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Pac-12 midseason awards! Who would be your...most impressive team overall and why?
Avinash Kunnath, California Golden Blogs (Cal) & Pacific Takes: Oregon State. The case for them should be obvious at this point. Beavers have played the ninth toughest schedule in the country and missed out on key players for some of those games, and they're still undefeated.
Jack Follman, Pacific Takes: Oregon State. They have beaten two good programs out of conference (Wisconsin & BYU), beaten two quality conference teams on the road (Arizona & UCLA), responded well to adversity already with losing Mannion and look balanced in every phase of the game. I would say Oregon is the best looking team right now, but Oregon State has been more impressive.
Norcalnick, California Golden Blogs (Cal): Oregon State has exceeded expectations by the greatest margin, but is there any question that it's the Ducks? True, the schedule has been weak. But shutting out Arizona is one of the more impressive achievements of the year, and they have yet to be truly challenged by any team on the schedule. Every team in the conference has shown multiple flaws at various points this year. Not Oregon.
Trevor Wong, Conquest Chronicles (USC): Oregon. I'd pick Oregon State as the most surprising team, though, considering they were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 North. The Ducks have been too good and too fast for anybody this year. They haven't been challenged yet and it looks as if they might literally run away with the conference title.
Justin Karp, Bold Saguaros (ASU) and Pacific Takes: Oregon, and it's not even close. A valid argument can be made for Oregon State, but there's a gulf between "most pleasing surprise" and "best team." If you want to talk about the eye test, Oregon runs by everyone in this conference. It's like a finely tuned open-wheel racer against a big wheel at some points. They're far too athletic, smart, innovative and well coached to be beaten right now by anyone in this conference.
Adam Butler, Pachoops and Pacific Takes (Arizona): The state of Oregon. All they do is win, win, win and that's all that generally impresses me. From Corvallis, Mike Riley is proving he's got a sturdy group, capable of beating you on either side of the football that won't make many mistakes. In Eugene, Chip's being Chip. There's a quiet confidence out there and for all the flashy everything, the Ducks seem to be flying under the radar as one helluva team. Can that really be said about the third ranked team in the country? I suppose it can when they're not below the Mason-Dixon line. Alas, there's still a lot of time remaining yet and these two will square off, but to call anyone but either of these teams the most impressive would be ludicrous.
Josh Schlichter, FishDuck (Oregon) and Pacific Takes: Oregon. After being put in the passenger seat at the beginning of the season, it's obvious to see the class of the PAC-12 is in Eugene for the third straight season. The Beavers up the road have made a great case at changing that, but every week, the OSU's wins look less and less impressive, but as usual, the Beavers can prove themselves if they keep winning. But at the moment, it's Oregon, then everyone else.
Sean Reynolds, Block U (Utah): Oregon State and it really isn't close. Everyone should pick Oregon State because of where they were predicted to finish at the start of the season. What they've accomplished up in Corvallis this year has been nothing short of remarkable.
Ute Football Central: Oregon State. Lost to Sac State last year and now 8th in the country. Enough said.