The headlines didn't match the product last year out West. A sky-is-falling vibe was unavoidable following the announcement that USC and UCLA would be joining the Big Ten in 2024, leaving the Pac-12 unmoored and scrambling. But just as the Big 12 did in 2021 following its own announced departures (of Oklahoma and Texas), the conference put on a show.
Six Pac-12 teams won at least nine games and finished 22nd or better in SP+, and several first-year coaches, from USC's Lincoln Riley to Washington's Kalen DeBoer, obliterated expectations. USC's dismal defense prevented it from becoming the league's first College Football Playoff team since 2016, but this was an utterly delightful conference to watch.
That should be the case again in 2023. The headlines aren't particularly happy now either, but the product should please the eye.
USC, Oregon, Washington and two-time defending champ Utah all enter the season as contenders, with UCLA and Oregon State potentially not far off the pace. I can't decide who I like the most -- I talked myself into both USC and Utah at some point while writing last week's preview of the former South division teams, and I'm very much talking myself into both Oregon and Washington now -- but that's pretty exciting in itself. So is the fact that the scoreboard operators will be busy. The top five projected offenses in this conference, per SP+, rank first, fourth, eighth, 12th and 13th in the country with three others in the top 50. (The top defense is projected 26th.) The West has rarely lacked entertaining ball, and it certainly won't this fall.
The future is uncertain (again), but damned if the present isn't thrilling (again). Let's preview the former Pac-12 North!
Every week through the offseason, Bill Connelly will preview another division from the Group of 5 and Power 5 exclusively for ESPN+, ultimately including all 133 FBS teams. The previews will include 2022 breakdowns, 2023 previews and burning questions for each team.