In my previous article I covered  the North Division of the now Pac 12 Conference. Now I will look at the teams in the South Division. The best team in this division is USC but the Trojans are still on probation and not eligible for post-season play, including the Pac 12 Championship game. That means one of the other 5 teams will win the division. Arizona St, Arizona, UCLA, and newcomers Utah and Colorado will fight for the division crown.

Here is a look at all 6 teams and their odds to win the division, the conference, and the BCS national title courtesy of bodog.

USC Trojans (No odds, ineligible for post-season play)

For the second consecutive year USC is on probation under coach Lane Kiffin and must play spoiler. The Trojans are down some scholarships so it will affect their depth. Also, motivation could be a problem as USC can only play spoiler and not win the conference title.

Last year the Trojans were 8-5. Despite the probation the Trojans still have enough  talent to compete with any team in the conference or the country for that matter. Led by quarterback Matt Barkley, the offense scored 31 points a game but the mediocre defense gave up 26 points a game. Barkley is a junior now and could be a dark horse Heisman candidate. He has plenty of weapons to throw to with talented receivers like tight end Rhett Ellison and flanker Robert Woods. USC alaso has a talented group of running backs including Dillon Baxter, Curtis McNeal, and Marc Tyler.

The defense should be better if Barkley can cut down on the interceptions  and keep them off the field for long periods of time. The secondary will be an issue especially against the high powered offenses in the conference.

USC has a difficult schedule with home games against Minnesota, Syracuse, Utah, Arizona, Stanford, Washington, and UCLA. The Trojans travel to Arizona St, Cal, Notre Dame, Colorado, and Oregon. With that schedule I think the Trojans will win 8 or 9 games.

Arizona St Sun Devils (+190 division, 11/2 conference, 75/1 BCS)

Last year ASU finished a disappointing 6-6 and weren’t eligible for a bowl because two of their wins were against FCS opponents. The Sun Devils should be much better this season and are the favorite to win the South division. Coach Dennis Erickson has 20 starters returning.

Arizona St scored 32 points a game last season, and the passing game was ranked 15th in the nation. However, the running game struggled and was ranked 78th.   Junior Quarterback Brock Osweiler takes over as the signal caller for Steven Threet who quit football after his fourth concussion. Osweiler threw for 797 yards and 5 touchdowns with no interceptions last season in a handful of games. He also rushed for a touchdown and was the team’s third leading rusher with 124 yards on 38 carries.  The offensive line needs to protect the quarterbacks better as they gave up 30 sacks last year.

The defense gave up 25 points a game last year, but they were dominant at some times. They gave up an average of 17 points to Stanford, Washington and Wisconsin but gave up 42 points or more to Cal, Oregon, and UCLA. They need to play a lot better or at least be more consistent.

The schedule is very tough with home games against Missouri, USC, Oregon St, Colorado, Arizona, and California. The Devils travel to Illinois, Utah, Oregon, UCLA, and Washington St. I predict 8 or 9 wins as long as the defense plays better.

Utah Utes (2/1 division, 13/2 conference, 150/1 BCS)

After years in the Mountain West Utah finally gets to play with the big boys. Though Utah has proven they can beat any team on any given day the last few seasons, they will find the quality of play in the Pac 12 is much better than the Mountain West and the players are much bigger. Sure they played big games in the Mountain West against BYU and TCU, they will find that there are no easy games in the Pac 12. In the Mountain West, Utah would play lesser teams such as UNLV, Wyoming, and New Mexico on a regular basis.

Coach Kyle Willingham led the Utes to a 10 win season last year. They were undefeated and ranked in the top 10 before getting destroyed by TCU and Notre Dame in back to back weeks. They ended up losing to Boise St 26-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl. It doesn’t bode well for their chances in the Pac 12 that they were destroyed by a combined 101-13 in their three toughest games.

Quarterback Jordan Wynn led the Utes 23rd ranked offense last season and returns for his Junior year. Running back Mychal Robinson takes over as the primary ball carrier. The Utes hired former UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow to run the offense, who has a reputation as an offensive genius.

