ESPN College Football

Quarterbacks come and go for a variety of reasons. Some simply aren't happy in a new state or in another part of the country. Others decide football isn't the sport for them. Many feel their talents are being wasted on the bench. It always seems like the grass is greener. Sometimes the move works out. Sometimes it doesn't.

Inspired by the move of Wes Lunt to leave Oklahoma State, the Pac-12 blog thought it would be fun to look back fondly at some of the quarterbacks who have left the conference following the 2008 season (a full four-year cycle). A special thanks to the league's sports information directors for helping compile this list and whatever information is available (which isn't the case with some players).

Here's the team-by-team breakdown of some of the recently departed signal callers no longer calling signals in the Pac-12.

Arizona

• Tom Savage: Transferred to Pitt after the 2011 season. Eligible to play in 2013.
• Cam Allerheiligen: Left after the 2011 season. Went on to play baseball at Weatherford College.

Arizona State

• No QB transfers since 2008.

California

• Beau Sweeney: Transferred after the 2010 season to Cornell. Appeared as a quarterback and TE/H-Back.
• Allan Bridgford: Transferred after the 2012 season to Southern Miss.

Colorado

• Matt Ballenger: Transferred after the 2008 season to College of Idaho and went on to be an all-conference basketball player.
• Nick Hirschman: Transferred to Akron following the 2012 season.

Oregon

• Chris Harper: Transferred to Kansas State after the 2008 season and became a wide receiver, leading the Wildcats in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns in 2011.
• Justin Roper: Transferred to Montana after the 2008 season, completed 61.5 percent of his throws with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2010.
• Jeremiah Masoli: Transferred to Mississippi after the 2009 season. Is now with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
• Brennan Doty: (Walk-on) transferred to Lamar to play basketball.
• Bryan Bennett: Transferred to Southeastern Louisiana after the 2012 season.

Oregon State

• Justin Engstrom: Transferred to Portland State after the 2008 season. Was a backup.
• Brennan Sim: Transferred to South Alabama after the 2008 season.
• Peter Lalich: Transferred to California University of Pennsylvania after the 2009 season.
• Ryan Katz: Transferred to San Diego State before the 2012 season and was the starter until an injury knocked him out for the year.
• Jack Lomax: Left the team prior to the 2012 season.

Stanford

• L.D. Crow: Transferred to UCF after the 2008 season.
• Nick Ruhl: (Walk-on) transferred to Menlo College after the 2008 season. Returned to Stanford and graduated with two degrees.
• Adam Brzeczek: (Walk-on) transferred to Montana after the 2011 season. Did not attempt a pass in 2012, but appeared in two games and rushed for 33 yards on three carries with a touchdown.
• Brett Nottingham: Transferred to Columbia after the 2012 season.

UCLA

• Chris Forcier: Transferred to Furman after the 2008 season.
• Nick Crissman: Graduated in 2012, but intended to transfer to play one more year

USC

• Aaron Corp: Transferred to Richmond after the 2009 season.
• Jesse Scroggins: Trasnferred to El Camino Junior College after the 2011 season and has since joined Arizona.

Utah

• Corbin Louks: Transferred to Nevada after the 2008 season.
• Griff Robles: Transferred after the 2011 season to Dixie State College. Utah had converted Robles to a linebacker, but he wanted to play quarterback. Appeared in 11 games last year, completing 50.9 percent of his throws with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
• Tyler Shreve: Transferred to Riverside Community College after the 2011 season to play football and baseball.

Washington

• Ronnie Fouch: Transferred to Indiana State after the 2009 season. Went on to start 22 games and posted 38 touchdowns to 15 interceptions with more than 4,300 passing yards in his career.
• Nick Montana: Transferred to to Mt. San Antonio College after the 2011 season and is now at Tulane.

Washington State

• J.T. Levenseller: Transferred to Eastern Washington after the 2008 season.
• Cody Clements: Transferred to Cerritos College following the 2012 season.

