It’s never too early to predict which teams have the best chance at dethroning Oregon from atop the PAC-12. The conference may not be as top heavy as it was last year, but it will still be extremely competitive as it is every year. Oddsshark recently came out with its odds on who is most likely to win the title next year, and we’re going to be breaking down the Bruins‘ chances, along with the rest of the PAC-12 schools.
Oregon
Oregon was given the top ranking on the odds board with a +200 rating. While the departure of Marcus Mariota is a huge loss for the Ducks, they did receive some good news when former Eastern Washingon quarterback Vernon Adams committed to play his final season in Eugene.
Oregon transfer Vernon Adams is out to show that he's more than just an FCS sensation http://t.co/hIBrZWhfVM pic.twitter.com/7cwVwmrjtw
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 13, 2015
Oregon went from rebuilding to reloading in a matter of days following Adam’s commitment and they have a very strong chance of repeating as the PAC-12 champs with him at the helm. They return a plethora of skill position players, most notably freshman sensation Royce Freeman and deservingly hold the top preseason odds for a weaker PAC-12 conference.
USC
The biggest head scratcher in the odds making comes in with the Trojans tied for the second spot with a +450 rating. These odds follow a trend of media outlets penning the Trojans as potential College Football Playoff participants, despite losing most of their key players to the NFL and graduation. While they do bring back Cody Kessler and Adoree’ Jackson, they lose the top defensive player in the country in Leonard Williams, the second leading rusher in the PAC-12 with Javorius “Buck” Allen, and one of the fastest receivers in the country in Nelson Agholor.
The Trojans don’t deserve the lofty expectations they are getting from most of the country due to them simply losing more talent than they can replace with their stellar recruiting class. None of the freshman they bring in are going to produce as well as Leonard Williams and Buck Allen did for them, and as long as they have Coach Sark leading the way the Trojans won’t develop the abundance of talent they have on both sides of the ball.
Arizona
Arizona comes in at fourth place in the odds rankings with a +550 rating. The Wildcats are in interesting team to break down for next year since a lot of their potential rests on the development of Anu Solomon. He had a great first half of the season putting up ridiculous numbers against Cal and USC, throwing the ball 70+ times against both teams.
Anu Solomon with 73 attempts in win against Cal and 72 in loss at USC. Didn’t expect to see those #’s for RS FR in RichRod’s offense.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 12, 2014
He did regress a bit later in the season, but most freshman will hit the wall at some point in their first season. If he can put up the numbers next season like he did for the first half of last season the Wildcats can be a huge threat for the PAC-12 title with 16 returning starters including Scooby Wright, the nations reigning Bednarik Award winner.
UCLA
The Bruins come in tied with USC for second place in the odds rankings with a +450 rating. In a similar case to Arizona’s Solomon, the Bruins PAC-12 title and CFP hopes ride on the development of one player, Josh Rosen. The freshman is already on campus soaking in the college life and the offensive playbook. He is widely considered to be the heir apparent to Brett Hundley and is expected to win the starting job over Jerry Neuheisel and Asiantii Woulard. If Rosen can live up to his lofty expectations I fully expect the Bruins to contend for the PAC-12 title and possibly for the College Football Playoff.
UCLA Bruins
While Rosen holds the key to the Ferrari that is the UCLA offense, the car needs to run well for him to drive it to victory. The Bruins return the PAC-12’s leading rusher in Paul Perkins who should be taking over the workhorse role for the offense. Perkins along with Jordan Payton, Jake Brendel, and Devin Lucien should be able to carry Rosen through his freshman season. The newest recruiting class featuring Chris Clark and Soso Jamabo should also be able to lessen the burden that is being put on Rosen’s shoulders.
The defense lost some key players in Eric Kendricks and Owamagbe Odighizuwa, but there are players on the roster that can fill the holes left by some of the great players going to the NFL. Myles Jack and Kenny Clark are going to have to take up bigger leadership roles on the defense with the departure of Kendricks. Whoever Mora decides to hire for the vacant (as of this moment) defensive coordinator position will be getting a talented group of players. The Bruins are in a great position to take the PAC-12 by storm with Josh Rosen at the helm.