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The general consensus is that Matt Kalil is going to be the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft behind Stanford's Andrew Luck (presumptive No. 1) and Baylor's Robert Griffin III.

That means he's earmarked for Minnesota, where the Vikings, who surrendered 49 sacks last year, are trying to find help for second-year quarterback Christian Ponder.

Steve Muench and Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. breakdown Kalil and what he presumably brings to the Vikings .

Writes Muench:

There's no such thing as a sure thing, but Kalil projects as a starter from day one and is one of the safer picks in this draft, thanks in part to his bloodlines. His father, Frank, played offensive line in the USFL, and his brother Ryan Kalil plays for the Carolina Panthers and is one of the best centers in the NFL.

In the accompanying video, McShay charts the pros and cons (not many) in Kalil's game.

Says McShay:

"His game's not perfect. He's got to improve his core strength and you see that every once in a while when he's working against bull rushers ... this isn't an everyday occurrence, but it's something that happens every once in a while. If he gets stronger, he'll improve that weakness. The rest of his game, you have to love."

Which QB should go No. 1 overall in the NFL draft on April 26?

Forget the NFL scouts and GMs: You decide whether Stanford's Andrew Luck or Baylor's Robert Griffin III looks better at his pro day in front of salivating NFL personnel men.

You can watch Griffin's pro day at Baylor on Wednesday at noon ET, live on ESPN3.

And you can watch Luck on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, live on ESPN3 as well.

While it's widely viewed as a lock that Luck goes first, it nonetheless will be interesting to see if one or the other earns a better grade for his accuracy and arm strength after neither threw for scouts at the combine.

Too early for bowl projections? Maybe? Probably? Nah.

Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com doesn't think so and he's released his bowl projections for all 35 games next season.

Of the 12 teams in the conference, he has eight of them heading to the postseason -- most notably -- USC playing in the national championship game against LSU. And according to Palm, Oregon also makes another appearance in the Rose Bowl.

The four teams on the outside looking in are Colorado, UCLA, Washington State and Oregon State.

Here's a look at the bowl games he's projecting that include Pac-12 teams:

• BCS National Championship game (Jan. 7 in Miami): USC vs. LSU
• Rose Bowl (Jan. 2 in Pasadena, Calif.): Oregon vs. Michigan
• Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Arizona State vs. Navy
• Sun Bowl: Washington vs. North Carolina State
• Alamo Bowl: Utah vs. Kansas State
• Holiday Bowl: Stanford vs. Baylor (would have loved to see that matchup in 2011)
• Maaco Bowl: Cal vs. Boise State
• New Mexico Bowl: Arizona vs. Air Force

Athlon Sports takes a look at transfers to watch in 2012, and a number of comings and goings involve Pac-12 players.

Some of the top outgoing transfers: Former Oregon State QB Ryan Katz to San Diego State, former Oregon RB Lache Seastrunk to Baylor and former USC WR Brice Butler to San Diego State.

Here is what Athlon has to say about four top incoming Pac-12 transfers:

QB Connor Wood, Texas to Colorado – Wood made a push for playing time last spring with Texas, but eventually fell behind David Ash, Garrett Gilbert and Case McCoy in the fall. With playing time unlikely in Austin, Wood transferred to Colorado and will be expected to contend for the starting job this season. He ranked as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school, but never found his way onto the field with Texas. Wood will have to compete with Nick Hirschman for the No. 1 job, but Hirschman might miss spring workouts with a foot injury, giving the Texas transfer an early edge in the quarterback battle.

DL Brandon Willis, North Carolina to UCLA – Willis has transferred from North Carolina to UCLA twice, but finally appears to be staying with the Bruins and will be eligible in 2012. Willis has yet to play a down of college football, but ranked as one of the top defensive linemen coming out of high school. Willis is expected to contribute to the UCLA defensive line rotation this season.

LB Brian Wagner, Akron to Arizona – Wagner didn’t gather the fanfare of some of the transfers on this list, but he could end up being one of Arizona's most productive defensive players in 2012. He was a tackling machine in his three seasons at Akron, collecting at least 100 stops in every year. Wagner also picked up All-MAC honors in two out of his three seasons with the Zips.

