Pac-12 Win Total Preview: Teams Expect Bowl Eligibility

We’re around three months away from the start of the College Football season, so no time like the present to start looking at season win totals starting with the Pac-12. The USC Trojans finished on top of the college football Pac-12 standings last season with an 11-3 / 8-1 record but a late-season loss to the Utah Utes (47-24) in the Pac-12 championship game cost them a trip to the playoffs. They are the favorite to win the conference again this season with 10 as their season win projections. Let’s continue our Pac-12 season win totals preview with our prediction for all 12 teams.

Seven of 12 Pac-12 Teams Expect Bowl Eligibility

In what is the last year for the Pac-12 as we know it, the conference is expected to send seven teams, the same as last year, to a bowl game this season where the soon-to-be-defunct conference finished with a 3-4 record. Now the conference will still exist but it likely will not have 12 teams.

It will be interesting to see who will take the place of USC and UCLA who will be likely leaving the conference for the Big 10 in 2024. This season it will be more difficult to determine the order of finish in the conference than figuring your college football picks on a 5-teamer.

The Trojans (projected 10 wins, under -120) are led by head coach Lincoln Riley who was a game away from the playoffs in his first season. He’ll have one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, Caleb Williams, returning after a junior season where he threw for 4,537 yards along with 42 touchdowns and 5 picks.

If the offensive line can protect, we expect another big year from the former Oklahoma Transfer. The Washington Huskies (9 wins, under -120) also bring a second-year coach, Kalen DeBoer, into the mix after beating the Texas Longhorns (27-20) in the Alamo Bowl.

The Huskies are in the same boat they usually are a terrific offense that should improve on last season’s 39.7 points per game that needs to overcome a historically bad defense ( allowed 29.1 PPG in 22-23). Oregon (9.5, -120 under) figures to be in the nine-win range with former Auburn QB Bo Nix returning after throwing 43 touchdowns last season.

Will Stein who takes over as the OC for Dan Lanning, will be stacked on the offensive side of the ball. The rest of the projected bowl-eligible teams are Oregon State Beavers (8.5, under -130), UCLA Bruins ( 8.5, -130 under), Utah Utes (8.5, -140 under, and Washington State Cougars ( 6.5, under -120). Let’s continue our Pac-12 win total preview with a quick look at the rest of the conference.

Cal Wild Card In Pac-12

The conference could have one or two more teams joining the bowl party in December, with the Cal Bears being the overall head-scratcher of the entire Pac-12. The Bears’ season win total is just five but with heavy -130 on the over.

Cal is just 10-18 in their last two seasons, but with Jake Spavital in as the new OC and TCU transfer Sam Jackson as the projected starter at QB to complement an above-average running game, perhaps we expect a surprise season in Berkeley.

I suppose we need to put a spotlight on the Colorado Buffaloes and Dion Sanders who have a projected season win total of just three (-120 over). We think they’ll go over this mark barely but with a massive transfer class coming in, there is no way to know what kind of team Primetime will have until we see them in September.

Stanford is projected to be the worst team in the conference ( 3 wins, under -120). Until the new head coach, Troy Taylor, can figure out how to improve on a defense that surrendered over 32 points a game in 2022, the Cardinal will be the caboose in the conference.

Fans will have an easier time trying to figure out what their band is trying to accomplish before the Cardinal moves up in the conference standings. The rest of the teams are the Arizona Wildcats (5 wins, -115), and Arizona State Sun Devils ( 5, -125 under).

Pac-12 Predictions

To wrap up our Pac-12 win total preview, here are our 2023 predictions. USC will win 11 games (Over) on their way out the door if they can rebound from poor defensive showings at the end of last season. The Huskies, who are one season removed for a 4-8 season still have too many questions on the defensive side of the ball.

The Ducks will be able to outscore their shortcomings in the secondary, while Utah is getting some plus money (8.5, over +110), a number we’ll grab with the defending champions. The betting public is getting even money (8.5, under -130) with the Oregon State Ducks and over, this deep Beavers team will find themselves over the total and perhaps in the title game as some have predicted.

UCLA has to find a replacement for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. There’s a battle BRUIN in camp this Summer. Too much turnover in Pullman for anything more, but they’ll squeeze out a winning season and go over the 6.5 (-110) projection.

We can’t back a team like Arizona to go over until we know they won’t give up over 36 points a game and we’ll take a chance with Cal to go over five wins (-130). Bringing in 20 portal transfers sounds like a lot, but Arizona State needs a culture change.

We’ll take them and new head coach Ty Dillingham over. The biggest trap on the Pac-12 board is Colorado. The world will bet over but we think neon is a few years away from winning in Boulder. We wrap up our Pac-12 win total preview with Stanford going under 3 wins, in what could be one of the worst teams in College Football.

USC 11-2

Oregon 9-3

Oregon State 9-3

Utah 9-3

UCLA 8-4

Washington 8-4

Washington State 7-5

California 6-6

Arizona State 6-6

Arizona 4-8

Colorado 2-11

Stanford 2-11
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