2014 Pac-12 Football Standings

North

Oregon Ducks 12-1 (9-1)

Since 1999, the Oregon Ducks have become a national power in college football as they have finished the season ranked in the top 25 11 times. The Ducks have been known for their offense as they had the second best offense in the nation last year and that will once again be the case in 2014.

Redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Mariota had an opportunity to jump to the National Football League after a stellar 2013 campaign, but he opted to return to Eugene for a shot at the national championship. Last year Mariota threw 31 touchdown passes to only 4 interceptions. Aside from being a good passer, Mariota was also Oregon’s second leading rusher last season and he should be in the running this season to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Ducks return nine starters on offense including their entire offensive line, but their upcoming Pac-12 schedule will be defined by five games. The Ducks have three key road games against Washington State, UCLA, and of course their “Civil War” to finish the regular season against Oregon State. The Ducks also will have key home games against Arizona and Stanford who were the only teams to defeat Oregon last season.

Led by Mariota, the Ducks should be able to win the Pac-12 this season and they’ll also be in the mix for the national championship.

Stanford Cardinal 8-4 (7-2)

When Jim Harbaugh resigned as the head football coach of the Stanford Cardinal in early 2010, there were some people believed that the program would take a downward spiral. But David Shaw has quelched that myth. In three seasons as the head football coach at Stanford, Shaw has led the Cardinal to a BCS bowl game and he will be looking for more in 2014, but it won’t be as easy.

The Cardinal replace a ton of talent on their offensive line which has been their bread and butter in the past few seasons. But the Cardinal still have junior offensive tackle Andrus Peat who could be an All-American when the season end and he’ll also be in charge of protecting the blindside of redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Hogan.

Stanford’s road schedule alone this season is very daunting with contests against Washington, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oregon, and UCLA.

Oregon State Beavers 9-3 (6-3)

The Oregon State Beavers are nestled up in tiny Corvallis, Oregon, but this team is looking to walk tall in 2014. Unless you watch Pac-12 football consistently or you’re just a college football junkie like me, you may not know about Oregon State senior quarterback Sean Mannion, but he is the real deal. Mannion passed for more than 4,600 yards last season. However Mannion was overshadowed by other Pac-12 quarterbacks such as Kevin Hogan of Stanford, Brett Hundley of UCLA, and Marcus Mariota of Oregon. Along with Mannion, Oregon State is returning seven starters on offense in what could be a very explosive unit.

For Oregon State head coach Mike RIley, road games against USC, Stanford, and Washington along with their “Civil War” will determine whether the Beavers will be able to win the Pac-12 North for the first time in school history.

Washington State Cougars 8-4 (5-4)

Entering their third season under head football coach Mike Leach, the Washington State Cougars appear ready to turn the corner in the Pac-12. Last season Leach led the Cougars to their first bowl game appearance since 2003 and now he feels that his squad is ready to contend with the big boys in the Pac-12.

Washington State senior quarterback Connor Halliday is back to finish his collegiate career at Pullman and he’ll look to join the likes of Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf, and Jason Gesser as great Wazzu signal-callers. In 2012, Halliday was thrown to the wolves as he was Leach’s first starting quarterback for the Cougars, but he came into his own last season as he passed for nearly 4,600 yards and 37 touchdowns. Halliday was intercepted 22 times last season and he was also sacked 31 times which are two numbers that he must be cut down on if Washington State is going to be able to contend this season in the Pac-12 North. Halliday knows how to spread the football around in Leach’s wide open system as four Washington State receivers gained over 500 yards receiving in 2013. The best of the bunch was wide receiver Gabe Marks who as a senior in 2014 could be an all Pac-12 performer.

The Cougars non-conference schedule is a cakewalk, but in their first Pac-12 game this season Washington State will host Oregon which will go a long way as far as seeing how the year will go in Pullman.

Washington Huskies 9-4 (5-4)

Things have changed drastically in Seattle for the Washington Huskies. After five years as the head football coach of the Huskies, Steve Sarkisian left to take over at USC.  But all is not lost for the Huskies. After eight seasons as the head football coach at Boise State University, Chris Peterson was coaxed into leaving his comfortable digs in Boise for more money in Seattle and he is looking to keep improving off of what Sarkisian started.

Washington will get Stanford at home this season, but they’ll have their work cut out for them on the road against Oregon, Arizona, and Washington State.

California Golden Bears 3-9 (1-8)

After a 1-11 campaign in his first year as the head football coach of the California Golden Bears, there is only one direction to go for Sonny Dykes. Dykes and the Golden Bears must become more competitive this season as only one of their losses last season was by single digits.

California sophomore quarterback Jared Goff could pass for more than 4,000 in the upcoming season and if he does it should be an example of the improvement by the Golden Bears program. But for Cal to take that next step in 2014 they must improve on their rushing offense that was 106th in the nation last year.

The Pac-12 is one of the toughest conferences in college football and it is once again going to be tough for the Golden Bears to not get lost in the shuffle.

South

UCLA Bruins 12-1 (9-1)

When Jim Mora took over as the head football coach of the UCLA Bruins in 2012, he put an emphasis on making his squad tougher. UCLA was coming off of a 6-8 in 2011 season and in two years under Mora the Bruins had their first 10-win season since 2005. Now this season begins with UCLA thinking about winning the national championship.

