FOOTBALL

USC Sunday Buzz: Pac-12 Well-Represented Among Nation’s Worst P5 Teams

This is widely regarded as a banner year for the Pac-12 with USC, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington State getting votes in the USA Today coaches’ preseason poll.

But the flip side of the Pac-12 is not inspiring oddsmaker Danny Sheridan of DrafKings. He lists four Pac-12 teams among his worst 12 teams in the Power 5 Conferences.

Sheridan has Arizona No. 12, Arizona State No. 10, Stanford No. 2 and Colorado No. 1.

“The bottom of the Pac-12 may have more tomato cans than a Warhol painting,” he said.

  • On Arizona: “Zona went on a four-game spree last season where they gave up 45 points or more to Pac-12 opponents. And with nine defensive starters leaving the crime scene, there aren’t many clues as to how this defense plans to get better.”
  • On Arizona State: “With UCLA, USC, Washington, Oregon and Utah on the schedule, a bowl game is nothing more than a desert mirage.”
  • On Stanford: “This was a squad that finished 112th out of 115 Power Five defenses, as five conference opponents poured out a 40+ point games in their honor.”
  • On Colorado: “With 33 incoming transfers, there will be talent in the future, but for now, Coach Sub Prime’s team will be underwater.”

Here is Sheridan’s Bottom 12:

  1. Colorado
  2. Stanford
  3. Northwestern
  4. Virginia
  5. Indiana
  6. Vanderbilt
  7. Georgia Tech
  8. Rutgers
  9. West Virginia
  10. Arizona State
  11. Purdue
  12. Arizona, Iowa State (tie)

93 thoughts on “USC Sunday Buzz: Pac-12 Well-Represented Among Nation’s Worst P5 Teams”

    4. With four in there it doesn’t say a lot about the B1G. espn probably prohibited anyone other than Vandy from the SEC. Everyone else is fair game though.

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  4. Clemson, a fine academic institution

    Bashaud Breeland, a free agent who last season played cornerback for the Chiefs, last week was arrested for driving a stolen Mercedes, altering title and possession of a stolen firearm, as well as several drug charges. He matriculated through his junior year at Clemson, where he majored in………. Community Recreation.

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    2. Clemson Statement:
      “To All Haters: Mister Breeland was simply putting his Unrestricted Recreation Major to good use….. …
      …To Our Players: For a limited time only last year’s Abnormal Psychology Majors are available for on campus counseling”….

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      1. John — If I’ve read your past posts carefully [and I believe I have]: All belief SYSTEMS are, by definition, confining…..
        #IsThereOneI’mMissing?
        #[IThinkWeBothAgreeSomeAreMoreOnTheMoneyThanOthers]

        Liked by 3 people

  7. It’s official, the conference of champions is also the conference of chumpions.
    It’s not the players, it’s the environment unless you’re talking Colorado where Coach Prime put about 97% of the players out to pasture. Colorado was officially third to jump conferences so maybe they’re moving up?
    Stanford was good once, but that’s because their coach got athletes admitted on scholarship and not academics. Now they are too smart to make a difference. With the AZ schools it’s location but at least it’s a dry heat.

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  8. — Arizona is indeed a dry heat, but at 110+ you can have it
    Most everywhere else it is also too hot with humidity
    Give me good ol’ Southern California weather (most of the time)

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    1. You get unlimited homeless, gangs, never ending traffic, regulated and taxed to death, high cost of living, crime, graffiti, barb wire on freeway signs, but the weather is great ( near the coast ), no thanks.

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      2. OK BK, you roped me in– This is like the contrary record to the song
        “The Eve of Destruction”
        Los Angeles proper starts at Santa Monica through the 17-mile flatlands to Chinatown where sea breezes cool the evening air
        There are homeless but most LAers have a roof over their head
        Crime in L.A. peaked in the 1970-1980s and currently is lower
        and LA has Palisades and Elysian Parks with an ocean thrown in

        It’s not necessary to put-down where you’re from to justify your moving out. L.A. can still be pretty nice if you look back on the good times you had here

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      3. Michael, I’d like to believe in the good people of LA, but those who vote continue to shoot themselves in the foot, every election cycle.

        Liked by 2 people

      7. Crime is not down. Prop 46 has encouraged theft and Democrat DAs, judges and prosecutors are practicing catch and release so the criminals are running wild now:

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Correction Prop 47, not 46. You can hear the alarms go off in any grocery store or drug store with criminals walking out the door with out paying.

        Liked by 3 people

      9. That Nordstrom’s video didn’t look so bad —didn’t look like anyone was killed…
        #TheNewStandard

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    3. True GT. You remined me of the opening speech in the movie Patton.

