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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.

Wise folks have said and written many things about dealing with the hills and valleys of life. Most of us are well aware that it's a mistake to get too high when things are good or too low when they aren't. We know it's better to focus on things we can control and to avoid allowing our emotions to overcome constructive decision-making and ensuing action.

And if any of that were easy, wise folks would spend more time talking and writing about other things.

So we have Oregon. No college football program in the country has combined stunning successes and swirling controversies over the past two-plus seasons as much as Oregon has under coach Chip Kelly. Perhaps even more amazing than the frenetic tempo and creativity of the Ducks' offense is their ability to make news in positive and negative ways, yet remained focused.

Year 1 started with a humiliating loss at Boise State and a punch from then-Ducks RB LeGarrette Blount and ended with a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth. Year 2 started with quarterback Jeremiah Masoli -- a Heisman Trophy candidate -- getting booted from the team and ended with another Pac-10 championship and a berth in the national title game.

Year 3? It's started with an NCAA inquiry into the recruitment of redshirt freshman running back Lache Seastrunk, who decided to transfer last weekend, and a $25,000 payment to his mentor, Willie Lyles, who is a recruiting scout and alleged "street agent."

Where will Year 3 end? Will this be the year that the Ducks do get distracted and upended by off-field issues?

"I think the media around here is the smartest people I've ever been around my entire life," Kelly said with what sources said may have been some sarcastic shadings.

"If they voted us No. 1 in the conference and No. 3 in the country, they must not think it is a distraction. So we shouldn't let it be a distraction, because I don't think anyone would vote us No. 3 in the country if you guys thought it was a distraction."

Zing! The capacious "Book of Quotable Chip" adds another entry.

Kelly then referred to one of his handful of mantras: "We have the same mentality all the time. We have a vision for what this football program is supposed to be about and we prepare against that vision. We compete against that vision every Saturday and that's how we measure ourselves. ... We are not concerned with any outside influences, whether it be praise or blame."

Kelly's ability to impose that philosophy -- all part of his "Win the day" credo -- has been remarkable, the fuel for the Ducks' rapid rise in the college football pecking order. When you talk to his players, they either parrot what he says verbatim or provide their own little twist.

Said redshirt junior running back LaMichael James: "I focus on my team and that's it. I don't really care what outsiders have to say."

Still, there's just a little bit of double-speak. Don't believe for a moment the Ducks are unaware of -- and not following -- both the intrigue (Lyles & the NCAA!) and hype (national title contender!) that surrounds them. Kelly claims he doesn't pay attention to what reporters write, but he is curiously apt to tweak them for their stories -- Hey, Chip! -- most notably when they are wrong.

And the players, though totally bought into the Temple of Chip, are the same way. They claim they never discuss the day's headlines. Balderdash.

"Everybody wants to say all this about Oregon," redshirt junior quarterback Darron Thomas said. "We don't like that. We've just been working hard, getting ready for the season, ready to shut everybody up, ready to come out and play ball and forget about all these other allegations that are eventually going to come out."

No one knows when things are "going to come out." The NCAA hasn't even gotten around to sending Oregon an official letter of inquiry, which would spell out how the organization plans to apply vague rules about the use of scouting services. Those who say they know the endgame are lying. Nonetheless, there's been lots of guessing that Oregon and Kelly are in big trouble, with a couple of columns suggesting Kelly will be fired.

"I hope whoever wrote that, and I didn't read it, isn't our athletic director or our president," Kelly said. "I'm very confident in everything that will happen."

It's sometimes hard to believe that Kelly has been a coach in FBS football for just four seasons. Recall that in 2006, he was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, a guy only a handful of offensive aficionados knew of. His two-plus years of leading Oregon have been more eventful than entire careers for many head coaches.

When asked if Kelly has shown any stress or strain during his tumultuous tenure, James almost seems amused. "He always seems the same to me," James said. "He maybe seems a little more relaxed."

James also called Kelly "a phenomenal coach." While Rich Brooks made Oregon respectable, and Mike Bellotti created a consistent winner, it's fair to say that Kelly's dynamic leadership has pushed the program to heights that no Ducks fans imagined it could reach, even mega-booster Phil Knight. And for that, James said, Kelly deserves predominant credit.