The Bruins have one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation in redshirt junior Brett Hundley who’ll be behind an offensive line that features a trio of 300 pounders.

Defensively the Bruins return their entire starting secondary from last season in what could be college football’s version of “The Legion of Boom”.

UCLA will host Oregon on October 11 and I believe that these two schools will meet in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

USC Trojans 9-3 (6-3)

This season a new era will begin for the University of Southern California Trojans with a familiar face leading the way. For seven years during the 2000’s, Steve Sarkisian was on USC’s football coaching staff. Sarkisian spent the last five years as the head football coach of the Washington Huskies and now he is back in Los Angeles to lead the Men of Troy. Sarkisian inherits a Trojan squad that went 10-4 in 2013 and they are ready to accomplish bigger things in 2014.

USC junior quarterback Cody Kessler emerged as a leader last season and he appears ready to take his game to the next level. You can also expect a heavy dose of the running game from the Trojans with junior running back Tre Madden as he’ll run behind an offensive line that returns three starters from a year ago.

The Trojans return eight starters on defense including some players that will be playing on Sunday in the near future. USC junior defensive end Leonard Williams, middle linebacker Hayes Pullard, and sophomore strong safety Su’a Cravers have pro potential and each player should be All-Pac-12 performers this season.

The Trojans will avoid playing Oregon this season, but road games against Stanford, Arizona, and UCLA will determine if USC will return to national prominence this season.

Arizona State Sun Devils 6-6 (4-5)

In Tempe, Arizona and the surrounding areas there is a buzz in regards to Arizona State Sun Devils football. Last season Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham led the Sun Devils to the Pac-12 South Championship and they are looking for more of the same in 2014.

Last season the Sun Devils had the tenth ranked scoring offense in the nation. Arizona State senior quarterback Taylor Kelly passed for more than 3,600 yards in 2013 and he should be able to flirt with the 4,000 yard mark this season. Kelly is not just a pocket passer as he was the Sun Devils second leading rusher last season which allows him to extend plays. If Arizona State is able to have a successful 2014 campaign, then junior wide receiver Jaelen Strong will be a huge part of it; especially if he flirts with getting 90 receptions this season.

The Sun Devils defense will be a work in progress as they’ll only return two starters from last year’s unit. But Arizona State senior strong safety Damarious Randall will anchor the defensive squad.

Arizona State will face one of the tougher schedules in the Pac-12 as they have road contests against USC, Washington, Washington State, and Arizona along with home games against UCLA and Stanford who they lost to in last year’s Pac-12 Championship Game.

Graham has a good offensive club, but the Arizona State could get swallowed up within the depth of the Pac-12 Conference.

Arizona Wildcats 6-6 (3-6)

Not since the days of the “Desert Swarm” under former head football coach Dick Tomey has the excitement been like it is now for the Arizona Wildcats in Tuscon. Rich Rodriguez is set to embark on his third season as the Wildcats head football coach and he has two bowl victories under his belt. In Rodriguez’s first two years in Tucson, the ‘Cats have finished fourth in the Pac-12 South. But will Arizona be able to take the next step in 2014?

Rodriguez coached teams are going to run the football which was the case last season when Arizona was 11th in the nation in rushing offense. ‘Zona lost two of their top three rushers from last year’s team, but junior running back Jared Bell should get the bulk of the carries in Rodriguez’s spread offense. Arizona senior quarterback B.J. Denker had a 61.2 completion percentage last season while he was also the team’s second leading rusher and you can expect more of the same in 2014.

In a span of four games Arizona will face Oregon, USC, Washington State, and UCLA which could make or break their season.

Utah Utes 4-8 (2-7)

The grass is not always greener on the other side as the Utah Utes are finding out. In their last three seasons in the Mountain West Conference, the Utes were 33-3. But since joining the Pac-12, Utah is 18-19. Unlike other schools that bolted one conference in favor of a large payday in a bigger conference, the Utes move was partially due to the fact that they were not going to get a fair shake as far as the ability to play for a national championship in the Mountain West.

For Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham he must get more consistency this season out of junior quarterback Travis Wilson who threw 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions last year. But Wilson will be able to lean on senior wide receiver Dres Anderson as his main target in the passing game.

Aside from their brutal conference schedule, the Utes have non-conference showdowns this year with Fresno State and Michigan in what could be another long season in Salt Lake City.

Colorado Buffaloes 2-10 (0-9)

The glory days of the Colorado Buffaloes football program are a thing of the past. From 1985-2005, the Buffaloes only had three losing seasons and they also were able to claim one national championship. Since then Colorado has become a bottom feeder; first in the Big 12 Conference and now in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes have not had a winning season since 2005 and under head football coach Mike MacIntyre, Colorado is hopeful to reverse the cycle in 2014.

MacIntyre is hopeful that the the offensive combination of sophomore quarterback Sefo Liufau and junior wide receiver Nelson Spruce will be emerge this year as offensive threats in Boulder in order to make the Buffaloes relevant in the Pac-12.

It will be extremely important for the Buffs to win their first two games of the season against Colorado State and Massachusetts in order to gain some confidence for themselves heading into conference play.

Pac-12 Championship Game-Levi’s Stadium-Santa Clara, Californina

Oregon vs. UCLA

Pac-12 Champion-Oregon

Sources: Sports-reference.com, Nationalchamps.net, Cfbstats.com