Mark your calendars. The 2013-2014 bowl schedule has been announced (of course, participants are pending).

Once again the Pac-12 will kick off the bowl season against a Mountain West team on Sat. Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. ET in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque on ESPN. And settle in for what will be the first of two Pac-12 double-headers this bowl season, because the Pac-12 and Mountain West will meet again the same day in the Las Vegas Bowl at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Here's the complete Pac-12 lineup:

• Dec. 21, Gildan New Mexico Bowl, 2 p.m. Pac-12 vs. MWC, ESPN
• Dec. 21, Las Vegas Bowl, 3:30 p.m. Pac-12 vs. MWC. ABC
• Dec. 27, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, 9:30 p.m. Pac-12 vs. BYU (if bowl eligible), ESPN
• Dec. 30, Valero Alamo Bowl, 6:45 p.m. Pac-12 vs. Big 12, ESPN
• Dec. 30, Holiday Bowl, 10:15 p.m. Pac-12 vs. Big 12, ESPN
• Dec. 31, Hyundai Sun Bowl, 2 p.m., Pac-12 vs. ACC, CBS
• Jan. 1, Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO, 5 p.m., ESPN
• Jan. 6, VIZIO BCS National Championship (at the Rose Bowl), 8:30 p.m., BCS 1 vs. BCS 2, ESPN

Last year, the Pac-12 bowls were a little more spread out and there is an extra six days between the start of the 2013 bowl season (last year's New Mexico Bowl was on Dec. 15). There was only one double-header last year with the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.

This year, Dec. 21 and Dec. 30 should make for some fun Pac-12 viewing parties. (And probably a healthy dose of trolling between the Pac-12 and Big 12 blogs).

If anyone needs a refresher course on how their team did in last year's bowl games, you can see all our bowl coverage from last season here.

Here's the speedy version -- Arizona: Are you kidding me?; Washington: What, no measurement?; UCLA: Ouch; Arizona State: Explosive; Oregon State: (Insert Cody Vaz just got sacked joke of your choosing here); USC: Yucky; Stanford: Defense, nasty; Oregon: Hey K-State, shhhhhh.

You can see the complete 2013-2014 bowl schedule here.

Wake up to find out
that you are the eyes of the World
but the heart has its beaches
its homeland and thoughts of its own.

• Still more on Daniel Jenkins return to Arizona after a very short transfer to Washington State.
• Arizona State LB Carl Bradford is a freak. And here is the entire list of "Freaks" from CBS' Bruce Feldman.
• California AD Sandy Barbour chats about Memorial Stadium.
• Former Colorado O-lineman David Bakhtiari might get in the mix with the Green Bay Packers.
• A former Oregon WR will get a chance with Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Former Oregon State CB Jordan Poyer talks about the NFL.
• Who is better: Andrew Luck or Colin Kaepernick?
• Might Eddie Vanderdoes end up at UCLA after all?
• Matt Barkley already has a good feel for the Eagles offense.
• Apparently Utah's Worst Case Scenario came (fairly) true in 2012.
• The Seattle Times explains why it doesn't have a Washington beat writer at present.
• Washington State has lost a starting offensive lineman.

You may have noticed this story Monday from Mackenzie Kraemer of ESPN Stats & Info. It's a nice breakdown of how the 2013 class of quarterbacks across college football might be one of the best ever. Kraemer offers five reasons why:

1. The best teams of 2012 return their quarterbacks
2. The best passers are returning
3. A diverse array of NFL talent
4. Little QB turnover in SEC
5. Award winners back on campus

We're going to take this and, point-by-point, give it a Pac-12 rinse.

The best teams of 2012 (in the Pac-12) return their quarterbacks: Yep. Stanford (12-2), yes. Oregon (12-1), yes. Oregon State (9-4), yes (and yes). UCLA (9-5), yes. Arizona State (8-5), yes. It should come as no surprise that the top six teams in our post-spring power rankings all have their quarterback coming back. In fact, there were only four teams last year that started the same quarterback in every game (Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA, Washington) and those are four of our top five teams in the rankings.