The defense will be strong this year led by linebacker Chaz Walker who had 74 tackles last season. The Utes will be physical and tough to score against.

Utah has home games against Washington, Arizona St, Oregon St, UCLA, and Colorado. They have road games against USC, BYU, Pitt, Cal, Arizona, and Washington St. I see 8 or 9 wins and they will compete for the division title, as it is wide open.

Arizona Wildcats (3/1 division, 8/1 conference, 150/1 BCS)

Last year Arizona started off the season 7-1 before a 5 game losing streak to end the season including a 36-10 trouncing by Oklahoma St in the Alamo Bowl. Coach Mike Stoops could be on the hot seat if the Wildcats don’t live up to expectations.

The offense will be fine led by senior quarterback Nick Foles, a potential NFL draft pick. He had 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year and hopes to even be better this year. Foles would certainly be a better quarterback if he had his top weapon, senior wideout Juron Criner. There were rumors that Criner would miss the whole season with a serious medical condition. As of this writing, Stoops said Criner is probable and is ready to go. Obviously, bettors need to keep an eye on the situation. Leading rusher Keola Antolin also returns but the Wildcats were ranked 88th in rushing last season.

The defense was decent last year giving up 22 points a game but struggled sometimes giving up 24 points or more to 5 opponents last year. The defense is experienced with no freshmen in the starting line up.

Arizona opens with Northern Arizona before traveling to Oklahoma St. After that they host Stanford and Oregon in back to back weeks. Then they travel to USC and Oregon St. The Wildcats could be 1-5 out of the gate. The schedule loosens up after that with home against UCLA and Utah along with road games at Washington, Colorado, and Arizona St. They close at home against Louisiana-Lafayette. With such a brutal schedule Arizona will be lucky to win 7 games and compete for a bowl berth.

UCLA Bruins (6/1 division, 18/1 conference, 150/1 BCS)

The honeymoon is definitely over for UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel after an injury plagued 4-8 record last year. The Bruins return 17 starters and look to be much better on offense.

The Bruins couldn’t throw the ball last year as they were ranked 117th int eh country. Both quarterbacks from last year return as juniors Richard Brehaut and Kevin Prince will compete for the starting job. Neuheisel will keep both on a short leash if they underperform like they did last season.  Running backs Johnathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman rushed for over 1,500 yards last year combined along with 13 touchdowns. This was despite that teams were putting 8 or 9 guys in the box on almost every play because they didn’t fear the Bruins’ impotent air attack.

The defense was awful as well last year giving up 30 points a game. The Bruins will look to improve on that as they have added depth to the linebacking corps. The Bruins are young as they lost several seniors to graduation.

UCLA has home games against Texas, Washington St, Cal, Arizona St, and Colorado. The Bruins upset Texas last year in Austin, so the Longhorns should be angry  and out for revenge. Teh Bruins have road games at Houston, Oregon St, Stanford, Arizona, Utah, and USC. I don’t see this team winning more than 5 games especially if they can’t throw the ball.

Colorado Buffaloes (8/1 division, 22/1 conference, 20/1 BCS (field) )

Colorado moves into the Pac 12 after decades in the Big 12. They also have a new coach in Jon Embree after a 5-7 record last year under former coach Dan Hawkins.

Senior Quarterback Tyler Hansen played in 7 games last year and now takes over the position full time. He threw 6 touchdown passes last year. The Buffs also lose star wideout Scotty McKnight who was drafted by the Jets. Sophomore Paul Richardson will be the top pass catcher. Senior Rodney Stewart is the top running back but he is only 5’6″ so durability could be an issue.

The defense gave up almost 31 points a game last year and needs to get much better this year. The problem last year was the offense struggled to move the ball causing lots of punts and keeping the defense on the field for more than half the game. Lack of depth was a problem as well last year and neither looks to  change this year.

Colorado opens at Hawaii, and has additional road games against Ohio St, Stanford, Washington, Arizona St, UCLA, and Utah. They have home games against Cal, Colorado St (in Denver), Washington St, Oregon, USC, and Arizona. With such a difficult schedule the Buffs will struggle to win 4 gsmes.

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