It’s hard to believe we’re already at week 9 of the college football season, but the PAC-12 is providing plenty of excitement and drama each week making it one of the more exciting conferences in 2022.
There are currently six teams that are bowl eligible and we haven’t even reached the month of November yet which tells me that the PAC-12 has improved tremendously and there is a lot of depth in this conference with a lot of good teams which we weren’t able to say the past few years.
Oregon State (6-2, 3-2 in PAC-12) and Washington (6-2, 3-2 in PAC-12) are the two teams that are on a bye during week 9.
#14 Utah (6-2, 4-1 in PAC-12) defeated Washington State (4-4, 1-4 in PAC-12) 21-17 on Thursday night in Pullman, WA.
#8 Oregon (6-1, 4-0 in PAC-12) @ Cal (3-4, 1-3 in PAC-12)
Two teams that are trending in opposite directions at this point will matchup in Berkeley on Saturday afternoon. Oregon is coming off a sensational win at home over UCLA, while Cal is on a three game losing streak. Oregon has a very balanced offense and have scored 40+ points the past six games. I don’t see the Ducks slowing down anytime soon and I think they cruise to a rather easy win on the road. I’m predicting Oregon to beat Cal 48-21.
#10 USC (6-1, 4-1 in PAC-12) @ Arizona (3-4, 1-3 in PAC-12)
Another game where two teams that are trending in opposite directions. USC fresh off a bye week and they still have a bad taste in their mouth after falling to Utah on the road in a dramatic game. Meanwhile, in a loss Arizona given up 49 points in three of the past four games. Each offense in explosive in their own unique way, but the Wildcats have troubling stopping teams on defense. I think USC takes out their frustration from the Utah loss on Arizona in Tucson. I’m predicting USC to beat Arizona 45-28.
Arizona State (2-5, 1-3 in PAC-12) @ Colorado (1-6, 1-3 in PAC-12)
These two teams, who happen to be tied based on their PAC-12 records, have had some tremendous struggles on and off the field as both programs have fired their head coaches. Each team has lost four out of the past five games and their defenses are giving up 400+ yards per game on defense. However, Arizona State’s offense is able to put up about 12 points more per game than Colorado’s. I believe Arizona is able to escape Boulder with a road win. I’m predicting Arizona State to beat Colorado 27-13.
Stanford (3-4, 1-4 in PAC-12) @ #12 UCLA (6-1, 3-1 in PAC-12)
After losing four straight, Stanford has won back to back games over Notre Dame and Arizona State despite only scoring 16 and 15 points. Meanwhile after starting their season undefeated, UCLA went up to Eugene and fell to the Ducks. I think this is another example of a team wanting to take out their frustrations on a lesser opponent. The Bruins are averaging almost 500 yards of offense per game and I think they will explode once again and put up another impressive performance. I’m predicting UCLA to win 42-24.
At this point, my predictions for the 2022 season currently sit at 48-14.
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