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2011 PAC-12 College Football Preview: College Football Picks

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2011 PAC-12 College Football Preview: College Football Picks

The upcoming 2011 college football picks season is going to be very interesting and exciting all across the country, and that is certainly true for the PAC-10 conference. Well, that’s true for the PAC-12 conference, we should say, since starting this season for the first time the conference will have 12 full members. This brings a lot of new changes to the conference, and adds some new teams and wrinkles to consider. Take a look at this college football picks preview for the PAC-12 and what you might be able to expect as you make your preseason college football picks.

College Football Picks

First, it’s time to take a look at who’s who in the new conference, and what the upgrade to 12 teams really means. First, with 12 teams, the conference is now eligible to host a conference championship game. This makes the conference more competitive with the likes of the SEC and Big-12. While it might be harder to emerge undefeated, it also means the championship winner will have a very high chance of reaching the BCS championship afterwards, which is very important.

College Football Picks: PAC-12 North

So with 12 teams for the first time the PAC-12 will have a conference championship game, and that means the conference also has been split into two six-team divisions. In the North, you’ll find California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington and Washington State. You’ll notice that some major in-state rivalries are in the same divisions, and that none of the new conference members are in the North.

College Football Picks: PAC-12 South

In the South, you’ll find in-state rivals Arizona and Arizona State, in-state rivals UCLA and USC, and then the conferences two new teams, Colorado and Utah. The Buffaloes of Colorado have struggled with their football teams in recent years, but the Utes on the other hand have fielded very strong teams. Now, as a member of a BCS conference, Utah won’t be left out of the title and bowl game picture, although they’ll have to deal with that week in and week out tough schedule. It’s a lot to consider for your upcoming college football picks, and it adds a whole lot of new variables into the PAC-12 picture.

Over the past decade, the team to beat in the old PAC-10 has always been Southern California. Fans and bettors making college football picks for the year could pencil them in immediately as conference champs, and contenders to win the National Title as well.

Of course, things are a little bit different now. Following the fallout from the scandal involving Reggie Bush, USC is now on probation, and is ineligible for postseason play. Lane Kiffin took over the helm and has had to deal with players who departed because of that, as well as the loss of some scholarships. This has lowered them back to the pack, or the PAC, as it may be, and has opened up the doors for other teams to take over as the top team to beat in the conference. This years College Football Picks should be very exciting because the PAC-12 is anyone’s to win.

Last year, the big dog on campus in the old PAC-10 was Oregon. The talented team went 9-0 in conference play, and ended up in the BCS title game against Auburn. They lost a very close contest in the championship, and now have been dealing with some of their own off field scandals. But you can be sure that coach Chip Kelly will have the Ducks ready to play and cause some damage, and they want another chance at a BCS berth.

Standing in their way just might be Stanford, one of the great stories from the 2010 season. The Stanford Cardinal went a stellar 12-1 last season, led by star quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck put the NFL on hold, where he would have been the number 1 pick in the draft, and decided to ride out another season in college. Don’t expect Stanford to be a sleeper when making your college football picks this year as the oddsmakers will adjust the line accordingly.

He’ll be playing without his old coach, Jim Harbaugh, who rode his success at Stanford straight into a head coaching gig across the way in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers. Even with a new staff, you can be sure that Luck is going to be a real threat, and Stanford is still stocked with plenty of other talent to make another serious run through the season.

Adding even more excitement to the conference will be new arrivals Utah. As mentioned, they have had a very strong team over the past decade, but they have often been looked down upon because they haven’t been in a major contest. Now, that’s all going to change, and Utah will have a chance to prove themselves as a BCS school. It will be make or break for them, as they’ll get a chance for more recognition but will deal with more hardships along the way.

Coach Kyle Whittingham is up for the challenge though and wants to make sure everyone knows that the Utes belong right where they are. After crushing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in 2009 and finishing that year undefeated, you wouldn’t be wise to doubt this team, but it will be interesting to see them cope with the rigors of more challenging games each and every week of the season.

All of that and there are even more exciting storylines to consider as well for the PAC-12 college football picks and predictions. You have Oregon State and California looking to rebound from down seasons, where they both finished a disappointing 5-7. Arizona and Arizona State both want to get over the hump and emerge from middle of the pack to high quality, and UCLA and Washington State have nowhere else to go but up after poor 2010 campaigns.

There is definitely more to consider with the new PAC-12 conference and your upcoming college football picks than ever before. USC has been taken down a notch, and now Oregon, Stanford, Utah and others will be vying for the crown. The conference has two divisions and a championship now, and it’s going to be a very fun, up and down, thrilling ride all season long.

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