of college football turmoil. We’re not completely delusional, but let’s have a little fun with what might happen if the season is safely played … somehow.
Anything interesting happening in the Pac-12 lately?
The league was among the first to push for the idea of a conference-only schedule, the players were at the forefront of a movement to change the dynamic of college sports as we know it, and real life dropped in like a hammer through the Pac-12 region.
And the college football season should be something to watch, too.
With the obvious caveat that all that matters is keeping everyone safe and healthy on all fronts, let’s say the Pac-12 does pull this off.
Let’s say the players have enough of their needs met to get on the field, and let’s hope the powers-that-be earnestly make certain that the safety concerns are addressed to have a season as it was set up by the schedule.
Football-wise, this is going to be awesome.
It would’ve been a whole lot of fun to have seen Ohio State come to Oregon and Michigan play at Washington – and it stinks that Notre Dame and USC aren’t playing – but where’s the sure-thing weak link game for anyone in the ten-game conference-only slate?
Arizona and Colorado might have their issues, but they each have enough to pull off a win over any one of the top teams on their respective schedules.
The same goes for UCLA, Oregon State and Washington State. They’re all going to have their struggles in some way, but it wouldn’t be the slightest bit shocking if they all beat USC, Oregon and Washington, respectively, in the rivalry showdowns.
Stanford is healthy again – it’s going to be good.
Cal has more of an offense to go along with that defense – it’s going to be good.
Arizona State has a killer defense, Utah should have a better one, Washington should have a stronger one than those two, and USC and Oregon are each coming into the season with legitimate College Football Playoff dreams.
In the end, the league might just be too good from 1-to-12 for anyone to go 10-1 with a Pac-12 Championship for that spot in the CFP.
But let’s not get greedy here.
If the Pac-12 is playing college football this season, that means a whole lot of things ended up going right. If the Pac-12 is playing college football this season, it’s going to be a wildly entertaining show.
CFN Pac 12 Preview
Teams: Surprise, Disappointments | Top Games
Players To Watch | One Thought On Each Team
– CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
NEXT: Pac 12 Teams That Will Surprise, Disappoint
4. Pac 12 Surprise, Disappointment
Pac 12 Team That Will Surprise
Stanford Cardinal
A David Shaw team won’t go 4-8 – or its ten-game equivalent – for a second year in a row. The 2019 team was hit was a disastrous array of injuries, and the season just never got going.
As long as the offensive front stays healthy, and assuming Davis Mills is the real deal at quarterback, the program that won nine games or more for four straight years before last season will be back to form.
2020 Pac 12 Previews
North Cal | Oregon | Oregon State
Stanford | Washington | Washington State
South Arizona | Arizona State | Colorado
UCLA | USC | Utah
CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
Pac 12 Team That Will Disappoint
Arizona State Sun Devils
This is a good team with an amazing defensive front seven to go along with a terrific young quarterback in Jayden Daniels. But there’s one massive problem – the schedule.
Remember, last year the Sun Devils beat Kent State, Sacramento State, and Michigan State. They went 4-5 against everyone else in the regular season.
In 2018 they lost to San Diego State, but they beat UTSA and Michigan State. They went 5-4 against everyone else before the bowl game.
Non-conference games matter to a team like ASU for the overall record – and no, there’s no glossing over how impressive those wins over MSU were – and now it’s all Pac-12, all the time. They miss Washington, but 6-4 would be a strong year with this slate. ASU fans will be hoping for something stronger.
NEXT: Pac 12 Game of the Year, Hot Seat Coaches
3. Pac 12 Games, Hot Seat Coaches
Pac 12 Game Of The Year
USC at Oregon, Nov. 14
There are bigger games when it comes to the division races and how the overall season will shape up, but this is the national big thing. Both teams – yes, USC, too – are good enough to go 9-1 or better with a Pac-12 title and a trip to the College Football Playoff. The loser in this, though, it likely out of that mix, especially if it’s Oregon dropping this at home.
5 Other Interesting Pac 12 Games
This is all very, very fluid, but at the moment if the Pac 12 slate stays relatively close to the original version …
1. Washington at Oregon, Oct. 31
2. USC at Utah, Nov. 27
3. Oregon at Cal, Nov. 7
4. Washington at Utah, Nov. 14
5. Stanford at Oregon, Nov. 28
– 2020 CFN Pac 12 5-Year Program Rankings
5 Pac 12 Coaches On The Hot Seat
It’s not necessarily about who’s about to get fired – especially this year.
Think of it this way – who has the most pressure to win because he has the highest expectations, or for some, to keep the gig?
1. Clay Helton, USC
2. Chip Kelly, UCLA
3. Kevin Sumlin, Arizona
4. Jimmy Lake, Washington
5. Mario Cristobal, Oregon
NEXT: Pac 12 Key Players To Know
2. Pac 12 Key Players To Know
5 Pac 12 Transfers Who Will Matter
Five players who made the jump and now should be a big deal.
