Trojan/Duck Hegemony

by SenorChuy on Jun 7, 2025 5:30 PM PDT

All of the preview mags are lining up with an Oregon vs. SC championship game, which makes sense based on recent history. Any guesses on the last year either the Trojans or Ducks didn't win/share the Pac-12 title? Anyone? Freaking 1999. That blew me away. Per Wikipedia....

1999: Stanford

2000: Washington, Oregon, Oregon St

2001: Oregon

2002: Washington St, USC

2003-2005: USC

2006: USC, Cal

2007: USC, Arizona St

2008: USC

2009-2011: Oregon

Whew. Any guesses on who is going to break up the Trojan/Duck run?

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If I had to guess

One of the California schools, at least somewhere in there. They have the highest upside given their ability to recruit the best from California as well as decent national networks (particularly Stanford).

Oregon’s success will probably hit a snag once Kelly decides to leave. USC is vulnerable with the schollie limits, although it’s hard to see anyone strong enough to contend with them in the South in the near future.

by Avinash Kunnath on Jun 8, 2025 3:16 AM PDT reply actions

The North is closer than the South from unseating these two teams.

My gut from being an avid Pac follower is Washington is on the verge of turning the corner and thumping Oregon. I’m still curious how Stanford will transition post Harbaugh. It just feels like Cal is moving backwards; every step forward seems to accompany two steps back. Wazu and the Beavers are going to be hit or miss right now… good enough to win some big games and not good enough to win them all; which means they will have the most impact on the standings.

In the South, Southern California is still the team to beat. I ask myself though, why does Utah feel sneaky good to me? UCLA is probably close to be really good again, they just need more depth to truly turn the corner. The Arizona schools are in the awkward transition phase, moving to completely new systems and new recruits where they will feel like Wazu and the Beavers of the North; good enough to win some big ones, but not them all. Colorado just needs to make progress. They have an advantage of being in a growing state near Texas and the Midwest; just keep trucking, you guys will get there.

by Barnes1212 on Jun 8, 2025 10:33 AM PDT reply actions

Utah is a great sleeper pick

I was at the game in the Coliseum last year, and they came so close to pulling off an upset. Wittingham is a great coach and I can see them really challenging for the South title on a routine basis. As for UCLA, they have been injury prone for about ten years now, that can’t last forever.

by SenorChuy on Jun 8, 2025 7:38 PM PDT up reply actions

UW

It’s going to be hard for them to beat Oregon in the next few years. They’re not on the same level talent wise, and UO is actually starting to recruit better. They’re also going to have to start contending with WSU more for the instate talent.

by KitIsh on Jun 10, 2025 12:17 AM PDT up reply actions

ehh, maybe...

…they came so close to pulling off an upset

They still went 4-5 in Pac-12 play while missing the league’s top two teams. But yeah, it might be easier for a team like Utah to topple a scholarship restricted SC in the coming years than the logjam of good-but-not-great teams in the north to catch Oregon.

by OskiGoDumb on Jun 9, 2025 9:34 AM PDT reply actions

I've thought about this one a lot

USC and Oregon are definitely the premier teams in the conference and I don’t expect much to change that outside of perhaps Kiffin/Kelly jumping ship to the NFL. That said, there are multiple Pac-12 programs that have slowly been building themselves up and will soon be at the level of legitimately competing for conference (or at the very least division titles). Let’s go year-by-year:

2013:
-Washington
-Stanford
-Oregon State (dark horse)

2014:
-Stanford
-Washington State

As you can tell, I don’t give any team in the South enough credit to topple USC or even come close for that matter. The majority of the South is in rebuilding mode and Utah typically fields an elite team once every 4 years (ex.- 2004 Fiesta bowl, 2008 Sugar Bowl). Therefore, if anyone’s going to break up the party it’s going to be a team from the North (which I think we can all agree is clearly the stronger division right now).

Washington has been building towards 2013 for quite some time now and will be hosting Oregon at their place that year, which is huge. Stanford will also be very good in 2013, but may be one year away from truly challenging. Oregon State is my sleeper team for 2013 since they’re another squad that will have been building for a few years as well.

In 2014, Stanford will be a serious contender and not just for the Pac-12 but for a National Title. Their offensive line will be the best in college football and they’ll have more talent on both sides of the ball that any team Andrew Luck every played with. If there was ever a team to put Oregon and USC on notice, it’ll be the 2014 Stanford Cardinal. Washington State I imagine will be quite good with a few years to absorb Leach’s system and a talented senior QB in Connor Halliday. But that’s mostly speculation on my part.

Beyond that, it’s too hard to tell. I’m sure at some point a South team will rise up to give USC some trouble but at this point it’s way too tough to predict who that might be. Believe it or not, I see some serious potential in Colorado though if they can ever get their shit together.

by Card Tricks on Jun 27, 2025 7:33 PM PDT reply actions