Many are projecting Wood to win the starting job at Colorado. Wagner seems almost certain to start due to the Wildcats thin corps of LBs.

It seems likely Willis will get plenty of chances to break through with the Bruins. While UCLA welcomes back plenty of experience on its defensive line, that line was mediocre to bad in 2011, despite having a number of once-touted recruits.

Quarterback competitions are going to be all the rage in the Pac-12 this spring and heading up until the start of the 2012 season opener. Stanford and Oregon will be losing tremendous productivity from outgoing signal-callers Andrew Luck and Darron Thomas.

Brian Fremeau of Football Outsiders looked at which quarterback competition battles matter most nationally -- and Stanford and Oregon were right there in the mix.

The article has some interesting stats about which quarterback-reliant teams had a harder time adjusting -- looking specifically at the 2009 and 2010 seasons -- and which ones had easier transitions because the offense didn't rely as heavily on the quarterback spot.

Baylor tops the list as having the most critical quarterback transition -- with Robert Griffin III accounting for 65.4 percent of the Bears' offense.

Here's Fremeau on Stanford and Luck, who accounted for 57.6 percent of the Cardinal offense last season.

[Luck's] contribution to Stanford's total offense falls between the heavy production and light production range, however, and the offense under David Shaw can still be successful, since it is powered by a strong ground game as much as it was by Luck's arm.

Oregon falls under the rating of "less critical QB transitions" with Thomas accounting for 40.5 percent of the Ducks' offense. Fremeau on Oregon:

The Ducks have had sustained success over the last few years, precisely because they distribute the ball to an arsenal of offensive weapons and don't lean too heavily on the quarterback. The Ducks ranked fourth nationally in total offense but didn't have a single individual player rank among the top 50 nationally in total offense last season.

We're looking at the top individual performances in the Pac-12 in 2011.

Up next: KP1 goes all RG3.

Who & against whom: Washington quarterback Keith Price turned in a jaw-dropping performance in the Alamo Bowl vs. Baylor, but the Huskies still fell to the Robert Griffin III-led Bears 67-56.

The numbers: Where to start? Price threw for 438 yards on 23-of-37 passing and accounted for seven touchdowns -- four through the air and three on the ground. One of those passing scores was an 80-yard strike to Jermaine Kearse. He also rushed for 39 yards. The seven touchdowns matched a Washington record established in 1919.

A closer look: Price had been labeled as a "scrambling" quarterback, but injuries kept him in the pocket the entire season. That helped him refine his game as a pocket-passer. When finally healthy, he was able to unleash his legs to score his first three rushing touchdowns of the season. Oh yeah, the other quarterback in this game -- Heisman Trophy winner Griffin III -- had 295 yards passing, one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown. The performance elevated Price into the national conversation as an elite quarterback, but the result of the game spawned an overhaul of the Washington defensive staff.

Keith Price got hit, hammered, drilled, dumped and decked. And in the long run, it might have been the best thing to ever happen to the Washington quarterback.

With every sack Price took -- 26 of them for those keeping track at home -- a knee would strain a little more and an ankle would twist a little further. As those injuries compounded, he had to subdue his first instinct to run the football. In essence, those nagging injuries transformed him into a pure pocket quarterback.

"This year, I didn't have my legs underneath me and I had to make those throws while standing in the pocket and getting hit," Price said. "I had to stand in there and just take them. If I had my legs, I could have avoided them."

An athlete by nature who was more prone to the tuck-and-run, Price had to completely overhaul his style of play. And in the process he set the school's single-season passing touchdown record with 33 scores.

"This year was about learning a new style of play," he said. "I could never imagine playing without my legs. I depend on them so much. Now, it doesn't really matter."

Price was the Pac-12's nice little surprise. Expectations were cautiously tempered as he replaced top-10 draft pick Jake Locker. But the secret is out. This guy can play -- as evidenced by his 66.9 completion percentage. While the rest of the conference might have been in shock to see the sophomore carve up defenses with his arm -- not his legs -- it came as no surprise to him.

