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Pac-12 spotlight: Farrell's title pick, bold predictions

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position

Chris Petersen
Chris Petersen ()
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Football season is finally upon us and with that it’s time to break down each Power Five conference and make some bold predictions. Today we continue with the Pac-12.

FARRELL'S PREDICTIONS: Big Ten | SEC | ACC

CASSIDY'S OVER-UNDER WIN PREDICTIONS: SEC | Big 12 | ACC | Pac-12 | Big Ten

Pac-12 North Champion: Washington. Despite a tough opener against Auburn, Washington should handle the Pac-12 schedule well with Stanford being the real threat. The Huskies have the best coach in the conference and an offense that will be tough to stop. And the defense? Always underrated.

Pac-12 South Champion: USC. The Trojans are starting a true freshman quarterback and replacing some talent but who else are you going to pick? They are clearly the best team in the South and have the most talent by far.

Pac-12 Champion: Washington. Washington is just too balanced for USC and should take the title.

Coach of the Year: Chris Petersen, Washington. It’s about time to give this guy the recognition he deserves.

Mike McIntyre
Mike McIntyre (Getty Images)

Hot Seat City: Mike McIntyre, Colorado. There aren’t many coaches on the hot seat in the Pac-12 with so many new coaches so McIntyre gets the nod here. If the Buffaloes take a step back from 5-7 last year, they could start putting more pressure on him. And a disastrous season in a bad division could be fatal.

Biggest Surprise: Arizona. Khalil Tate is hard to stop, there is talent on offense around him and if the defense can just take a step forward the Wildcats should have a good year. Will they challenge USC? No, not really, but they will still surprise some people.

Biggest Disappointment: Utah. Everyone has Utah as the challenger to USC in the South but I think it falters this season. The Utes are still young and they tend to lose one or two games they should win every season so watch for a down year.

As Expected: Stanford. The Cardinal will be a very good team, will probably end up with only a few losses but will fall short of the North title as most expect.

A Year Away: UCLA. I’m a big believer in Chip Kelly and his system so a year getting his feet wet is needed before his team takes a shot at USC for the division. If he can find a quarterback to fit what he wants to do on offense and toughen up the defense, the Bruins should improve greatly in 2019.

Building for the Future: Oregon. The recruiting is off the hook at Oregon and there is already talent on the roster so it could have easily been the team that is a year away. But the North is very strong and it will take a couple of years to break past Washington and Stanford.

Khalil Tate
Khalil Tate (Casey Sapio - USA Today Sports)

Conference Offensive MVP: Khalil Tate, Arizona. No Bryce Love? He has his workload lessened and no one will be able to stop Tate under Kevin Sumlin. Not that anyone could stop him last year under Rich Rod. Tate is going to put up pinball numbers.

Conference Defensive MVP: Cameron Smith, USC. The leader of the USC defense and one of the best tacklers in the country, Smith should have a big year leading his team.

Best NFL Prospect: Bryce Love, Stanford. Love is a special talent at running back and could follow in the steps of Christian McCaffrey as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

True Freshman of the Year: Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC. St. Brown is one of the best wide receivers I’ve seen at the high school level and I have zero doubt he will make a huge impact early. I can’t think of anyone else in the Pac-12 as a true freshman I would take over St. Brown.

Breakout Player: Stephen Carr, USC. More USC stuff? Yep. Carr is ready to replace Ronald Jones and be the star in the backfield after showing flashes last year. Could he be better than Jones? He has that potential so watch out.

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