The Pac-12 participation thread.

[TripletDaddy]

The PAC is making me nervous. I want to be able to watch football, I don't care about streaming water polo and track to my ipad. I wish they would nail down the specifics for all football with DirecTV.

DirecTV CEO was just giving some pretty negative vibes just said a few days ago re: carrying all the PAC channels.

DirecTV CEO Mike White on the Pac-12 Networks: "We're not going to have 7 channels [1 national, 6 regional], I can assure you of that."

[Mormon Red Death]

Do you have an xbox or ps3 or even an app availaible tv? If so you will be able to get hd football on those.

Sent from my SGH-T839 using Tapatalk 2

[LA Ute]

Do you have an xbox or ps3 or even an app availaible tv? If so you will be able to get hd football on those.

Sent from my SGH-T839 using Tapatalk 2

We have the hardware and will get football, somehow or other!

[OrangeUte]

"No question it's ambitious," noted Stevenson. "We do expect a few bumps in the road, but it's important to make our services available to subscribers on all platforms." when he says "subscribers", I hope he's not saying it will only be available to comcast service subscribers. This was in response to the online/tablet/smartphone services and is a quote by the head of Comcast.

[DU Ute]

[YOUTUBE]PbNXT5PYUxE[/YOUTUBE]

I want to go to there.

[TripletDaddy]

SC back on the cover of the PAC preview

[SeattleUte]

They have different cover for each state or region. Duh.

[TripletDaddy]

Yes, I know. What's the point?

[TripletDaddy]

Let's get the PAC predictions going for this season.

No shocker that pre-seaz faves are SC and the Pot Smoking Laptop stealers. I predict Utah as a solid second place in the P12S. UCLA and Colorado will be horrible again, ASU should be ok, and the Zoo is the Zoo. If Utah upsets SC, they should cruise to the title game.

My predictions (not much of a limb, I know):
P12N:
1. Oregon--until someone proves otherwise, this is where they reside. People should learn by now that Oregon "breaking in a new QB" is fairly meaningless. Dixon, Masoli, Thomas....can someone please point out the drop-off from QB to QB? in fact, look at Masoli at Ole Miss vs at Oregon. If anything, the system improves the QB, not vice versa. Oregon has enough returning talent to give any QB several viable options on the ground or in the air. Without a doubt, the game of the year for the PAC will be when Oregon heads down to LA to play SC.
2. Washington--I am not down with the Dawgs but I do bark for Sark on the dl simply because he was a great Cougar and did a great job at SC. He is a good guy and I want him to succeed. He is managing to put together a respectable class up there and I do believe that he is slowly changing the mindset in Seattle to get his guys back to the old Husky program that expects to win. That being said, the team has a lot of problems but I am making them my surprise pick. Don't Huck with the Phuskies.
3. Stanford--the Farm will suffer a notable setback now that Luck has moved on to the NFL. They have to play @Kal, @Notre Dame, and @Oregon. No way they survive that gauntlet unscathed. I think they will finish with 3 conference losses.
4. Washington State--I want to put them higher and make them my surprise pick of the season but the fact is that Leach still needs to stock the cupboards. His mere presence won't be enough to make a huge difference in Year 1, although I expect the Cougs to have a much improved signing day this February. Schedule is a toss-up...tough road games @BYU, @ The Farm, @ Utah, but they do get Oregon and Washington at home (not sure that will help, frankly). I look for Wazzou to shock a few teams here and there as the Leach effect takes root. As he begins to implement his system, I also look for Leach to lock all the crappy players in various tool sheds all over Pullman and throw away the key.
5. Kal--This team is not good and recruiting is a mess. It looked good for a few days until recruits started changing their commitments. As usual, I look for Kal to resort to its annual parasitic ways, picking up well-regarded castaways that didn't get the offers of their choice in February, putting together what appears to be a nice class and a nice team on paper, then proceeding to play mediocre ball all year, culminating in a bowl loss. 7 home games this year won't save the Bears....road games to SC, the Luckeyes, and Utah (revenge game) will ensure a middling result.
6. Oregon State: the Beavos are terrible. They will be destroyed when they travel to Wisconsin, BYU will beat them, Oregon will clobber them, Utah should handle them, Washington will trounce them....in short, Oregon State should have 2 competitive games this year....season opener against Nicholls State and home game vs. Wazzou.

P12S:
1. SC: expectations are high. I'm not buying the hype just yet although I do think Barkley can be a legit Heisman finalist. Woods ankle is still a big question mark, but Lee is ready to have a breakout year. Schedule is relatively tough, but catching Syracuse on the road in a down year. Oregon and the Domers come to LA. Big question mark is the trip up to the High Stick to play the Farm. That game is really early (mid Sep).
2. Utah: help me out, Ute brethren. I think this all comes down to the QB again. Will Wynn last an entire season or is he still made of glass? If they can get good QB play, Utah is primed to make a hard charge in the PAC (especially since they avoid Oregon and Stanford again).
3. Arizona State: Burfict is gone but does it matter? In retrospect, not sure he was the difference maker everyone wanted him to be. Road games to Mizzou, Utah, SC, and Arizona will make this a tough season in Tempe. Early season home matchup against the Illinis will be a nice measuring stick against a respectable B1G team. And by nice measuring stick, I mean that ASU will find a way to lose the game.
4. Arizona: moderately favorable schedule, with SC, Oklahoma State, Washington, and Arizona State all at home in one of the ugliest football stadiums in the country. Road games to Oregon and Stanford will be too much for this team. Roadie to Utah will be a toss-up.
5. UCLA: ucla opens on the road against Rice. That game is a toss-up. They return home to face Nebraska the next week, where they should get pulverized. UCLA avoids Oregon this season. Not sure if the schedule will matter much over the course of the season. UCLA still has no QB. And no good RB. and no good WRs. So that pretty much ends any hope of being a good football team.
6. Colorado: who cares?