"Coach Kelly changed the whole identity of the program," said James, who redshirted in 2008, Bellotti's final season as head coach. "Everything is 100 percent different from when I was a true freshman."

What did Kelly change? "I literally mean every single thing," James said.

Of course, Brooks and Bellotti were able to avoid any major NCAA issues, too.

What's next for the Ducks? A win over LSU, a third consecutive conference title and another run at a national championship? NCAA sanctions?

Said Kelly, "I don't know what is going to happen next. No one knows what happens in the future."

One thing is likely: With Kelly and the Ducks, it at least figures to be interesting.

The heart's in it then, spinning dreams, and torment is on the way. The heart makes dreams seem like ideas.

• Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade has regained his focus and swagger.
• Arizona State defensive tackle Corey Adams is emerging mostly because he's healthy.
• Trying to figure out how to feel about California's situation at quarterback.
• Colorado has a walk-on punter and other depth chart notes. Jon Embree is not afraid to play freshmen.
• Lache Seastrunk's departure likely means a couple of freshmen will see action. Frosh tight end Colt Lyerla is now a backup.
• Where do things stand with Oregon State receiver James Rodgers? What are the issues as the Beavers scrimmage today?
• Stanford was mostly impressive in its scrimmage. Ticket sales are up significantly.
• UCLA is still uncertain at kicker. Some notes, including frosh quarterback Brett Hundley's return to practice. More on that here.
• Competitions continue on USC's defense. Predicting the depth chart: offense and defense. The D will be better with two minutes left.
• Apparently the transition to Norm Chow as offensive coordinator -- which included a pair of demotions -- has been smooth at Utah. If there's a full moon, this Utes running back might be money.
• Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant is ready for his close-up. Sean Parker also looks to be a hit in the secondary.
• Washington State wideout Jared Karstetter is hoping for a payoff after remaining true to the Cougars. Making the case for Coug optimism.

I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.

• Arizona's game plan? Go deep.
• Arizona State turns its focus to its opener against UC Davis. Tough times for former Sun Devils quarterback Samson Szakacsy.
• California coach Jeff Tedford got the old band back together: Will it play beautiful music?
• Colorado quarterback Tyler Hanson no longer has to look over his shoulder.
• Rob Moseley projects Oregon's depth chart. Some thoughts on the transfer of Lache Seastrunk, who left the Ducks for a variety of reasons, but chiefly because of his spot on the depth chart.
• Meet Oregon State's old man. The Beavers get a commitment from a big tight end.
• Getting to know Stanford's linebackers.
• UCLA's assistant coaches have taken a pay cut. Are the Bruins about to have a second go-around with a defensive tackle transfer? Some observations from the scrimmage.
• Five observations from USC's scrimmage.
• Some more observations from Utah's final scrimmage.
• A visit with former Washington coach Don James. The Huskies aren't there yet.
• An update on some Washington State players and their eligibility. What about the Cougars rebuilding special teams?

Running back Lache Seastrunk was a no-show at Oregon's practice Saturday, and there are reports that he is considering a transfer.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly wasn't available to reporters after the morning practice, so there's no official word from him, and the football office declined to confirm transfer reports. Seastrunk declined comment to The Oregonian.

The NCAA is looking into Seastrunk's recruitment to Oregon and the Temple, Tex., native's connection to scout and alleged street agent Willie Lyles, though it has yet to send the school an official letter of inquiry.

Seastrunk, a touted recruit, redshirted last season and was struggling to move up the depth chart, which is topped by Doak Walker Award winner LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner. True freshman De'Anthony Thomas has been impressive so far in preseason camp, seemingly eclipsing Seastrunk for the No. 3 spot. In fact, according to the Eugene Register-Guard, walk-on Ayele Forde and true freshman Tra Carson also might have moved passed Seastrunk in the pecking order.

If he transfers to another FBS school, Seastrunk would have to sit out a season before he was eligible to play.

While Willie Lyles provided Oregon comically worthless recruiting material for $25,000 -- at least as far as what Oregon has made public -- what he gave California for $5,000 in 2010 appears to be of legitimate value, according to multiple reports.

Writes Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News:

Monday, [California] made available a prospect list provided by Lyles entitled “2010 Texas recruits.”

