ESPN+ Bill Connelly's SP+ Review of the Former Pac-12 North

[Jon Joseph]

ESPN+ Bill Connelly (paywall) has posted his review of the FORMER Pac-12 North. Bill Connelly (BC) went out of his way to note that his prior review of the Pac-12 South and this review were incorrectly based on the former division formats in the Pac-12. I'm certain Bill received a lot of flack for thinking that the conference still has divisions but at least he recognizes that college football (CFB) is played on the Left Coast. 

 

BC's SP+ 2023 Pac-12 rankings and each team's SP+ national ranking.

 

1. USC - 7

 

2. Oregon - 11

 

3. UW - 17

 

4. Utah - 14

 

5. UCLA - 24

 

6. Oregon State - 30

 

7. Washington State - 58

 

8. Cal - 54

 

9. ASU - 63

 

10. Arizona - 70

 

11. Stanford - 95

 

12. CU - 108

 

BC notes that he is in the process of revising the SP+ algorithm to accurately include players brought in from the transfer portal. He admits that teams such as ASU and CU with large numbers of new portal players added to the roster are difficult to rank. I have no idea why Utah is behind UW in the Pac-12 rankings but ahead of UW in the national rankings. 

 

BC's Burning Questions for The former Pac-12 North teams.

 

1. Oregon and Washington are basically the same (super exciting) teams. Which is better? And how will Bo do without Dilly?

 

In 2022, Oregon went 1-3 versus SP+ ranked top 20 teams. UW in 2022 improved its SP+ ranking from 84 to 15.  

 

In 2022 only two CFB running backs carried the ball 150 times or more and finished with 6.5 yards or more. UCLA's Zach Charbonnet and Oregon's Bucky Irving. 

 

Michael Penix is 1st on the list of BC's favorite Pac-12 former North Division players with Bo Nix coming in 2nd.

 

2. Can Oregon State's O rebound more than its D regresses? Is DJU the answer at QB or will his play continue to be a CFB question? Oregon State does not have USC on the schedule and does not play a P5 team out-of-conference. The Beavers play UCLA, Utah, and UW at home. A terrific scheduling break for the Beavers.  

 

3. Does Wazzu have the athletes? BC notes that Wazzu's roster would be solid in the Mountain West but not so in the Pac-12.

 

4. Has Justin Wilcox solved the "portal usage at a nerd school" question? And I add, can he overcome his own administration?

 

5. Does Troy Taylor have anything to work with at Stanford? A new coach in a very difficult situation down on the farm. 

 

Think the SP+ conference rankings are correct and based on SP+ will the Ducks play USC in Las Vegas for the 2023 conference championship?