For the seventh time in 11 seasons, the Oregon Ducks have been picked to win the Pac-12, according to media members who cover the conference on a regular basis.
The Ducks received 21 first place votes, while USC garnered 15 first place votes and was selected to win the South.
Predicting Oregon and USC to meet up in the title game shouldn’t be to anyone’s surprise as both teams are the two prohibitive best teams on the West Coast.
Even with some opt outs on the Duck roster such as Penei Sewell, Jevon Holland and Brady Breeze, Oregon should be able to run the gauntlet that is the Pac-12 North.
“No one in this program feels they’ve arrived” said Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal when asked about being picked to win the conference during this shortened season.
“There are no sacred cows or entitlement…. We’re focused on being hungry and driven.”
What might be a small surprise is that Cal was selected to finish second in the North over Washington. The Bears managed 176 votes to the Huskies’ 161.
Rounding out the North, once again according to the media, will be Stanford (105), Oregon State (76) and Washington State (56).
In the South Division, Arizona State recieved two first place votes and 181 overall to place second. Utah actually garnered more first place votes, four, but ultimately ended up with 168 votes for a third place finish. Rounding out the South is UCLA (109), Colorado (63) and Arizona (57).
The Pac-12 will finally begin its season Nov. 7 with the championship game Friday, Dec. 18 on the campus with the team with the best record.
| North Division | South Division | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| School | Points | School | Points |
| 1. Oregon (35) | 222 | 1. USC (32) | 220 |
| 2. California (3) | 176 | 2. Arizona State (2) | 181 |
| 3. Washington | 161 | 3. Utah (4) | 168 |
| 4. Stanford | 105 | 4. UCLA | 109 |
| 5. Oregon State | 76 | 5. Colorado | 63 |
| 6. Washington State | 58 | 6. Arizona | 57 |
“This privilege of coaching, this privilege of playing, is real again,” explained Cristobal regarding getting back to practice to begin the season.
“It cannot be taken for granted. The bottom line is, nothing but our very best will be good enough.”
QUARTERBACK BATTLE
One of the biggest questions regarding this Oregon football team is who will replace Justin Herbert to lead the Ducks offense.
In spring football earlier this year, sophomore Tyler Shough began as the overwhelming favorite to lead this team. However, since spring ball, the Ducks gained the services of Boston College transfer Anthony Brown who showed himself to be a proven winner for the Eagles.
Now in Eugene, Brown will certainly give Shough a push for the starting job when practice begins Friday.
“We’ll enter day one with Tyler Shough taking the first reps and Anthony Brown taking the reps with the twos,” said Cristobal when asked about the Ducks quarterback position on Wednesday. “We’re going to make it a competition, but it starts off like that. Then the priority is to get young guys behind them up to speed.”