All of the 49 prospects were found to be members of the class of 2010 – the list includes Oregon signee Lache Seastrunk, whose relationship with Lyles is part of the NCAA probe — and all but one is from Texas. The exception, Trovon Reed, is a receiver from Thibodaux, La., whose recruitment by Auburn is reportedly under examination by the NCAA.

The prospect list includes contact information such as street address, email address and home and cell numbers, all of which has been redacted by Cal, which cited federal privacy laws.

From The Oregonian:

Seastrunk's relationship with Lyles is at the heart of the NCAA’s investigation into Oregon’s dealings with Lyles, who was paid $25,000 for a recruiting package that, based on what has been released, pales in comparison to the one Cal received for 80 percent less money.

LSU also received poor value for its $6,000 payment to Lyles.

This doesn't have much to do with the NCAA's inquiry at Oregon, though it does answer one issue: Lyles did provide a legitimate service at least once and wasn't only an alleged street agent/influence peddler. Seeing that all of the previously released material from him was worthless, that's new information. Though it's notable that it appears he gathered much of his information while working for another recruiting service: “That’s their problem," Cal coach Jeff Tedford told Wilner.

Also, California fans who were worried that the Bears might get nipped by the NCAA here can probably relax. We now better understand why Tedford and athletic director Sandy Barbour seemed so confident in their position, and Barbour told Wilner they haven't heard anything else from the NCAA since they handed over information pertaining to the Bears work with Lyles.

A consistent complaint from Oregon fans amid the Willie Lyles, NCAA, "what did the Ducks' $25,000 pay for?" brouhaha is this: Lache Seastrunk is a good guy and the media is treating him unfairly.

An article in the Oregon Daily Emerald -- the student newspaper -- gave a positive, first-hand account of taking a class with Seastrunk.

No matter how indirectly, I observed and listened to a lot of the things he had to say, and was not only impressed, but also taken back by the amount of emotion he was willing to show in a room filled with more than 150 of his peers.

It concluded:

When and where are we ever going to get Lache’s side of the story? At what point to we stop dragging his name through the mud on the coattails of Lyles?

(In answer to the first question, we can't get Lache's side because he's not allowed to speak on the matter).

A blogger and Oregon fan has done his own leg work, talking to Seastrunk's family and a counselor, Deanna Carter, the primary purpose of which was to question the primacy of the role Lyles played in Seastrunk's recruitment by Oregon.

Not sure if it will prove relevant to the NCAA, but it provides some background on Seastrunk's recruitment.

We live in interesting times in the information business. Frustrating times, too. Written pieces are often Rorschach tests. The content of what is actually there in the text is often not what readers take away. One of the aspects of interactivity with this blog is how often I read in the comments section -- or in my mailbag -- that I wrote something that I actually didn't write. Or even ever think.

First, I do not know Seastrunk, but from what I've heard -- and read -- he's a sincere young man working hard to make his way in the world just like the rest of us. So, yes, he seems like a good guy.

Now, can anyone produce a single line from a story from a reputable source that suggested otherwise? Has any story suggested he is a villain in this still fluid narrative? It has never been implied that he had his hand out, that he took extra benefits. The worst you could say is he perhaps showed bad judgement by allowing Lyles to enter his life. But we don't really know yet how to define how bad that judgment was because we still don't have all the facts. If Seastrunk and those close to him feel they are victims of guilt by association, that's understandable. That's always a potential cost of entering the public eye, which happens when young men play big-time college football.

All I can say to that: This too shall pass. Eventually.

As strange as it might sound, this story is not really about Seastrunk, other than the fact that his ability to avoid people trying to tackle him made him an object of interest for various parties. Further, it's not really about his family situation or the good intentioned people who tried to help him in his life.

The story -- the NCAA story -- is about Willie Lyles and what Oregon got from him for $25,000. It's about how Oregon explains itself -- how Chip Kelly explains himself -- and how the NCAA interprets that position within vague rules that appear to contain more than a few loopholes.

Anyone telling you they know the endgame is fibbing. Oregon has yet to receive an official letter of inquiry, so we don't even know the specifics of the case as defined by the NCAA.

Oregon's fans, Oregon's coaches and Oregon's players are eager for this story, this narrative, to change, to be about football. I get that.

