Pac 12 = pac 2 + pac 10

      
The new Pac12 is really two leagues--this season anyway. But not that new North-South nonsense that veteran Pac10 fans haven't adjusted to yet.

Unofficially it's Oregon and Stanford in one elite division and the other ten peons huddled in the other. That's the reality.

Summing up the Pac12 season is a cinch. It's a series of prelims setting the stage for the main event, a bunch of time-killing games to occupy fans until the REAL game. That's on Nov.12, when Oregon travels to Palo Alto to tangle with Stanford and settle who's king of the Pac12. Meanwhile the other ten will duke it out for third place.

How can you argue that Oregon and Stanford are in a class by themselves? Both are bulging with talent, teeming with all-stars. Each boasts one of the league's top two players--Oregon's RB LaMichael James and Stanford's QB Andrew Luck.

Sure, one of the top two might lose a game, but that won't be a reflection of quality. It'll just mean one of them got bored waiting for the REAL game, got lazy and got burned by one of the league's lesser lights. The main job of Stanford coach David Shaw and Oregon coach Chip Kelly is to keep their players interested until Nov. 12, to avoid a sneak attack by one of the peons.

In that battle for third place, it's a tossup between Arizona State, Washington and Utah. If these three beat up on each other, possibly SC, powered by a gust of motivation and a dose of heart, might slip in.