Thus, it's not by chance that the five of the bottom six in the power rankings have an ongoing quarterback competition. That's not to say that a school like USC, which has too much talent to be sitting in the bottom half of the rankings, can't quickly make a jump to the top once their quarterback situation is resolved.

And the same goes for No. 6 Oregon State -- which is fortunate to have two capable starters competing. I don't know who first opined that if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one. I don't buy it. Ask any coach in the bottom half of the power rankings if they'd prefer zero quarterbacks who have won games or two. I think we all know the answer.

The best passers are returning: Yep. Marcus Mariota led the Pac-12 in efficiency and Taylor Kelly wasn't far behind. Matt Barkley was third, Brett Hundley was fourth and Sean Mannion was fifth. However, it's worth noting that Kevin Hogan's efficiency would have ranked him slightly above Hundley had he appeared in more games in 2012 (the cutoff was appearing in 75 percent of the games, Hogan was at 71). That means five of the top six quarterbacks in efficiency are back.


A diverse array of NFL talent: Yep. Anyone who thinks Mariota is just a running quarterback failed to witness his 32 touchdown passes and league-best 68.5 completion percentage. He will fit nicely into any NFL offense.

Same for Kelly (29 touchdowns, 67.1 completion percentage) and Hundley (29, 66.5). Hogan should be well-versed in the pro-style attack (and NFL scouts love quarterbacks who know the pro-style/West Coast coming out of college) and if Mannion (if he wins the job) bounces back, he's got the prototypical NFL pro-style frame.

And let's not forget Keith Price, who we're expecting to have a nice bounce-back year. He was extremely efficient in 2011 (33, 66.9) so the potential and athleticism is obviously there.

Little QB turnover in the league: Well, the Pac-12 can't make that claim with six starting jobs still in doubt and potentially five schools starting a fresh-faced QB.

Award winners back on campus: Yep. Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year (Mariota). First-team quarterback (Mariota). Kelly, Hogan and Hundley were honorable mention.

While it's true that this might shape up as one of the greatest years in college football history for quarterbacks, it's equally true that the Pac-12 might have its best crop of quarterbacks in league history.

The Pac-12 has sent at least one quarterback to the NFL since 1995 and at least one has gone in the first round in nine of the past 16 drafts. There was 2003 when Carson Palmer (USC) and Kyle Boller (Cal) both went in the first round. 1999 was a strong year with Akili Smith (Oregon) and Cade McNown (UCLA) going in the first round and Brock Huard (Washington) going in the third. Three times the Pac-12 has had four quarterbacks go in the draft (2005, 1991 and 1989).

2004 comes to mind as a pretty darn good collection with Aaron Rodgers (Cal), Matt Leinart (USC), Derek Anderson (Oregon State), Andrew Walter (ASU), Kellen Clemens (Oregon), Trent Edwards (Stanford), Drew Olson (UCLA) and Alex Brink (Washington State).

It's a little too early to start speculating about who is going to go and who is going to stay. But based on what we've seen from this crop in the past nine months, it's possible the 2013 class will be right up there in the conversation as one of the best collection of quarterbacks ever in the league.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News has been a busy bee this week, yet we somehow missed his update on the Pac-12's progress with its new bowl game negotiations, which included Wilner projecting a potential future lineup.

It's an interesting article because it's clear Pac-12 administrators are trying to improve the configuration and selection process.

Wilner reported the likely addition of an eighth bowl game -- the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl -- which is run by the Fiesta Bowl and played in Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. It's likely to feature a Big 12 foe.

He also projects the ascension of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl as it moves into the San Francisco 49ers' new home, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. That will be another Pac-12-Big Ten matchup.

And, no, it doesn't appear there will be any Pac-12-SEC games, which many of you are clamoring for. I'm sure any of the Pac-12's bowl games would love to entice an SEC team to come on board but the SEC has a very strong lineup of bowls games, particularly at the top, and those games are played close to home.