But until a black and white resolution -- as if that really ever exists with the NCAA -- is presented, Le Affair de Willie Lyles will hover over Oregon's 2011 season like a gray cloud, the shape of which everyone will see something different.

I could probably sum this up with a "ditto" after you read Matt "Dr. Saturday" Hinton's analysis of Willie Lyles, LSU and an ESPN report that -- just like Oregon -- LSU received a bunch of worthless crud from Lyles.

Writes Hinton:

Ask anyone who's actually reviewed his products, and it's increasingly clear Lyles is either inept, a charlatan or a willing accomplice.

Let's bracket off what Oregon's motives were with Lyles, and whether that might end up falling afoul of NCAA rules -- or, at least, how the NCAA decides to arbitrarily interpret its own rules this go-round.

What we can now say without a doubt is that Lyles is not a victim here, as he tried to portray himself when he -- selectively -- spilled his guts to Yahoo! Sports.

A mentor? Who knows? Oregon running back LaMichael James has defended him, and my impression of James is he's not a naive sort who would be easily conned. But I only know James as a reporter knows James, which is not very well.

But if you were making a list of young men in the state of Texas who most needed a mentor, you'd have to go through several million before you arrived at James or fellow Ducks running back Lache Seastrunk. It doesn't really seem that cynical to note that Lyles' choice of acolytes seems curiously self-interested based on his chosen profession.

James and Seastrunk would both be playing football for a BCS program today even if they had not met Lyles. Of that you can be certain. So let's not act as if his behind-the-scenes work for them functioned as game-saving, selfless gestures.

And, if we are to believe Lyles' chosen profession is operating a recruiting/scouting service, it's fairly clear now that he was a failure at that well before he was cast as "street agent" by the media.

Let's put it this way: Why hasn't Lyles provided any reporters with his product to prove his legitimacy? All he would have to do to prove himself is show up to an interview with thousands of hours of well-produced video and thousands of pages of well-documented scouting reports and it would be easy to conclude that -- whatever his relationships with a handful (or two) of elite prospects -- he also put in the work and hours to build a scouting business.

There are plenty of legit recruiting/scouting services that could meet you with a large box filled with material in a hour to prove what they actually did.

Lyles' legitimacy was the original issue for Oregon, and when it became public the Ducks' $25 grand paid for comically worthless material, sphincters tightened in Eugene, even more so when Lyles claimed the materials Oregon received were thrown together per a late request from Oregon, which makes it more difficult for the Ducks to sell the "We were scammed!" defense.

Then there is the California question. Lyles also worked with the Bears. As previously reported by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News:

According to an invoice provided by the school, the Bears received the "2010 National Package." Only one piece of scouting information has been reviewed by the Mercury News thus far, and it contained pertinent information, including data on prospects in the class of 2010.

The invoice indicates the scouting material was shipped March 23, 2010 -- more than a month after the 2010 prospects had signed their letters of intent.

A Cal official with direct knowledge of football operations said the Bears paid Lyles for information on back-to-back recruiting classes -- that the information received in March '10 was for prospects in the following year's class.

So Cal got something, but its quality also remains uncertain.

If material Lyles provided Cal also proves to be worthless, one would think it's three-strikes-and-your-out with Lyles' credibility, though the Bears seem confident their exposure won't incur the NCAA's wrath.

The point here isn't to speculate on the endgame for Oregon, LSU or California. I suspect there are a few more chapters for each in this who-done-it (or not).

The point here is that Ducks, Tigers and Bears fans are going to back their team, wrong or right, and they will be looking for a villain if the NCAA eventually lowers the hammer on them. The media, in general, will get its share of the blame. Messenger always does. But it is becoming increasingly clear those fans will have a convenient scapegoat, one whose name could end up written on each program's wall of infamy.

And his name rhymes with "smiles."

While Oregon fans have been enjoying all the fantastic publicity Willie Lyles has provided them this summer, the Ducks aren't the only football program that worked with Lyles.

California, in fact, also paid Lyles for his "scouting services."

Jon Wilner chatted with Bears coach Jeff Tedford about that business relationship -- here's his additional blog entry on the story -- and the general gist is this: It doesn't appear at present that Cal has the same potential NCAA exposure as Oregon.