"I prepared for this, it's not like it just happened," Price said. "I put in the time and I sacrificed stuff I like for the game that I love. The coaches had faith in me and they helped shape who I am. It's been a blast."

And on Dec. 29, the rest of the country saw what the Pac-12 had learned as Price led the Huskies in a 56-point losing effort against Baylor in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Price accounted for seven touchdowns -- four in the air and three on the ground, his only rushing touchdowns of the year, mind you.

"I thought we had that one," Price said, leaving it at that.

Like its young quarterback, Washington is a team on the rise. The Huskies started the year by winning six of their first eight before hitting the meat-grinder portion of their schedule -- a four-game stretch that included Stanford, Oregon and USC. As the underdog, Washington dropped all three. Then it compounded when the Huskies lost at Oregon State. Injuries kept Price out of the game until he relieved Nick Montana in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough.

"I think it was an OK season," Price said. "We have a lot of things we have to improve on. But it was a decent season. Next year we need to have a great season."

Ah, next year. Price won't surprise anyone. And the centerpiece of the offense, running back Chris Polk, will be playing on Sundays. But Price doesn't seem concerned. He happily accepts the target on his back. But first things first, he wants to put some weight on his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame.

"That's my biggest thing is staying healthy," he said. "Have a good offseason and a good spring ball and just go into camp feeling good about my body. I'm going to be taking a lot of hits and I don't need to be taking any unnecessary hits."

He even sounds like a pocket passer.

The Heisman Pundit breaks down the 2012 Heisman Trophy race, and Pac-12 candidates come in at Nos. 1 and 5.

Here's what the Pundit had to say:

1. Matt Barkley, USC – Barkley returns for his senior year as the front runner for the 2012 Heisman. He’s got perhaps the best receiving corps in the history of college football catching his passes, so you know his numbers will be stellar. However, he must beat the expectations game or voters could eventually turn on him like they did Andrew Luck.

5. De’Anthony Thomas, Oregon – Thomas might’ve benefited from the best postseason spring-board of this whole bunch, as he rushed for 155 yards on two carries against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Thomas has the ability to win the Heisman based on the excitement factor alone. Voters love multi-purpose athletes.

Of course, this isn't unlike the 2011 offseason, when 2010 finalists Andrew Luck and LaMichael James gave the Pac-12 two top-five candidates, and eventual winner Robert Griffin the III was generally considered a darkhorse, at beast.

Still, both Barkley and Thomas seem like solid candidates, and it's a good bet that whoever wins their showdown in Los Angeles on Nov. 3 will earn a perch on the shortlist among voters.

Woke up thinking about Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas' surprising decision to enter the NFL draft.

We wrote last night it was a "terrible," decision, and based on things at present, it would be difficult to argue that it was a good decision.

We may have overstated things saying that Thomas won't get drafted. For one, Thomas is a winner. He's 23-3 as a starter. And, despite some mechanical issues and runs of inaccuracy, he still finished ranked 11th in the nation in passing efficiency, though some might argue the dominance of the Ducks' run-first scheme made for some wide-open opportunities in the passing game.

Bottom line: All it takes is for one general manager to fall in love with him. Perhaps there are coaches out there who want to run more shotgun, spread-option elements.

Further, we don't know Thomas' situation. There could be personal reasons he's taking this seemingly premature leap of faith in himself, though he didn't provide any such insights to ESPN's Joe Schad during a phone conversation Saturday night. He already has his degree, so that certainly satisfies one potential tweak from observers.

A couple of you reasonably commented in the mailbag that Thomas probably wouldn't solve his issues -- mechanical or otherwise -- during his senior year if he hadn't already, therefore his stock likely won't get much higher.

I'd add that the recent decisions of USC QB Matt Barkley and Oklahoma QB Landry Jones to return for their senior seasons makes this QB draft class fairly thin after Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III. This likely was also noted by Arizona State's Brock Osweiler, who surprised some with his decision to leave early.

You tick off the top 10 QBs and things start to get thin pretty early. Considering 12 QBs were drafted last spring, Thomas certainly has a solid shot to be a late-round pick.

But Thomas would have benefited from coming back, and I strongly feel he would have improved his draft status.