Here's how Wilner projects the future lineup, which will begin in 2014, same season as the first four-team College Football Playoff.

1. Rose/playoff

2. Alamo

3. Holiday

4. Kraft Fight Hunger (Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara)

5. Sun

6. Las Vegas

7. Buffalo Wild Wings

8. New Mexico

That's a full lineup. Consider that some years you could have multiple Pac-12 teams in the playoff and even then have a team play in the Rose Bowl, though that might be a long shot.

The 2013 season will be the final year of the BCS era.

And there was much rejoicing!

So, what have been the Pac-12 highs and lows of this often confounding system? Thanks for asking!

Best

1. USC drubs Oklahoma for the 2004 national title: The 55-19 victory over unbeaten Oklahoma was the most dominant display of the BCS era. It was also the pinnacle of the Trojans' dynasty under Pete Carroll. It's worth noting that future Pac-12 member Utah also whipped Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl to finish unbeaten that same year.

2. USC wins "real" national title: In 2003, USC was No. 1 in the AP and Coaches polls at season's end. If you had eyes and knew anything about football, it was clear the Trojans were the nation's most-talented team on both sides of the football, a notion that was reinforced the following season. Two teams picked by computers played in New Orleans -- most folks outside of Louisiana don't even remember who -- and that forced the Trojans to settle for three-fourths of a national title after dominating Michigan 28-14.

3. The year of the Northwest: After the 2000 season, three teams from the Northwest finished ranked in the AP top seven. Washington beat Purdue in the Rose Bowl and finished third. Oregon State drubbed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and finished fourth. Oregon beat Texas in the Holiday Bowl to finish seventh.

4. Oregon gets left out but finishes No. 2: One of the grand faux paus of the BCS era was Nebraska playing Miami for the 2001 national title. Nebraska was coming off a 62-36 loss to Colorado, but the computers failed to notice, and the Cornhuskers were euthanized by the Hurricanes before halftime. The Ducks would whip that same Colorado team 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl and finish ranked No. 2.

5. Oregon and Stanford both win: The 2012-13 bowl season wasn't good to the Pac-12, but Oregon pounded Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl and Stanford beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks finished ranked No. 2 and Stanford was seventh. It was just the second time two Pac-10/12 teams won BCS bowl games in the same season.

Worst

1. Just one BCS national title, lots of frustration: No conference has more legitimate gripes with the BCS system than the Pac-12. Multiple seasons saw the conference have teams skipped over, most notably Oregon in 2001 and USC in 2003 and 2008. And ask California fans about how Texas coach Mack Brown gamed the system in 2004, preventing the Bears from playing in the Rose Bowl.

2. USC's three-peat gets Vince Younged: It's difficult to look at Texas's epic 41-38 win over USC as anything but great college football art -- perhaps the all-time greatest game -- but Trojans fans don't feel that way. The loss prevented USC from claiming three consecutive national titles and, of course, a second BCS crown for the Pac-10/12.

3. Oregon falls short versus Auburn: Oregon looked like a great team and Auburn a team with two great players before the BCS title game after the 2010 season. The Ducks chose a bad time to play one of their worst games of the season, but they still nearly prevailed before being undone by a dramatic game-winning drive from the Tigers.

4. Make a field goal, Stanford: Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson missed three field goals, including a certain game-winner from 35 yards on the last play of regulation, in the Cardinal's 41-38 loss to No. 3 Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2011 season. Williamson also missed from 43 yards in overtime, which set the Cowboys up for the win. Stanford dominated the game, outgaining the Cowboys 590 yards to 412, with a 243-13 edge in rushing.

5. Ducks drop Rose Bowl: Oregon fell flat in Chip Kelly's first BCS bowl game, with the favored Ducks losing to Ohio State 26-17 in the Rose Bowl after the 2009 season. Buckeyes QB Terrelle Pryor had perhaps the best game of his career -- 266 yards passing, 72 rushing -- and the Ducks offense struggled, gaining just 260 yards.