      “No son of a bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. Wars are won by making some other son of a bitch die for his country.”

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      1. Spencer Tracy [as Father Flannigan] from Boy’s Town: “There is no such thing as a Bad Boy… or a Son of a Bitch…”
        #Me&PlowHorse:”Oh,Yes,ThereIs”

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      3. Good point…
        Father Flannigan 2023: “There are about 3 Bad Boys in every group of ten…”
        #HandMeTheHorseWhip,PlowHorse

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      5. …a lovely, breast feeding, “Charity-for-Haiti” soliciting daughter….
        #”Don’tSendWaterOrFood—OnlyMoney!”…..
        #…AndSendItDirectlyToTheClintonFamilyFoundation….
        #…We’llMakeSureItGetsToThoseWhoNeedIt….
        #…Mainly,Us..”

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      2. WTF, ’27, the POOP of bozo rah-rah AH’s is once again all loud mouth BS and lacking any sober brain synapse.

        In the year 2012, the Kiffy Goat’s bozo FB team/program “…was ranked number one in The Associated Press’ preseason college football poll for the seventh time in school history and the first time in five seasons, edging out No. 2 Alabama ( 52 – 6) and No. 3 LSU. ”

        Now as I recall ’27, that P/S #1 bozo team finished the 2012 season an infuckingcredible 7 – 6; Anthony Barr broke the Barfly’s collarbone/shoulder in the RG UCLA victory, and the best part, that’s so f**king rich, Kiffy Goat FB choka, choka, choka, choka lost to a sub-500 Geo. Tech team 21 – 7 in the SUN BOWL.

        As usual ’27, you moronic POS, you just can’t stand NOT to be blind stupid. You’re not even worth a soup con of schadenfreude.

        I’m sure ’24, you bought Kiffy Goat’s BS that he didn’t acquire a SUN BOWL black eye; and, I also have on it good authority, you bought out the bozo B/S’s supply of Kiffy Goat’s, $900.00, Kool, Cisco Kid Shades/Sombrero kit.

        BTW ’24, did you play 6-speed, stick shift with your parish priest today?

        #Tickle, tickle, tickle.

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    1. Cal and Stanford don’t want to conference with Baptist Baylor and Mormon BYU (TCU probably as woke as everybody else) and the rest of fly-over. Fine, stick to your principles. good luck with getting half the revenue and Cal repaying your stadium renovation debt.

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  13. Wiley is a proud man so you know he wants to be known as a
    both-sides of the ball coach. He’s under more pressure than
    that defensive coach who works for him

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    1. It is pretty much a done deal that Grinch is gone after this season if the D performance doesn’t improve enough. The only question is, how much is enough?

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      1. ..answer: one more of those 600 total yards against us, one more 17 point 4th quarter turnaround against us, one more “we are working to correct the tackling problem now that we’re in our 10th game” —-will spell pink slip……

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      2. Trojans ranked 106th in total defense and 94th in scoring defense last season. I am assuming they will need to be inside the top 60 for Grinch to be retained. A big issue is that they face 3 of the country’s best QBs in Rising, Penix Jr., and Nix. A ball control offense would be a wonderful things against those teams.

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    2. …So… Grinch isn’t as worried about his sterling reputation as Riley?
      #Yeah,I’llGoWithThatForSure…
      #GrinchHasn’tGotMuchToLoseInTheReputationDepartment…
      #[RememberTheGirlsInJuniorHighW/The”BadReps”]?

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  14. Just In: 7112 Bottom Ten, 1. Northwestern 2.; Colorado 3. Vanderbilt 4. Iowa St. 5. Stanford 6. Georgia Tech 7. Kansas St. 8. ASU 9. North Carolina St. 10. Indiana. This year’s breakout teams who can shed this perception or label. Colorado prediction 7-5, NCST 6-6, Stanford 6-6 everyone else won’t make it .500

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      1. Stanford may have hired an exceptional coach. If they let him recruit athletes way below Stanford’s normal admissions bar (which became an issue for Shaw the last couple of years), they could be good again.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. …they could surprise us [not by winning…but playing us close with smash mouth and lots of pass interference which won’t be called]…..

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Jack Haley (not the basketball player) hanging in the cornfield as the scarecrow couldn’t have said it better.

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    2. Eric: How about USC going independent and scheduling your list. Ensures a play-off appearance and then we unveil the real play book. Do you think were chickenshit enough to pull it off?