For one, yes, he could improve his accuracy and mechanics. While some insist you can't improve accuracy after a certain point, keep in mind accuracy is a two-way street. Do you think Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden's 72 percent completion percentage would have been any lower if he didn't have wide receiver Justin Blackmon? Yes, you do. The Ducks should be better and deeper at receiver next season -- assuming the talented redshirt freshmen come through -- and that might have helped Thomas boost his 62 percent completion percentage.

Further, completing a body of work matters. If the Ducks won another BCS bowl next January, and Thomas improved to, say, 36-4 as a starter -- and maybe completed 66 percent of his passes in 2012 -- the evidence on the "winner" side counterbalancing the "he's a spread-option guy with questionable mechanics" would have been much heavier. Three years of success playing quarterback in the Pac-12 would have been far more impressive than two years.

Schad reported that Thomas signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus, which means the deal is done. There won't be any backtracking.

But it also means that one of the top agents in the NFL believes in Thomas. So maybe what will end up being "terrible" about this decision will be our initial reaction?

Taking a look back at some of the best and worst moments from the Pac-12's bowl season.

Best overall performance (team): We're a field goal away from flipping a coin between Stanford and Oregon. But the Ducks won, and to the victor go the spoils. Say what you want about Wisconsin being overrated; Oregon beat a very good team with one of the most productive college running backs in history, and the Ducks did it on a major stage.

Best offensive performance (individual): Keith Price outdueled Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, passing for 438 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for three more scores. And the Huskies lost! Someone on the Washington defense better be carrying his books around campus until the start of next season.

Best offensive performance (team): As good as Washington's offensive show was against Baylor, Oregon did it against a tougher opponent and under a brighter spotlight. LaMichael James and De'Anthony Thomas both went for more than 100 yards, Lavasier Tuinei turned in season highs in catches (eight) and yards (158) to go with two touchdowns and the offensive line had its way with Wisconsin.

Best defensive performance (individual): In the conference's five losses, teams gave up an average of 41 points. Still, Cal first-team all-conference linebacker Mychal Kendricks did all he could to limit Texas to 21, notching nine solo tackles (10 total) and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

Best defensive performance (team): Pass.

Best offensive performance in a losing effort: Andrew Luck's one interception was the lone stain on an otherwise fantastic performance, in which he completed 27 of 31 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He was 15-of-15 on all of Stanford's scoring drives and 4-for-4 on the final drive that set up the almost-game-winning field goal.

Worst offensive performance: Both Cal and UCLA faced fairly tough defenses in Texas and Illinois, respectively, and their 24 points combined reflected that. (For the record, Washington had 35 by halftime and Oregon had 28 at the half.) But the nod goes to Cal for 7 rushing yards on 36 attempts. That's 0.2 yards per carry. ASU was actually worse with minus-11 rushing yards, but at least it put up 24 points (well, 17 if you take away Rashad Ross' 98-yard kick return).

Worst defensive performance: As a conference, Pac-12 teams gave up an average of 455 yards in their bowl games. Washington was the worst offender with 777 yards yielded.

Best bang for buck: Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas. Two carries, two touchdowns, 155 yards and a 77.5 yards-per-carry average.

Best supporting cast: While Price was fantastic, lest we forget that Chris Polk ran for 147 yards, Jermaine Kearse caught five balls for 198 yards and a score and Devin Aguilar added two receiving touchdowns.

Best holiday spirit: Cal certainly got into the season, giving the ball away five times to Texas.

Best "Oh jeez" moment: Stanford running back Jeremy Stewart taking out teammate Ty Montgomery after he tried to run a kickoff out of the end zone. Stewart, a fifth-year senior, stopped the true freshman right at the line and dropped him, much to the chagrin of 69,927 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Worst "Oh jeez" moment: Watching Dennis Erickson try to call a timeout when ASU had fourth-and-goal at the Boise 1-yard line. Then watching his face as Jamar Taylor picked off Brock Osweiler and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.

With the exception of Oregon and Utah, the bowl season was not a pleasant one for the Pac-12, which went 2-5 overall in its seven bowl games.

Let's take a looksee, shall we?

