Written by Rohit Ghosh
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Pac-12: College Football Conference Preview - 2016
The Pac-12 heads into the 2016-2017 NCAA Football season with high expectations, hoping to contend for at least one playoff spot once the regular season comes to a close. Last season Stanford looked to be on pace to do just that, but their early-season blunder against Northwestern ultimately cost a spot in the final four. The Cardinal - led by RB Christian McCaffrey - are poised to contend once again this season and there's little doubt they will let their own play be the reason again.
California kicked things off in Australia with a 51-31 victory over Hawaii, but let's look at how the rest of this season might shape up.
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Let's Be Honest
The Pac-12 hasn't had a whole lot of parity in recent memory, and this season doesn't project to be much different. Over the past seven seasons, there have been only two conference champs: Oregon and Stanford. Back in July, Stanford was chosen by 33 media members as the favorite to win the 2016 Pac-12 Conference title.
Key Games
USC v Alabama, Sep. 5:
It's already being listed as a matchup of two storylines: does Lane Kiffin get revenge against a familiar USC, or does Clay Helton start his reign with a potentially career-defining victory? The matchup goes down in Texas of all places and AccuScore simulations project it to be an easy win for Alabama. The average score after 10,000 simulations is 32-18.
Stanford at Notre Dame, Oct. 15:
This should be one of the more anticipated matchups in the first two months of the season, with all signs pointing to a very physical contest at Notre Dame Stadium. Christian McCaffrey will be firing on all cylinders by that point of the season, and AccuScore data says exactly that in the simulations: Stanford wins nearly 70 percent of sims for the Oct. 15 matchup.
Oregon at USC, Nov. 5:
This will be the third consecutive matchup for these two sides at the Coliseum and USC - with the roster's ability to manage the game in the air and on the ground - could dominate a poor Ducks' defense
Players to Watch
Keep an eye out for an improved run defense from UCLA, with the return of defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes. He had torn his ACL and meniscus in a nonconference matchup early 2015, but is back and ready to improve the Bruins' rush defense.
Christian McCaffrey will have all eyes on him this season as he will literally and figuratively carry the Cardinal workload the entire season. Opposing defenses aren't ready to handle this type of talent. Interested in seeing what kind of stats AccuScore projects for him on a game-by-game basis? Make sure to check out individual game simulations to see a simulated, detailed box score.
Value Bet
Both Washington and UCLA have the talent and coaching staff to compete with the likes of Stanford, and they both come at a much more attractive price. At the time of publication, Washington is being offered at 40:1 odds to win the National Title, with UCLA at 65:1.
We all know anything can happen in a long season, and these two sides will be competing to sneak into the Pac 12 title. A win there and the odds for the title become that much more attractive.