While it might be premature to completely close the book, it appears Cal has dotted its T's and crossed its I's in this matter. (And, yes, that phrasing was purposeful because everything associated with Lyles feels squirrely).

The NCAA contacted Cal about Lyles in the spring, Wilner reports, and athletic director Sandy Barbour expressed confidence that the matter is over.

“Given that it’s been a while, I don’t expect that they have concern about what we sent,” she said, adding that she believes Cal’s dealings with football scouting services “fully comply with the rules.”

Barbour said the school has not received a notice of inquiry from the NCAA, which signals the start of an investigation.

Neither has Oregon, by the way, so that doesn't necessarily indicate Cal is free and clear.

Some other highlights:

• Wilner: "Tedford said he has never spoken to Lyles on the phone, never text messaged with him and only met him once -- they were introduced during Lache Seastrunk’s official visit to Cal." That would mean Tedford's relationship with Lyles was different than Lyles and Oregon coach Chip Kelly, who called, texted and wrote personal notes to Lyles.
• Wilner: "Cal used Lyles’ former company, Elite Scouting Services, in 2009 but dropped ESS when Lyles formed Complete Scouting Services. When asked why the Bears went with Lyles’, Tedford said: 'He was charging half what [ESS] was charging. Why pay $10,000 when you can pay $5,000.' He said Cal used Lyles’ service for one year, then dropped it in favor of 'a more inclusive service.'"

So what did Cal get? That's always been the question with Lyles, and it has yet to be answered. Does Lyles actually produce high quality recruiting material worth thousands of dollars, $25,000 in Oregon's case; $5,000 for Cal?

Again, there's just a bit of murk here. Cal also received a “2010 National package."

The only document reviewed by the Mercury News thus far was sent from Lyles to Cal in 2009 and included contact information on prospects in the class of 2010.

Last week, Cal released (to the Merc and the Oregonian) an invoice from Lyles for $5,000, with a ship date of March 23, 2010.

Wilner notes that means Cal received 2010 recruiting information after signing day in February. But there's an explanation.

According to a Cal official, the Bears paid Lyles for two classes worth of information.

They received game film, player reports and contact info on class of 2010 prospects during the fall of 2009, and they received player reports and contact info in the spring of 2010 on players in the class of 2011.

The date on the invoice (3/23/10), according to the Cal official, represented the date Lyles shipped reports and contact info on the class of ‘11.

“What he really should have done for the ship date,” the Cal official said, “was include a range, from Sept ‘09 to March ‘10.”

But Tedford said Cal used Lyles for "one year" (bolded above).

While the NCAA apparently has seen what Lyles provided Cal -- and perhaps is satisfied with that material -- there's just enough sloppiness here to inspire a "hmm."

Further, if Lyles actually produce a reasonably good recruiting product, why didn't Oregon get it?

Your feelings are correct. It does feel like we are wandering around in an ever-expanding gray area with Lyles and his clients.

The central issue with Oregon's paying Willie Lyles $25,000 always has been what the Ducks football program expected in return.

Was it a recruiting service -- film, profiles, video, phone numbers, insight -- which falls within NCAA rules. Or something else, which is where things get murky.

When Oregon released the Lyles' recruiting package June 20th -- comically useless and outdated material -- it became clear Oregon didn't get $25,000 worth of recruiting service work.

Then the question became: Was Oregon ripped off by Lyles? Or did it expect something else, which is where things, yes, get murky.

On Friday, a Yahoo! Sports report made it fairly clear Oregon is in the murk with Lyles.

Lyles opened up in a wide-ranging interview, telling Yahoo! Oregon "paid for influence and access to players, not for scouting data" and that coach Chip Kelly "scrambled" to get Lyles to submit retroactive player profiles to justify the payment.

That's where things get complicated and could leave Oregon exposed. The NCAA, which interviewed Lyles for six hours in early May, according to the report, could find that Lyles was representing Oregon's athletic interests in recruiting, most notably with sophomore running back Lache Seastrunk. Yahoo! notes: "NCAA bylaw 13.02.14 defines a representative of athletic interests as someone 'who is known [or who should have been known] by a member of the institution’s executive or athletics administration to be assisting or to have been requested [by the athletics department staff] to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.'"

That said, Lyles also insisted he didn't steer prospects to Oregon, or any other school.