Title game: SC beats Oregon at home.

[Mormon Red Death]

John wilner audio on the Pac12 network. Some Oregon fans podcast

[Sullyute]

Let's get the PAC predictions going for this season.

P12S:
1. SC: expectations are high. I'm not buying the hype just yet although I do think Barkley can be a legit Heisman finalist. Woods ankle is still a big question mark, but Lee is ready to have a breakout year. Schedule is relatively tough, but catching Syracuse on the road in a down year. Oregon and the Domers come to LA. Big question mark is the trip up to the High Stick to play the Farm. That game is really early (mid Sep).
2. Utah: help me out, Ute brethren. I think this all comes down to the QB again. Will Wynn last an entire season or is he still made of glass? If they can get good QB play, Utah is primed to make a hard charge in the PAC (especially since they avoid Oregon and Stanford again).
3. Arizona State: Burfict is gone but does it matter? In retrospect, not sure he was the difference maker everyone wanted him to be. Road games to Mizzou, Utah, SC, and Arizona will make this a tough season in Tempe. Early season home matchup against the Illinis will be a nice measuring stick against a respectable B1G team. And by nice measuring stick, I mean that ASU will find a way to lose the game.
4. Arizona: moderately favorable schedule, with SC, Oklahoma State, Washington, and Arizona State all at home in one of the ugliest football stadiums in the country. Road games to Oregon and Stanford will be too much for this team. Roadie to Utah will be a toss-up.
5. UCLA: ucla opens on the road against Rice. That game is a toss-up. They return home to face Nebraska the next week, where they should get pulverized. UCLA avoids Oregon this season. Not sure if the schedule will matter much over the course of the season. UCLA still has no QB. And no good RB. and no good WRs. So that pretty much ends any hope of being a good football team.
6. Colorado: who cares?

Title game: SC beats Oregon at home.

I think the P12 South after SC and Utah is a pick'em. All four can win or lose at complete random. UCLA has good talent but just cannot put a complete product on the field. I would actually put Arizona above ASU but other than that I don't disagree with your standings.

[LA Ute]

FWIW: Here's part of an e-mail from Pat Haden that I got this morning:

Dear Trojan Fans:

The 2011-2012 school year was a successful one for USC Athletics....

With that in mind, we have started looking towards the upcoming 2012-2013 school year. The year promises to be a big one for the USC Athletic Department.

Lane Kiffin strengthened his already impressive staff by hiring Secondary Coach Marvin Sanders, Linebackers Coach Scottie Hazelton, and Wide Receivers Coach Tee Martin. Tee Martin joins us from Kentucky, and played collegiately at the University of Tennessee where he won the 1998 National Championship as a quarterback. Scottie Hazelton spent the past five years at North Dakota State, where he helped the Bison win the 2011 NCAA FCS National Championship as his defense was one of the top ranked in the FCS. And Marvin Sanders spent four seasons as his alma mater Nebraska’s secondary coach. Under his tutelage, the Cornhuskers led the nation in pass efficiency defense twice.

This upcoming football season for us is certainly going to be a fun one, and we want to make sure you have fun at all of our events. We know that if you continue to enjoy and feel safe at our events, then our Coliseum cannot help but become one of the most difficult places in the country for visiting teams to play. From the Thundering Herd around the tunnel to the student section anchoring the opposite end-zone, and everywhere in between, the Coliseum can be an intimidating place to play for an opposing team. Game day at USC is a one-of-a kind experience, not duplicated anywhere else in the country and we are happy that you can be a part of it and contribute to it in a positive way. Please take a minute to read below about some of the new things you are sure to see on game day this year.

[TripletDaddy]

awesome email! thanks for posting.

[LA Ute]

Utah's APR ranks second in PAC-12.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I don't quibble much with Triplet's forecast. I don't see Washington being that good, they lost a huge piece of their offense in Polk he was a rock who took a lot of pressure of Price. AS-J is a great weapon. I just don't see the talent on defense for them to be any better. Maybe Shaq will be awesome, he doesn't help the front 7 at all. IMO the problem was much bigger than Nick Holt's special brand of crazy.

SC and Oregon should both be undefeated when they meet the first week in November, with the winner earning home field for the rematch a month later.

I think Marcus Marriotta gets the nod, and Chip needs to win his fourth in a row before he leaves next winter. I think Barner explodes into a Doak Walker award-type (not saying he wins) back given the spotlight all to himself. The Ducks need a WR to step up in the worst way. Colt will continue the nice TE run Oregon has had the last decade. This should be the best Oregon defense in 12 years of season tickets.

Marquis Lee is the best WR in the conference, if not the country, despite his running mate getting all the well deserved press. Throw in the RS Soph TE and Ted Berkley has a TON of weapons, despite no running game.

Wazzu will put up some numbers, scare some teams, and fail to make a bowl.

Utah will be as good as Jordan Wynn can make them.

Stanford comes back to earth between 7-5 and 9-3, and when Southern Cal goes up there the grass will be at least ankle deep.

I think Arizona an Rich Rod are the surprise team.

Oregon over SC in December in Autzen, Chip leaves us on a high.