• Arizona State, crushed.
• Cal, fumbling it all away.
• Washington, 67 points! Yikes.
• UCLA, spark-less.
• Stanford, coulda, woulda, shoulda.

The good news for the conference is that Oregon finally won the big one. After building a reputation as a team that couldn't get it done out of conference and after conference, the Ducks came out smelling like roses while the majority of the conference smelled, well, ya know.

Oregon's victory paves the way for future success in BCS bowl games -- because the Ducks aren't done -- and with USC back in the postseason mix next season, it's likely the Trojans will bolster conference numbers. Consider that USC would have gone to one of the higher-rated bowl games, thus dropping each team down one peg.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. Aside from the fantastic Oregon win, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck got a chance to shine one last time in the spotlight and put together one of his greatest gems in an overtime loss to Oklahoma State. As underrated underdogs, it was pretty clear to anyone who watched knows Stanford probably came away looking better from that game than Oklahoma State did. And Washington quarterback Keith Price showed the rest of the world what we have been watching for the past few months. And let's not forget a pretty gutty comeback win for Utah.

Despite how things ended, the conference appears to be trending up. Oregon and USC will be preseason top-10 teams -- and Stanford probably checks in as a top-15/20 squad. Conference recruiting appears to be going well with some big-name players committing to several programs in the past few weeks and four new coaches add an air of mystery and excitement to the futures of Arizona, Washington State, Arizona State and UCLA.

But it's still tough to rinse that sour taste after watching ASU give up the opening kickoff for a touchdown to Boise -- which rolled and never stopped rolling in a 32-point victory. Or watching Cal cough up the ball five times to Texas. Or watching Baylor churn out 777 yards of offense. Or watching Illinois use UCLA to snap a six-game losing streak. Or watching a dead-center field goal hook to the left as the University of Phoenix Stadium scoreboard read 0:00.

Next year will be better. With a new television deal/network, an infusion of big-name coaches and some of the top players in the country coming back, it has to get better. Because after all ... oh wait, hold on, Baylor just scored again...

What did we learn from the Pac-12 bowl games? Glad you asked.

Oregon, it turns out, can win the big one: Some folks might not want to admit this, but it's a load off the backs of the Pac-12 as well as Oregon that the Ducks broke through with a win over a very good Wisconsin team in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks, whether you like it or not, have been carrying the conference flag for three consecutive years, and their losing consecutive BCS bowl games hurt the conference's image, just as it prevented Oregon from being perceived as a legit superpower. Now, any residual doubts -- real or merely faked to annoy Oregon fans -- have no more footing. Oregon is what it has proven on the field: An elite program with two BCS bowl victories since the 2001 season.

It would have been nice for USC to be eligible: USC fans believe if the Trojans had been bowl eligible, they would have beaten Oregon in the Pac-12 title game and then won the Rose Bowl, just as the Ducks did. The Pac-12 blog believes Oregon would have won a rematch in Autzen Stadium, but it doesn't matter from our point here. The loser of the Pac-12 title game -- USC or Oregon -- would have gone to the Alamo Bowl, at which point it would have beaten Baylor senseless, perhaps scoring 100 points in the process. Washington then would have been a much better matchup with Texas in the Holiday Bowl than California was, and so-on. In other words, the root cause of a weak 2-5 bowl record is the Trojans not being there to put things into a proper pecking order.

Bowls aren't good when you fired your coach: Arizona State and UCLA both played in bowl games after firing their coach. Both looked terrible. At some point, we'll find out if they lost money while embarrassing their programs. UCLA should not have applied for a waiver from the NCAA to play in a bowl game with a losing mark. Their final 6-8 record after getting downed by Illinois -- as best we can tell -- makes them the first 6-8 team in FBS history. Wow. That's awesome. Hang that on a banner in the Rose Bowl. No matter how the Bruins playing in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was framed -- a reward for the players! -- it was bad for the program. As for Arizona State, its 6-6 mark got it to a bowl game because its second-half collapse was so bad, it prevented the Sun Devils from losing the Pac-12 title game. There's just something unsavory about a team with a fired coach and a four-game losing streak playing in the postseason.