We analyzed and graded bye weeks for the South Division just two hours ago!

So here we go with the North Division.

California: Sept. 21 (before visit to Oregon) and Nov. 30 (last weekend of season)

Skinny: We previously wrote that the "worst weekend for a bye is the opening weekend" in regard to Arizona State's draw. The second worst is the season's final weekend, unless your team is playing in the Pac-12 title game. We don't think that will happen this fall for Cal, so the second bye is pretty worthless. The first is good in terms of timing -- fourth week, before the Pac-12 schedule starts, after a tough game with Ohio State. But the Bears are going to be a big longshot at Oregon, and the Ducks are off the same week, neutralizing any Cal advantage. It would be better for the bye to precede a game that feels more winnable. Further, after that bye, the Bears play nine weeks in a row.

Grade? D+. Just one more challenge for what might be the nation's toughest schedule.

Oregon: Sept. 21 (before visit from California) and Nov. 2 (before visit to Stanford)

Skinny: This is a solid set-up in terms of breaking up the season into manageable bits (three games, five games, four games). It's also nice to have an off week before beginning Pac-12 play. And, obviously, it would seem to benefit the Ducks to have a bye before facing Stanford. But that advantage is written off by the Cardinal also having the same off weekend before the critical Thursday night clash.

Grade? B. The best part of the bye arrangement is the placement of the off-weeks. This would be an "A" if Stanford didn't share the same second bye week before the meeting on the Farm.

Oregon State: Oct. 5 (before visit to Washington State) and Nov. 9 (before visit to Arizona State)

Skinny: This is a pretty fantastic setup. The Beavers play five games (bye), four games (bye) and then three games. That's close to ideal, mostly because there are no brutal runs of, say, nine games in a row. A bye before the Cougars isn't as good as a bye before Stanford, USC or Oregon, but it comes after an initial stretch that suggests a 5-0 start, which likely would come with a high national ranking. Not a bad time to take a breath. Then, after tough consecutive home games against Stanford and USC, the Beavers get a weekend to rest before a visit to the Sun Devils sets up a tough troika down the home stretch (ASU, Washington at Oregon).

Grade: A-. The schedule is backloaded, but the bye-week arrangements work well for the season's big picture.

Stanford: August 31 (opening weekend before visit from San Jose State) and Nov. 2 (before Oregon).

Skinny: As previously noted, the worst weekend for a bye is the opening weekend. Then the Cardinal plays eight games in a row. And, as previously noted, the bye before the potentially epic Oregon matchup is zeroed-out by the Ducks also being off. In other words, Stanford's bye arrangement provides no advantage. The only positive is getting a week to heal before the tough finish: Oregon, at USC, Cal and Notre Dame.

Grade? C-. It could be worse, but Stanford is done no favors by the arrangement of off weeks.

Washington: Sept. 7 (before visit to Illinois) and Nov. 2 (before visit from Colorado)

Skinny: If the first weekend is the worst for a bye, the second shouldn't be much better. On the other hand, the matchup with Boise State in a remodeled Husky Stadium should be loaded with pre-game hype, so a break after that emotional showdown -- win or lose -- might be a good thing. The second off weekend comes after seven consecutive games, so a break will feel good. But there's not much advantage in having the next foe be Colorado.

Grade? C. Not terrible, just not ideal.

Washington State: Oct 26 (before a visit from Arizona State) and Nov. 9 (before a visit to Arizona)

Skinny: This one is pretty strange. The Cougars play eight games before getting a weekend off. Then they get another bye a week later. They are the last team in the Pac-12 to get a bye. Arizona is the only other team to have both byes come in a three-week span, with the Wildcats going early season and the Cougs going late. Further, any advantage gained from extra prep for Arizona State is offset by the Sun Devils also having an Oct. 26 bye. The off week before the Wildcats, however, might set up nicely for an upset special.

Grade? D+. Washington State, in Year 2 under Mike Leach, could use some scheduling help. The off weeks don't offer much.

