#4 Mark Helfrich vs. #5 Chris Petersen: Vote for the better Pac-12 football coach!

(Bracket available here).

In the end, it was Chris Petersen who advanced to the next round, beating Sonny Dykes thoroughly by a lopsided score.

His next opponent?

#4 Mark Helfrich: Helfrich is coming off a pretty impressive debut season as head coach of the Ducks for anyone not named Mark Helfrich. Oregon had a solid 11-2 season that disappointingly ended in an Alamo Bowl bid thanks to a stumble to the finish in November. Also, the Ducks were blown out once against Arizona and nearly blown out by Stanford before some late heroics.

It remains to be seen what Helfrich is capable of as a coach. Stepping into Chip Kelly's shoes is no easy task.

#5 Chris Petersen: Petersen hasn't coached in the Pac-12 yet, but he brings in an impressive resume spanning a decade at Boise State, winning nearly 90% of his games and generally keeping his team in the hunt for BCS titles. It remains to be seen if he can replicate that success at Washington, but he definitely will be coming in as one of the hottest new coaches in the conference in quite some time.

Prediction: Could resume trump Pac-12 experience? Helfrich was a solid lackey for Kelly as his offensive coordinator, but it remains to be seen how well he fits into his coaching shoes. Petersen has had plenty of experience so far as the head man and will be quite a thorn in the side of many coaches. Petersen might have the edge in this one.