According to Yahoo!:

“There was no quid pro quo,” Lyles said, claiming no school, including Oregon, ever asked him to direct a player. “Never. It wouldn’t make sense for me to help one school. I was trying to get every school to buy my service. That was my business.”

Lyles produced letters and phone records to support his contention that his relationship with Kelly was more than a passing, business acquaintance.

Lyles obviously had a business relationship with Oregon. He terms his relationships with Seastrunk and prep stars -- including Ducks All-American running back LaMichael James -- as "mentorships."

How will the NCAA view the blending of those two sorts of relationships? How will the NCAA view Oregon's responses to questions about those relationships? We are still operating in a gray area, though one that is trending more toward charcoal for Oregon.

Of course, Oregon and the NCAA are not commenting, which means Oregon is not countering Lyles' version of events. Or providing an explanation/defense if Lyles' version is accurate.

Lyles is fighting back after feeling as though he has been unfairly demonized. He sees himself as a guy who tried to help disadvantaged young athletes who didn't have authority figures in their lives who could offer good counsel.

But in the end, Lyles admits he didn't care much about NCAA rules.

According to Yahoo!:

Lyles said the past four months have provided clarity on the situation. While he said he never thought he was acting improperly, he understands lines may have been crossed. Whether any NCAA rules were broken that could affect Oregon hardly matters to him. Lyles has lost his business and reputation.

“But those aren’t my rules,” Lyles said. “Those are the NCAA’s rules. Those are Oregon’s rules.”

And Lyles' feelings there are the problem. For him, and for Oregon.

The Pac-12 features another strong crop of running backs -- five returning 1,000-yard rushers -- but there are also a few teams facing uncertainty at the position.

So how does it stack up?

Great shape

[+] Enlarge
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty ImagesLaMichael James leads a talented running back corps that has both experience and depth.
• Oregon: It's not just that the Ducks have Heisman Trophy finalist and unanimous All-American LaMichael James coming back, it's that they have Kenjon Barner and Lache Seastrunk to help carry the load. When you toss in touted incoming freshman De’Anthony Thomas -- play or redshirt? -- Oregon may have the best backfield in the nation.
• Washington: Chris Polk is a workhorse who gained 1,415 yards last season -- he's also a good receiver -- and there's good depth with Jesse Callier and Deontae Cooper, who sat out last year with a knee injury.
• Stanford: Stepfan Taylor lead the way with 1,137 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2010, but the depth is phenomenal with Anthony Wilkerson, Tyler Gaffney and Jeremy Stewart.
• UCLA: Not unlike Stanford, there's a returning 1,000-yard rusher -- Johnathan Franklin -- and great depth: Derrick Coleman, Malcolm Jones and Jordan James.
• Colorado: Rodney Stewart, at 5-foot-6, 175 pounds, is a diminutive workhorse. He rushed for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2010. The only issue here is depth, though redshirt freshman Tony Jones had a nice spring.

Good shape

• Arizona State: The Sun Devils lack an elite back but they have good depth and experience returning, topped by Cameron Marshall (787 yards and nine touchdowns in 2010) and Deantre Lewis (539 yards). There's also the versatile Kyle Middlebrooks.
• USC: Marc Tyler rushed for 913 yards and nine touchdowns but he's got some off-field issues. There's good talent on the depth chart behind him, though: Curtis McNeal, D.J. Morgan and Dillon Baxter. The O-line is a bigger issue for the running game.
• Arizona: Keola Antolin is a solid first option, if he can stay healthy, but the knee injury to Greg Nwoko means there's no experienced depth. Daniel Jenkins had some nice carries this spring, and expectations are high for incoming freshman Ka'Deem Carey.

We'll see

• California: Strange to see Cal down here, eh? What in the name of J.J., Marshawn, Jahvid and Vereen is going on? Isi Sofele is No. 1 on the post-spring depth chart, but it's wide open after that, with incoming freshmen expected to be immediately in the mix.
• Oregon State: The Beavers have experience with Ryan McCants, but he's struggled to break through. Sophomore Jovan Stevenson, redshirt freshman Malcolm Marable and grayshirt freshman Terron Ward are options, as is Jordan Jenkins, who missed spring with a shoulder injury.
• Utah: The Utes lost their top three backs from 2010, and their top three backs heading into 2011 have no experience. But John White, Harvey Langi and Thretton Palamo showed plenty of promise this spring. It's just we don't know what they'll do when the lights go on in Pac-12 play.
• Washington State: Logwone Mitz and Carl Winston are back -- they combined for 353 yards in 2010 -- and hopes are high for Ricky Galvin, who was injured early in the Cougars opening game last fall. But this is not a position of strength for the Cougars.