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      1. Breaking News: USC basketball I. Collier is the truth, Ellis is a stone face killer, K. Johnson steady reliable D. Specialist. This team has so much potential without Bronny. With him out, O. Sellers takes his minutes, B. Gardner. I see Enfield using a lot of different lineups going forward. Best pure shooter is Honorary? Hey Enfield give that guy plenty of PT 6 3’s in limited minutes n touches. Fight On, Bronny just redshirt and get stronger n healthy. You can be the man next year with Page Gardner Wright. Wow forgot about the Center who name can’t spell or pronounce. Don’t mess this up Andy Gump

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      2. Plow, your kidding me can u give me 70 million reason for them to be Independent. Stanford needs a lot work to get out bottom 10. Colorado changing coaches n players will not get them out of the bottom ten Deon will blow a head gasket when his undisciplined team of prima donas start melting under the pressure of D1 ball. Shedeur your not ready for this . I’m not buying the hype.

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      3. My son and I caught the last few minutes of the game. USC backcourt looking first rate, and Kobe looks like a defensive stopper.

        Liked by 3 people

    1. Missus Ed, if she does, I suspect it will be just as illuminating as the one you posted earlier in which she explained how culture comes to us in the morning.

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    2. “Culture is a moment, right? —ha hah ha —oh, look –it’s morning!… it’s …it’s Fweedom!”
      #”LockHerUp!”HasDifferentConnotationsWhenItComesToHarris…
      #”LockHerUpForHerOwnSafety!”

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  16. Sunday morning, not much to do, so looked at the Tulane ending
    Yes, Williams should not have fumbled on the 1-yard line
    But why was the other Williams, ‘Celeb,’ taking the ball 4-yards back

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    2. We spent the morning at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. You were correct on the last thread, college football is in the air! I wore my “UCLA sucks” shirt and got a lot of thumbs up from fellow Trojans and a couple of hisses from SUCLA fans.

      It was nice to see the new brick garden. The wife didn’t know I had purchased one, so a big smile came on her face when she saw our names.

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  17. Nobody at SC wants to recall the Tulane game, but it was the only 2022 game to get an A+ rating because it was such a 1 in a thousand deal
    So although the Trojans played the foil it is one of the few games we will remember for years

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    1. The only way to lose was by giving up a safety AND kicking to them AND giving up a TD in 30 seconds…. Giving them a fucking TD and getting the ball back to run out the clock was too complicated a formula for our coaches to come up with….

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    2. I know I won’t forget the Tulane victory.

      But as usual, the bozo lost with arrogance, instead of losing with dignity.

      The bozo didn’t lose the game; the Green Wave deserved to win; they never quit.

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  19. I’ve got some inside information about USC practices LR is making sure the defense is making the grade. My sources told me they are faster, stronger, less arm tackling. Just my opinion I think that with all the talent upfront K. Foreman will be underrated flying under the radar. They are using him right next Alexander who will be double teamed

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    1. Bear Alexander’s interview noted that the intensity of the USC defensive practices are now equivalent to Georgia’s. This could be cheap talk on his part, but he seems sincere:

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      2. What a f**king joke. This thick, half-wit left the NC Georgia FB team and nobody cared. And now the Bear claims the bozo D is on par with Georgia’s D (LFOL). No doubt the bozo coaches promised Bear four (4) extra helping of dinner to make his goof ball statement.

        Does any rah-rah actually see Georgia losing to Utah twice (2) or Tulane once (1)?

        Clown U couldn’t defeat Georgia even with help of a squad of fully, locked and loaded, A-10 Warthogs.

        BTW way Clownsters, CBS doesn’t give bozo FB a .0000001% chance in hell of making the CFP.

        As of today CBS projects mighty, mighty bozo FB receiving a Fiesta Bowl invitation vs Boise State.

        Now if I was the Glory Hog, I’d skip this useless bozo FB year for an elite Pro FB training program to make sure I was the #1, 2024 NFL draft choice.

        A Thirty (30) Million $$$$$ #1 NFL D/C contract trumps whatever the crummy bozos can offer via a shitty, NLI contract and the fat chance of a devastating, Glory Hog injury.

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  20. I hope your sources are reliable Eric. Lots of talent on the defensive side. The combination of Kyon Barrs and Bear Alexander on the interior with Mason Cobb plugging holes behind them should make it much harder to run on our defense. Of all the interviews, perhaps the most significant was Bear Alexander saying that the physicality of practices is very similar to Georgia. I was also encouraged by coach Henson saying that the D-line is winning most of the battles in the trenches and that it is much improved over last year. Our linebacker coach, Odom, raved about Tackett Curtis and Odom is not the type to give false praise. In fact, he was appalled about the lack of talent at linebacker when the coaches first took over the program and openly said so.

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