Let's take for granted that bye weeks are good things for college football teams.

Rest is good, for one. It allows players with minor injuries to heal. And, one would think, extra prep time helps. It provides the potential for added wrinkles to the game plan as well as more time to fine tune.

Yet not all off weekends are created equal.

Here's an evaluation of the Pac-12's 2013 bye weeks, starting with the South Division.

Arizona: Sept. 21 (before visit to Washington) and Oct. 5 (before visit to USC)

Skinny: It's good to have off weeks before tough road games, particularly winnable games that could get the Wildcats off to a 5-0 start. The first bye comes after a notably weak nonconference slate (Northern Arizona, UNLV, UT San Antonio), so the Wildcats could hold a lot back in advance of the visit to Washington. Further, they could address any issues revealed during what amounts to a preseason. On the downside, it's nice to spread byes throughout the season. These off dates come during a three-week stretch early in the season, preceding eight consecutive games.

Grade? B. The good news is the off weeks bolster the chances for a strong start. The bad news is no relief over the late grind of the season.

Arizona State: Aug. 31 (opening weekend before Sacramento State) and Oct. 26 (before visit to Washington State)

Skinny: The worst weekend for a bye is the opening weekend. All it does is extend preseason practices a week, which is only a negative. The second bye is pretty good. It comes after a tough seven-week run and gives the Sun Devils a breather before the five-game home stretch. While it's nice to have some extra time in advance of a November trip to potentially chilly Pullman, Arizona State might have preferred the off week coming in advance of a critical visit to UCLA.

Grade? C-. A late October off weekend is nice, but sitting out the opening week is of no value.

Colorado: Sept. 21 (before visit to Oregon State) and Oct. 19 (before visit from Arizona)

Skinny: The first off week comes after the nonconference schedule, at which point the Buffaloes will be hoping for at least a 2-1 start heading into the Pac-12 slate -- a brutal three-game stretch of a visit to Oregon State, Oregon and a trip to Arizona State. This feels like good timing, but the odds seem long that an extra week of practice will produce a performance that can win in Corvallis. The second bye comes after that aforementioned stretch and precedes six consecutive weekends of play. An extra week before a visit from Arizona passes the smell test as an upset opportunity.

Grade: A-. The perfect scenario would be for the Buffs to get byes before playing games against second-tier conference teams, whom they have the best chance to defeat. That extra time and rest could help produce an upset. They get only one of those here, but this is about as good a bye setup as a coach should hope for.

UCLA: Sept. 7 (before visit to Nebraska) and Sept. 28 (before visit to Utah)

Skinny: An early-season bye isn't typically good, but it's not bad when it's before a key trip to Nebraska that could firmly establish the Bruins as a top-25 team. A bye before playing at South Division foe Utah isn't terrible either. But the Bruins have two byes in the season's first five weeks and then play nine in a row. That's not ideal, particularly if injuries start to pile up.

Grade? C+. The slots provide useful extra prep time, but playing nine consecutive weekends isn't a good thing.

USC: Oct. 5 (before a visit from Arizona)

Skinny: USC is playing Hawaii this fall, which allowed the Trojans to schedule 13 games, so it only gets one off week. That bye falls on Week 6 before a home game with division foe Arizona. It's not good to have just one week off, but the upside is the rest comes close to midseason and it comes before what might be a key divisional game.

Grade? C. It's a decent weekend for a bye but 13 games in 14 weekends is tough.

Utah: Sept. 28 (before visit from UCLA) and Nov. 2 (before visit from Arizona State)

Skinny: Utah, notably, didn't play Oregon or Stanford during its first two years in the Pac-12. It won't get that good fortune this fall, but it does have a great scheduling setup here. For one, these byes precede games with the two South Division front-runners. If the Utes hope to get into the South mix, they need at least one win in this two games. So extra rest and prep time should help. Second, these off weeks fall after tough road trips. The Holy War against BYU, set for Sept. 21, is always an emotional game, but this meeting comes before a controversial two-year hiatus, making it even more taxing. The Utes will be at USC on Oct. 26. Win or lose that game, it might be beneficial to shake off a trip to the Coliseum before focusing on the Sun Devils.