1. QB Jake Bentley, Utah from South Carolina
2. CB Obi Eboh, UCLA from Stanford
3. WR Brandon Schooler, Arizona from Oregon
4. WR Tre’Shaun Harrison, Oregon State from Florida State
5. RB Brittain Brown, UCLA from Duke
5 Big-Time Pac 12 Players Who Deserve A Bigger Spotlight
Five players who deserve to be known and loved on a national level, but should rise up and be among the season’s best players.
1. QB Chase Garbers, Jr.
Cal
2. S Elijah Molden, Sr.
Washington
3. LB Nate Landman, Sr.
Colorado
4. DE Jermayne Lole, Sr.
Arizona State
5. LB Devin Lloyd, Jr.
Utah
5 Best Pro Prospects From The Pac 12
1. OT Penei Sewell, Jr. Oregon
2. DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, Soph. Oregon (2022)
3. CB Paulson Adebo, Sr. Stanford
4. CB Thomas Graham, Sr.
Oregon
5. DT Jay Tufele, Jr.
USC
– 2020 CFN Preseason All-Pac 12 Team
5 Biggest Pac 12 Shoes To Fill
1. QB Tyler Shough, Soph. Oregon for Justin Herbert
2. LB Evan Tattersall, Soph. Cal for Evan Weaver
3. QB Common Cooper, Soph. Washington State for Anthony Gordon
4. RB Devin Brumfield, Jr. Utah for Zack Moss
5. WR Frank Darby, Sr. for Brandon Aiyuk
NEXT: One Honest Thought On Each Pac 12 Team
1. One Honest Thought On Each Pac 12 Team
Click on each team for the preview, 5 things to know
Pac 12 North
Cal
The focus will be on the offensive side and any improvement to take the program up a few notches under Justin Wilcox, but the bread will still be buttered with the defense. Even Weaver might be gone, but the linebacking corps is still phenomenal.
Oregon
Get to the College Football Playoff. USC is the one team that has the potential to be even-good with these Ducks, and there could certainly be a loss at Utah, or to Washington, or – because it’s Oregon and it has a big problem in the state – at Arizona.
Oregon State
Don’t measure this year’s team by wins and losses – as ridiculous as that might seem. Measure it by how much more dangerous the team is under Jonathan Smith and whether or not there are overall strides made from a solid 2019. If the lines are okay, the team should be a pesky annoyance throughout.
Stanford
Just say in one piece, Stanford. The offensive line could be special, and the defense has NFL parts, and the passing game should be effective, but everyone has to be healthy. It’s amazing how quickly everyone seemed to forget just how good this program was before last year.
Washington
Watch out for the Huskies to be sold way, way short this year. Maybe it’s because of the changes in the offensive backfield, or the new head coach, but there doesn’t seem to be the respect that others are getting in the division. The defense has the talent to be the league’s best, and the offensive line is more than good enough to hold its own. The bar for Jimmy Lake in his first year is set at winning the Pac-12 North – at least.
Washington State
How’s it going so far under Nick Rolovich? And you thought having Mike Leach as the head man was interesting. Football-wise, the offense doesn’t slow down. The passing game should still be amazing, but the defense will have too many problems holding serve.
Pac 12 South
Arizona
Kevin Sumlin is having a hard time putting this all together. The Wildcats will always have their moments offensively, but when you lose a fleet of defensive backs to the transfer portal, and star LB Tony Fields takes off, too, it’s hard to make the strides needed on defense. Other than the home game against Colorado, Arizona should be the underdog against everyone else.
Arizona State
Get ready for a whole lot of ugly wins. The defense is going to have games when it rises up and shuts down everything on the other side, but the offensive line might not be quite where it needs to be to take over. If that O line starts to roll and the running game works, look out.
Colorado
Hey, Karl Dorrell, welcome back to life as a head coach in the Pac-12. That’s so nice of the conference to give you at Oregon, Utah, at Arizona and at USC to kick off your era. The expectations for the Buffs will be next to nothing in this craziest of all seasons, but don’t be shocked if this defense screws someone up.
UCLA
It’s not just that UCLA hasn’t been able to get rolling under Chip Kelly. It’s that no one seems to think any switch is about to flip on. Kelly has his guys in place in Year Three, but where are the stars? A huge season – like, 7-3 huge – would make the Bruins one of big national stories.
USC
The offense plus all the loads of experience on the defensive side should be enough to take a relatively soft South. Win two of the three against Oregon, Stanford and Utah on the road, win everything in LA, and it’ll almost certainly be 9-1 with a shot at the CFP going into the Pac-12 Championship. There’s no excuse for anything less with the team that’s returning.
Utah
Sort of how Washington is being a bit undersold and underloved, that’s Utah in the South. It might be the way the team collapsed at the end last season, but getting QB Jake Bentley from South Carolina was huge, and the lines overall are the best in the Pac-12 – or right there with Oregon’s. With USC coming to Salt Lake City, a third straight trip to the Pac-12 Championship is the bar.