Defenses need to get better: Washington gave up 67 points. Arizona State yielded 56. Oregon won despite giving up 38. And Stanford yielded 41. California and UCLA didn't give up many points because they faced two of the worst offenses playing in bowl games. Only Utah can get a check mark for defense, and the Utes gave up 27 to Georgia Tech. We in the Pac-12 love offense. We love skilled quarterbacks and exciting running backs. But that doesn't mean the conference doesn't need to play good defense. By the way, Washington's hiring of Justin Wilcox and Arizona's expected hiring of Jeff Casteel sends the right message: We're going to pay big money to get better on defense.

Thanks, Utah: The Pac-12 has had some shaky bowl seasons. And some good ones, too. But the addition of Utah means the conference gets a team that is 7-1 in its last eight bowl games under coach Kyle Whittingham, including, by the way, the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (shared with Urban Meyer) and the 2009 Sugar Bowl. The Sun Bowl win over Georgia Tech included a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime. This is a well-coached team that plays with a lot of poise and consistent effort. Not every Pac-12 team can say that -- you know who you are. The Utes more than proved they can handle a Pac-12 schedule this season, ending up 8-5 despite losing their starting quarterback. And Utah's ability to show up in the postseason on a consistent basis is a valuable addition to the conference.

After a 2-5 bowl season, it's no surprised the Pac-12 went backwards in the conference rankings. But the Big Ten went more backwards, therefore ensuring the Pac-12 ended up third in the final ESPN.com conference rankings.

The SEC was No. 1 overall and the Big 12 No. 2. The Pac-12 could have eclipsed the Big 12 with a successful run in three head-to-head games during the bowls, but the Pac-12 lost all three: Fiesta (Stanford-Oklahoma State), Alamo (Washington-Baylor) and Holiday (California-Texas).

The Pac-12 finished 14.4 points behind the Big 12 after a 1.8-point regression. The Pac-12 was 7.2 points ahead of the No. 4 Big Ten, which fell by 2.2 points.

The ACC fell to seventh after a miserable 2-6 bowl record, including losses in both BCS bowl games. The ACC finished behind the Mountain West and Big East.

These are final power rankings of 2011-12. They look back and measure the totality of the season.

We're looking ahead with the next power rankings later Tuesday.

And, by the way, if you don't like where you ended up in the power rankings ... you should have played better.

Here are the Week 1 power rankings. And here are the pre-bowl power rankings.

1. Oregon: Chip Kelly and Oregon just can't win the big one. Oh, wait! They did. A thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin capped another great season in Eugene and left the Ducks, again, atop the Pac-12 at season's end. So, in the history of the program, which is the all-time best season: 2001, 2010 or 2011? Or should we hold off judgment on that until after the 2012 campaign?

2. USC: The win over Oregon, the stomping of UCLA and the final top-five ranking were cool, but the return of quarterback Matt Barkley created major momentum heading into the offseason. And if the Trojans had been eligible for the postseason, the Pac-12 bowl record would have been better.

3. Stanford: I'm sure Stanford fans were annoyed by the stunning ignorance among pundits discussing the Cardinal before the Fiesta Bowl. It seemed like many thought Oklahoma State was going to blow Stanford out -- calling the Cardinal "overrated" in the process. You and I knew that was an absurd position. If Stanford and the Cowboys played 10 times, the series would have gone 5-5. And that's being very generous to Oklahoma State. One last thing: Goodbye and good luck Andrew Luck. You were great for Stanford and great for college football.

4. Utah: Yep, the grind of a Pac-12 schedule really wore down the Utes. Yep, the Utes just couldn't handle it. But, with all due humility, how many other conference teams won four of their final five games and a bowl game? If you're looking for a sneaky-good team in the South Division next season, you might want to cast your gaze to Salt Lake City.

5. Washington: The Alamo Bowl loss to Baylor was, at least, an offensive spectacle. Quarterback Keith Price certainly introduced himself to a national audience by outplaying the Heisman Trophy winner. But, wow, that defense. After the Huskies lost four of their final five games, it's fair to say the best thing going their way at year's end was the hiring of A-list defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox.

