Pac-12 football picks, Weekly Update: Josh Shaw, USC pull a Manti Te'o

A lot of talk this week in the national media about how good the Pac-12 is. Unfortunately, it's a pretty quiet opening week.  Here's hoping that UCLA, Washington State, and even Cal can take care of business.

Game Picks

Season: 0-0-0
Last Week: 0-0-0
Home team in CAPS.

Thursday, 28 August, 4:30 PM PDT
UTAH (-42.5) over Idaho State

Thursday, 28 August, 7:00 PM PDT
WASHINGTON STATE (-8) over Rutgers
If last season is any indication, Wazzu played well right out of the gate, losing a close one to Auburn, then beating USC and a couple of cupcakes. The Cougars will win big in Seattle.

Thursday, 28 August, 7:30 PM PDT
ARIZONA STATE (-46.5) over Weber State
I like to think "Weber" is pronounced "vay-ber" like Max Weber, the father of sociology.

Friday, 29 August, 6:00 PM PDT
COLORADO (-3) over Colorado State
I don't know much about this rivalry, but if the Buffs hate Colorado State, then I do too.

Friday, 29 August, 7:30 PM PDT
ARIZONA (-23.5) over Unlv

Saturday, 30 August, 9:00 AM PDT
Ucla (-21) over VIRGINIA
Anything less than a 3 touchdown victory will not be good for UCLA's current perception, or the conference's for that matter.

Saturday, 30 August, 12:30 PM PDT
California (+11) over NORTHWESTERN
Cal played their best game in last season's opening loss against the Wildcats. I think they're out for revenge.

Saturday, 30 August, 1:00 PM PDT
Portland State (+31) over OREGON STATE

Saturday, 30 August, 1:00 PM PDT
STANFORD (-35.5) over UC Davis

Saturday, 30 August, 4:30 PM PDT
USC (-21) over Fresno State
I never really liked Fresno State's anthropomorphic Bulldog logo. And their new chrome helmet is horrible.

Saturday, 30 August, 7:30 PM PDT
HAWAII (+17) over Washington
I originally picked Washington, but maybe Hawaii AD Ben Jay's comments about possibly having to drop football can motivate the team to play the Huskies tough. Washington probably wins by 2 touchdowns.

Saturday, 30 August, 7:30 PM PDT
OREGON (-51) over South Dakota

Team Updates

Arizona:

• RichRod ended up announcing a starting quarterback, Anu Solomon, instead of waiting until an hour before game time this Friday.
• Fans will be invited to join the Wildcats in doing "the Haka."  This looks way too confusing.

#19 Arizona State:

• On the latest episode of Jake Plummer's podcast Snake's Takes, the former ASU quarterback from Idaho interviewed the current ASU quarterback from Idaho, Taylor Kelly.  Interesting stuff if you want to learn what a finger steak is.

California:

• Cal fans can watch this video to get pumped up for the season:
• If you're a more realistic Cal fan, these pictures of Haas Pavilion's proposed renovation look nice.

Colorado:

• Colorado needs a name for its student section. How about the Boulder Bowl? Get it? So they can pack the bowl? (It's a stretch, I know)

#4 Oregon:

• A job posting on Indeed.com may have accidentally revealed that ESPN's College Gameday will be in Eugene for the Oregon-Michigan State game next week.  Although anyone could have probably guessed that.

Oregon State:

• Intro videos have been hyped so much, that Oregon State even has a teaser video for it's intro video release:

#11 Stanford:

• Here is the Cardinal's intro video.  "Strong Intellectual Brutality Throughout" is probably the most annoying thing they could have come up with.

#7 UCLA:

• The Bruins are now the trendy pick to win pretty much everything.

  #Pac12 Predictions: @KirkHerbstreit - UCLA @DesmondHoward - UCLA Coach Corso - UCLA

  — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 23, 2014

  #Heisman Predictions: @KirkHerbstreit - Brett Hundley @DesmondHoward - Todd Gurley Coach Corso - Brett Hundley

  — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 23, 2014

  National Champion: @KirkHerbstreit - FSU over Alabama @DesmondHoward - UCLA over FSU Coach Corso - UCLA over FSU

  — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) August 23, 2014

#15 USC:

• CB Josh Shaw sprained both ankles after jumping off a balcony to save Lennay Kekua.
• To honor the late Louis Zamperini, the Trojans will wear a "Z" decal on their shiny new helmets.  If you don't know who Louis Zamperini is, he might be the coolest person who ever lived. He was a track runner who set a collegiate mile record at USC, competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin where he met Hitler (and may have stolen one of Hitler's flags), served as a bombardier in WWII, survived a plane crash, and was imprisoned by the Japanese Army.

Utah:

• At least Idaho State coach Mike Kramer was honest when he was asked if his team is going to beat the Utes on Thursday.

#25 Washington:

• During their six hour flight to Hawaii, Huskies players can look forward to tests and pop quizzes on defensive schemes. Sounds fun.

Washington State:

• Mike Leach says #Wazzu is "100% healthy" in this video (umm...see screenshot): http://t.co/qBIuBKTqtA pic.twitter.com/VlTF0YYCJT

  — RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 27, 2014

Completely Arbitrary Bowl Projections

Rose Bowl presented by Northwestern Mutual (playoff): UCLA (13-0) vs. Michigan State (12-1)

Allstate Sugar Bowl (playoff): Colorado (11-1) vs. Iowa State (12-0)

Valero Alamo Bowl: Stanford (10-3) vs. Kansas State (7-5)

National University Holiday Bowl: Arizona State (8-4) vs. Wisconsin (8-4)

Cactus Bowl: Oregon (8-4) vs. Michigan (7-5)

San Francisco Bowl: USC (7-5) vs. Miami (8-4)

Hyundai Sun Bowl: Washington (7-6) vs. UNLV (9-3)

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl: Utah (6-6) vs. Nebraska (6-6)