The Best PAC 12 Football Preview

Savor this week, all you Cal football fans out there. Imagine, your Bears are, once again, a national power. They are all of a sudden respectable, the best team west of the Mississippi.These are the same Bears that are usually hanging out in the Pac12 basement.

Rejoice Bear fans. Your heroes are No. 15 in the AP poll. That's right, No. 15.  I'll bet some of you thought you'd never see them in the Top 25 again, let alone the Top 15. But that's not all. Get this. They are the only undefeated team in the Pac12. So outside the conference, particularly back East, they are considered the best team in the Pac12. Amazing! That's why Cloud 9 has been the second home for so many Bear fans lately. It's a rhapsodic return to the glory days of the last decade, when Jeff Tedford was coach and Aaron Rodgers was QB and Cal was a west coach power.

How long will it last? Who knows? My gut says not for long. Let's face it. This not a great team. It won two tough road games by a hair and struggled with two patsies, This is Cinderella waiting for the clock to strike midnight.This is a team pushing itself to the limits, giving maximum effort on every play. So bask in the bliss while you can.


Arizona State (3-1) at Cal (4-0)

This would have been a battle of the unbeatens if the Sun Devils hadn't been nipped 34-31 by Colorado last week. A 4.5 point home favorite, Cal has the edge because it has a faster, tougher defense and is still on the kind of high a team gets from a road win over a perennial powerhouse like Washington. ASU's offense, particularly weak at rushing, will get overwhelmed by the Bear defense. Things are looking up for Cal's subpar offense. In the road win over Mississippi last week, Cal QB Chase Garbers, who didn't look sharp in the first three games, passed for a career-best 357 yards. If he shows that game wasn't a fluke and the offense is blossoming, who knows,  maybe Cal's tenure in the Top 15 may be longer than expected.
Prediction: Cal wins.

UCLA (1-3) at Arizona (2-1)

Everybody will be watching this game with one question on their minds. Was that second half explosion, when the Bruins outscored Washington State 50-14 on the way to a 67-63 comeback road upset, a one-shot thing or a game-changer? Is Bruin QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson really in touch with his inner Tom Brady? Though he has shown flashes of greatness, DTR has basically looked like a giant bust. Though he was sensational against WSU, he was feasting on a miserable pass defense. Arizona's pass defense is even worse, ranked next-to-last nationally. Look for DTR and the Bruins to continue to be an offensive juggernaut. Arizona, a touchdown favorite, is much like WSU, with a high-octane offense and a crappy defense. So this should be another high-scoring affair where offenses stampede over defenses.
Prediction: Most people are picking Arizona but I have a hunch UCLA wins.


Washington State (3-1) at Utah (3-1)

Both are reeling from upsets last week, but the Utes are a stronger, better-balanced team that is more likely to bounce back from a tough loss. They are missing their great RB, Zack Moss, who is nursing a bum shoulder, but they have a rugged defensive line that will push the Cougars around. With QB Anthony Gordon, WSU boasts the best passing offense in the country. But that's it for the positives. The rest of the team is pretty lame. Its defense is especially awful. It was savaged last week by a UCLA offense that previously had been pitiful. WSU will score but, thanks to that rotten defense, Utah, a 4.5 favorite, will score more.
Prediction: Utah wins.


USC{3-1) at Washington (3-1)

This is pretty simple. Led by fledgling QB Matt Fink, USC heads to Seattle where the Huskies hardly ever lose. The inexperience of their QB is the least of their problems. Their rushing game, normally a strength, has vanished. Worse, injuries have weakened the defense. Not only that, Huskies' QB Jacob Eason has been superb. It's David facing Goliath.
Prediction: Washington wins.