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Who’s your Pac-12 secret crush?

Whether you admit it or not, we all have that one Pac-12 team other than ours we secretly like to watch. So we asked you about it.

By Nico29
Stanford v Arizona
Lots of Pac-12 fans look lovingly upon Stanford like David Shaw looks lovingly at a 34 tight end formation.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Last week, I posed a question to the loyal Pacific Takes Twitter following to help pass the time before Pac-12 Media Days and the opening of fall camp:

I’ve always been curious about this, and as a UCLA fan myself, I’m often driven crazy by my team’s weird ticks and frustrating habits. So instead of banging my head against the proverbial wall to watch UCLA trip up, I’ll find myself flipping the channel to see how the rest of the Pac-12 is doing.

Besides, life is too short to be driven crazy by UCLA! And the Pac-12 is too much fun to limit to one team.

So with that in mind, I turned it over to you and to the Pacific Takes staff for your answers. Thanks to all who chipped in - look how fun it can be to affirm each other every now and then and not be at each other’s throats like during the season!

Let’s get to your answers

(here’s me for full disclosure)

Stanford was by far the most popular choice, and understandably so. It’s hard to not enjoy David Shaw and what he’s built in Palo Alto (unless you’re a Cal fan).

Utah and Colorado also got some love. The Rocky Mountain schools have been hand-to-glove fits in the Conference of Champions.

Also, don’t forget about Kyle Whittingham’s calves.

Washington State, our favorite pirate ship in the Palouse, was another popular pick.

Every school was picked at least once, even big, bad USC.
Villains are humans too, and we all need love and affirmation.

The best answers were from folks who grew up in Pac-12 families. Kinfolk of Champions!

Some of our Pacific Takes staff weighed in with their thoughts (affiliation in parentheses):

Gabey Lucas (Washington): “Oregon State forever and always because no true Husky fan doesn't also love Oregon State (but also because the OSU side of my family is fun to drink with).”

Jose Bouqett (UCLA): “Oregon State, they are orange and black like a certain team that I'm fond of [note: Jose is fond of Oklahoma State]. The Rodgers brothers [Jacquizz and James Rodgers] were fun to watch too, and I respect Stanford because they're pumping out pros left and right.”

David Colangelo (Arizona): UCLA, because they have all-time classic uniforms and because they consistently have fun and exciting players to watch (Maurice Jones-Drew/Marcedes Lewis era, Brett Hundley, Myles Jack, Josh Rosen, Takkarist McKinley etc.). Also, that they seem to perennially underachieve gives them a sort of lovable loser vibe. Being big, bad USC's crosstown rival doesn't hurt that cause either.

If you’re still holding in that secret crush, let it out. It’s okay, I promise.
Tweet at us at @PacificTakes with your Pac-12 secret crush before the season starts and you go back to hating everyone that isn’t your team.

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