6. California: Cal, Cal, Cal. The Holiday Bowl was winnable against a middling Texas squad, but not with a 5-0 turnover disadvantage -- 5-zip! As Charles Barkley might say: "Turrable." If the Bears had won, they would been a candidate for "potentially sneaky-good team in the North Division in 2012." Now we're holding off judgment. On the plus side, recruiting is rolling along nicely.

7. UCLA: Another season of inconsistency in Westwood earned coach Rick Neuheisel his walking papers, and the graceful way Neuheisel handled himself after getting fired made it seem all the more sad that he couldn't get the job done at his alma mater. Jim Mora takes over a program that needs an injection of discipline and a cultural shift.

8. Arizona: Sure, the Wildcats fired their coach and finished 4-8. But they won their last two games, including a win over Arizona State, and head into the offseason with positive momentum after the hiring of Rich Rodriguez.

9. Arizona State: The Sun Devils completely collapsed, losing their final five games. They fired their coach. Their coaching search was a meandering mess, and the hiring of Todd Graham away from Pittsburgh didn't exactly inspire much celebration. Then their best player and leader, quarterback Brock Osweiler, made a fairly surprising decision to enter the NFL draft. The good news is there has to be some good news ahead, right?

10. Oregon State: A second consecutive losing season, a 3-9 one at that, has Beavers fans understandably frustrated, particularly with what's going on in Eugene. Just two years ago, coach Mike Riley seemed certain to retire as the Beavers coach. So much for certainty. The good news -- or is it an excuse? -- is Oregon State was extremely young in 2011 and should be better in 2012. The surprising late-season win over Washington also provided some consolation.

11. Washington State: The Cougars started 3-1 and looked like a bowl team that would save coach Paul Wulff's job. They then lost seven of their final eight games and Wulff got canned. The late-season win over Arizona State was nice, but the Sun Devils were in the process of waving a white flag over their season. Yes, it was another bad season, but there are more smiles today in Pullman than in years after AD Bill Moos pulled coach Mike Leach out of his hat.

12. Colorado: Colorado isn't buried in the basement here. You could, in fact, make an argument for the Buffs promotion a couple of notches: They, after all, won two of their final three games, beating both Arizona and Utah. Still, 3-10 is 3-10 and 2-7 in conference play is 2-7 in conference play. As is finishing last in scoring defense and scoring offense among Pac-12 teams. The Buffs also have some big holes to fill in their starting lineup. Further, they don't have the "New Coach Is Here to Save Us!" storyline heading into year two with Jon Embree.

You must protect the football. It's a football cliche that is a statement of fact when it comes to winning games, but also for winning national championships.

The Pac-12 played seven bowl games. It won two. The two it won -- Oregon in the Rose Bowl and Utah in the Sun Bowl -- it was even with turnovers. Four of the five it lost, it lost the turnover battle. The exception? Arizona State won the turnover battle 3-2 with Boise State. The Sun Devils, as their fans well-know, are always weird.

The bottom five teams in the Pac-12 in turnover margin each finished the pre-bowl season with losing records (we say pre-bowl rather than "regular" to include UCLA). The top seven had winning records, other than the Sun Devils, who were .500. The only team with a winning record that finished with a negative turnover margin was USC, but that was due in large part to a stunning lack of takeaways instead of protecting the football. The Trojans 18 turnovers this season was tied for second-fewest in the conference; their 17 takeaways was tied for second-fewest also.

Guess who's No. 1 in the nation in turnover margin this season? LSU, the nation's No. 1 team. Alabama, which plays the Tigers tonight for the national championship, is No. 25.

No national champion in the BCS Era has had a negative turnover margin.

The worst ranking for a BCS national champion in turnover margin was 39th, which was LSU in 2003. But most folks view USC as the "true" national champion that year -- no one really believes that LSU team would have beaten USC, even LSU fans -- and the Trojans ranked No. 2 in turnover margin.

Oh, stop it LSU fans, you know it's true.

Five BCS national champions ranked in the top-five in turnover margin.

Look at the teams at the top of this list and the teams at the bottom. Notice anything?

Anyone want to bet $1 that the team with fewer turnovers between LSU and Alabama wins tonight?