As the Odyssey suggested last month, the Pac-12’s curtain call is going to be epic.

We attended the UCLA game at San Diego State on a perfect Southern California day (By the way, the Mountain West can boast 2 of the 3 best stadiums of relatively new vintage:  Snapdragon Stadium is nothing less than a dream.  Colorado State and Baylor both have beautiful stadiums.  The one commonality between these 3 beauties is that none are built to house 50,000+ fans.  That helps in terms of innovative design).

UCLA rolled 35-10 in a game that was never in serious doubt.  The Bruins cruised to a 28-10 halftime lead thanks to 354 yards of offense.  The Bruins’quarterback carousel came to a resounding stop as 5-star Freshman from Detroit, Dante Moore, impressed.   Moore and his mates made mincemeat of a proud defensive program.

Just how good is the Pac12? Amazingly good!  UCLA might be the 8th best team in the conference, as evidenced by the latest college football rankings which rank 8.  We have no certainty how the current pecking order should look but this is our best guess:

  1.  USC
  2.  Oregon State
  3.  Washington
  4. Oregon
  5. Utah
  6. Colorado
  7. Washington State
  8. UCLA
  9. Arizona
  10. Cal
  11. Stanford
  12. ASU

Wow!  Cal should have upset Auburn but were done in by red zone woes, lowlighted by 3 missed field goals.  Arizona extended Mississippi State to overtime at Cowbell U.

The NIL and transfer portal era have not been at all kind to the Mountain West.  Two of the conference’s bell cows in Boise State and San Diego State have both been drummed by the Pac 12.  Further, can you blame San Jose State for saying “no mas” after dual routs at the hands of USC and Oregon State?  Another piece of evidence of the increasing conference disparity:  In an embaressment of riches, UCLA will have 2 competent QB’s sitting on the bench in transferring Kent State starter, Collin Schlee, and Ethan Garbers.

The Pac’s power may result in cannibalization in regard to a berth in the sunset year of a 4-team national playoff.  The Odyssey will not be the least bit surprised if every conference member winds up with at least 2 losses.

As for the Mountain West, the beleagured conference badly needs an infusion of less-than-thrilled Oregon State and Washington State.

Thanks to Deion, Caleb and Company, the Pac will make for awesome week-after-week TV!