Previous reviews

Quarterback

Oregon belatedly provided more documents connected to the Willie Lyles investigation to The Oregonian and Eugene Register-Guard on Tuesday, but they provoke more questions rather than provide answers.

The gist from the Register-Guard:

The newest information from Lyles that Oregon put out came in the form of spreadsheets that listed high school sophomores in North and South Carolina, juniors in Louisiana and “east Texas” and sophomores in the east Texas area. Thus, none of the latest recruits listed could be considered as potential members of the 2011 recruiting class, the purported basis of a “2011 National Package” of recruits that Oregon paid $25,000 for with a check dated March 30, 2010, to Lyles. The lists of underclassmen also were delivered to the UO almost a year after that payment to Lyles.

What are the new questions? Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples points some out, most notably:

Why did Lyles wait more than 10 months after Oregon's check arrived to send the first batch of material? According to emails released by the school, the Louisiana and Texas spreadsheets arrived Feb. 17, 2011. The North Carolina and South Carolina spreadsheets arrived the morning of March 3, 2011, only hours before multiple news outlets published stories detailing the $25,000 payment.

Again, the big issue here -- as it has been from the beginning -- is can Oregon show any legitimacy to what Lyles provided for $25,000. If not, will Oregon claim it was ripped off? If that's the case, why did it apparently not ask for a refund and, in fact, apparently continue to do business with Lyles?

The school, not unexpectedly, is saying nothing, as is the way during an NCAA inquiry. A statement from the athletic department: "As we have previously stated, we have and will continue to work with the NCAA on this matter. Until this is resolved, we will offer no further comment."

If you would like to hear a sympathetic interview of Lyles, go here. In the interview, Lyles says he didn't do anything wrong and his troubles began when Texas coaches got mad at him.

"When I didn't want to steer kids their way, that's when the relationship became strained," Lyles said. "So that's when they began the issue or, in a sense, almost, vendetta against me personally."

Lyles denied he steered players to any program.

More on the new documents here from The Oregonian:

At about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, Oregon's office of public records released two e-mails from consultant Lyles to Josh Gibson, an employee on Oregon's football staff: one sent Feb. 17 and one sent March 3. Attached to the e-mails were documents including contact information for prospects in Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. The attachments totaled 131 PDF pages with prospect information and two spreadsheets with 157 names.

The e-mails are dated about one year after Oregon paid Lyles for his "2011 National Package," and around the time Yahoo! Sports was investigating Oregon's payment to Lyles. Yahoo's story appeared March 3, the same date on one of Lyles' e-mails.

Are you loving all this drama? So, is there going to me a movie about Lyles? Maybe.

As for Oregon, George Schroeder believes there's too much silence coming from the school. Writes Schroeder:

Privately, Oregon types have been telling people they made a bad business deal. They’ve been painting themselves as victims, saying they’d been burned and learned a lesson.

There’s never been a hint, though, that they’d like their money back. And now we learn they were still using Lyles’ services when the news broke.

The scouting package that Lyles apparently delivered doesn’t remotely fit what he promised on the invoice.

He then concludes:

Could be there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.

I don’t think we’re going to hear it.

And if you missed this from Bruce Feldman, it's worth a read: "Report not a good sign for Ducks."

Oregon released documents Monday to news organizations that made public records inquiries related to the football program's use of recruiting scouting services.

As of yet, there is no smoking gun. You can view the documents here, as well as read Ken Goe's breakdown of where things stand. There's more here from the Register Guard.

Some notes from The Oregonian story.

Oregon paid Willie Lyles, a figure of some controversy in recruiting circles, $25,000 for his recruiting services. Point A of this story is what Lyles provided Oregon for that money, which is more than is typically given to recruiting services.