Grade? A. This is an ideal setup for off weeks. Now can the Utes take advantage?

The Rimington Trophy committee has released its 44-man 2013 spring watch list, and five Pac-12 centers made the cut.

The SEC leads the way with nine players, while the Mountain West Conference also has five on the list.

You can review the entire list here.

And here are the Pac-12 players on the list.

• Jake Brendel, UCLA
• Hroniss Grasu, Oregon
• Gus Handler, Colorado
• Kody Koebensky, Arizona State
• Isaac Seumalo, Oregon State.

Obviously, it will be an interesting competition for first-team All-Pac-12 this fall, with Grasu and Seumalo -- a Duck and a Beaver -- seeming like the two front-runners.

Put your eyes on Bobby Jones. Look at his practice swing, almost like he's searchin' for something. Then he finds it. Watch how he settle himself right into the middle of it, feel that focus. He got a lot of shots he could choose from. Duffs and tops and skulls, there's only one shot that's in perfect harmony with the field. One shot that's his, authentic shot, and that shot is gonna choose him.

• Some more on Arizona's Daniel Jenkins leaving/not leaving the team.
• Five offseason goals for Arizona State.
• One of Cal's incoming running backs is all sorts of crazy fast.
• Colorado has added a "very athletic" junior college quarterback.
• Oregon or Stanford to win the North? Writers at Athlon Sports are leaning toward Oregon.
• The Steelers' success in the passing game may hinge on Markus Wheaton.
• The Cardinal are No. 7 on the Athlon preseason Top 25.
• It's "conceivable" that Owamagbe Odighizuwa could be back by the season opener.
• Is Eddie Vanderdoes back in the mix for USC (or UCLA, or Washington for that matter)?
• Polynesian players continue to shine at Utah.
• Austin Seferian-Jenkins' trial has been moved to July 1. (Sorry for the paid link, but it's a rather important bit of news).
• More details about the Logan Mayes bump-and-go (considered relatively minor).
• For anyone interested in helping the victims of the Oklahoma tornado, here are a couple of good places to start. The Salvation Army. The American Red Cross.

All Pac-12 fans and observers should be focused on two items when it comes to the new four-team playoff that will begin in 2014: 1. The makeup of the selection committee; 2. The announced importance that selection committee will put on strength of schedule.

Why is this important for the Pac-12? Because it plays a tougher schedule than other conferences.

No other conference plays a nine-game conference schedule and plays as challenging a nonconference schedule, one that includes for just about every team at least one or two opponents with a legitimate pulse.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News knows this. So he decided to evaluate the upcoming season's slate of nonconference games by conference.

Here's his methodology:

I focused on the number of games played between five conferences: the Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC … the five leagues that will have automatic slots in the new playoff system.

In addition, I included in the totals below the games played by those league against Notre Dame, Boise State and Louisville.

What he found was the Pac-12 plays 13 games in 2013 against the other power conferences and the "three exceptions." The 14-team SEC plays 15, the Big Ten 12 and the 10-team Big 12 six.

Yes, all Big 12 fans should immediately hang their heads in shame.

Of course, the Big 12 also plays nine conferences games, as does the Pac-12, and this informs the second part of Wilner's analysis: The percentage of quality foes the top conferences play.

The Pac-12 and Big 12 play nine conference games plus three nonconference games. The Big Ten and SEC go with the eight and four model, which increases the availability of gimme wins.

Here's where the Pac-12 separates itself this fall, per Wilner:

Of the Pac-122s 37 non-conference games (3 x 12 + USC’s exempt game at Hawaii), 35.1% qualify as A-listers.

Of the SEC’s 56 non-conference games, 26.7% are A-listers. (I’m not even going to address the number of FCS-level opponents. That’s for another discussion.)

Of the Big Ten’s 48 non-conference games, 25% are A-listers.