The documents released so far include a 143-page publication evaluating high school players, provided by Willie J. Lyles' Houston-based Complete Scouting Services that was part of services rendered for a $25,000 payment.

Also:

Few videos appeared in an initial scan of the documents, but a UO spokesman says the Ducks did receive such material from Lyles' company.

Oregon will want to show the NCAA that it got something of value from Lyles for its 25 grand, otherwise the NCAA might look with skepticism on players associated with Lyles -- such as running back Lache Seastrunk -- signing with the Ducks.

It's still difficult and premature to make a judgment on this. The NCAA has not made its investigation official yet.

An Oregon spokesman said today that Oregon had not received a notice of inquiry from the NCAA, which would signal that the NCAA was compiling a case against the school. The NCAA refused to comment on the matter this morning.

There likely will be more chapters in this story. Only at this point, this isn't exactly a John le Carré thriller.

They were the best 150 recruits in the nation last season, according to ESPN Recruiting, and 26 of them committed to Pac-10 schools, including 10 who chose USC. Some of them have already made an impact while others either haven't been afforded that opportunity or haven't earned it.

Here's a look back at the Pac-12 2010 ESPNU 150 recruits:

Biggest impact: USC receiver Robert Woods, ranked seventh overall, was first-team All-Pac-10 as a kick returner and was the Trojans' leading receiver with 64 receptions for 786 yards with six touchdowns. He made just about every freshman All-America team. Honorable mentions go to USC CB Nickell Robey (No. 149) and California receiver Keenan Allen (No. 33), who both almost immediately became starters.

Jury's still out (has played, but hasn't quite broken out): UCLA DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa (No. 17), Washington S Sean Parker (No. 49) and USC RB Dillon Baxter (No. 117) each saw action last fall and flashed ability -- in some cases big-time ability -- but didn't break through as starters. None of the three finished spring practices as a clear No. 1 on the depth chart.

Worth watching (hasn't played or redshirted last season): A lot of the redshirts are expected to break through and contribute in 2011, including Oregon RB Lache Seastrunk (No. 40), UCLA RB Jordan James (No. 38), USC WR Kyle Prater (No. 45), USC DT George Uko (No. 58) and California OLB Cecil Whiteside (No. 116). Seastrunk and James are expected to get touches, despite the return of talented, experienced players ahead of them on the depth chart. Prater would have been a contributor in 2010 if not for injuries. Uko was a surprise No. 1 on the post-spring depth chart, while Whiteside was a standout this spring.

Every team has hope heading into the offseason. And every team has concerns.

Ergo, we're going to run through the conference and look at the chief matters -- on the up and downside -- for each Pac-12 team.

Next up: Oregon

Biggest reason for hope: Two Heisman Trophy candidates.

LaMichael James is the nation's best running back, considering he was the top running back in the 2010 Heisman Trophy vote and won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back. Darron Thomas was second-team All-Pac-10 in 2010, and you might recall that the first-year starter earned that honor ahead of quite a few touted QBs and behind one who's pretty darn good: Stanford's Andrew Luck, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. When a team is this good at RB and QB, it gives your offense a lot of room for error. Further, James might be better off that the Ducks are deep at running back. Instead of getting beating up -- James seemed to slow a bit at season's end -- he'll share carries with talented backups Kenjon Barner and Lache Seastrunk. Thomas should take a step forward in his second year running the Ducks' offense, both as a runner and passer. Experience matters for a QB, even one who made it seem mostly unimportant the previous season.

Biggest reason for concern: Is it the O-line or the receivers?

Technically, the Ducks lost three starters on the offensive line, though the number is really two because of left tackle Darrion Weems' significant experience. They also lost their top two wideouts. The line got mostly pushed around this spring by the Ducks' rebuilding (reloading might be more accurate) front seven. Center and one guard spot probably still remain open for competition. There might even be some reshuffling. Meanwhile, the passing game didn't consistently click, particularly with receiver Josh Huff on the sidelines for most of the spring. In any event, Huff, Lavasier Tuinei and Justin Hoffman are not an A-list troika. Youngsters Nick Cole and Will Murphy flashed promise, but they are hardly certainties. Good depth at tight end will help, and the incoming crew of freshman receivers is impressive. One or two may -- read: probably -- will immediately battle for playing time.