Of the Big 122s 30 non-conference games -- it plays a true round-robin league schedule — a whopping 20% are A-listers.

Don't think for a moment this hasn't played a role in finagling the BCS system. The way the Pac-12 schedules has hurt it in the BCS system. It has been punished for ambition, though, of course, a large part of this is Pac-12 athletic directors not believing they can fill their stadiums for games against FCS foes or directional schools.

With the advent of the new playoff, the powers that be putting this thing together need to systematize scheduling as best they can. With 124 teams, it will never be perfect. But it's not too much to ask that every conference play the same number of conference games and at least attempt to play a solid nonconference schedule.

Here are five things the Pac-12, its players and its teams need to focus on with 100 days until the 2013 season begins.

1. Oregon needs to put the NCAA in its rearview mirror: Oregon and former coach Chip Kelly appeared before the NCAA's committee on infractions (COI) on April 20 (it was incorrectly reported that the meeting happened a day earlier). That means the odds are good the Ducks will know their fate before the beginning of the season. Moreover, the odds are favorable that the Ducks won't lose their 2013 postseason. That's nice for the program, considering Oregon is again a top national title contender, and the pressure is on new coach Mark Helfrich to make sure it stays that way. Getting the Willie Lyles matter resolved will make for one fewer distraction for the Ducks to claim they haven't even noticed.

2. New QBs are sometimes crowned in the offseason: Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon State and USC still have wide-open QB competitions. While coaches can't watch offseason workouts, players are gathering on a near-daily basis for conditioning and 7-on-7 work. That means aspirants for starting jobs are working with their teammates, the guys they need to win over to the notion of their stepping into cockpit of the offense. How a QB carries himself matters. How he leads these "voluntary" sessions matters. And a QB sure as heck can substantially improve between May and August. Just look at Arizona State's Taylor Kelly, who went from worst to first in the Sun Devils' 2012 QB race after spring practices.

3. Larry Scott & Co. need to send an SOS: Off-field issues are big-time this offseason. The college football powers are setting up a new four-team playoff to begin in 2014, and the Pac-12's interests are simple: Strength of schedule. The selection committee must create an unforgiving system that demands tough scheduling or functionally disqualifies teams that willfully play weak schedules. First off, there needs to be an agreement on conference scheduling. Every conference participating in the new playoff needs to play the same number of conference games, either eight or nine. If that proves unworkable, which it shouldn't, then the conferences that choose to play eight conference games should be required to play two nonconference games against AQ conference foes. This would fall under the title of "Standing up to the SEC."

4. Get bigger, stronger, faster, and do so without getting hurt: Injuries are the biggest drag in college football. Summer injuries are even worse because they: (1) Happen without full-go contact; (2) Are more likely to take a big or entire bite out of the season, depending on how late in the offseason they occur. Still, players need to work. The offseason can be physically transformative, particularly for younger players. A guy can put on 10 to 15 pounds. Or lose them. Quickness can be boosted and a power-clean total can rise. The best-conditioned team may not always win, but at least it knows it did all it could when the final whistle blows. So: Lots of sweat but no knee injuries.

5. Stay out of trouble: All work and no play makes Pac-12 players dull boys. These guys need to have fun. They deserve it. And the Pac-12 blog is no prude. But, golly, fellas, stay on the right side of the law. If you drink, you cannot drive. Period. No matter how annoying that guy is being at the bar/beach/party, you cannot punch him. Be wary of social entanglements that seem just a bit too eager. If something is not yours, don't take it. While it's entertaining to watch the Hulk smash things, it's not the same with you. Yes, have fun. Just don't be stupid and hurt yourself and your team with your poor decision-making.

If we all go out to dinner with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott this weekend, he's buying.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Scott is the highest paid college conference commissioner, earning more than $3 million last year.

The WSJ reported:

Scott took home a $1,376,000 bonus in addition to a base salary of $1,575,000 and other compensation of $71,462. His total compensation surpassed that of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, who made $2.8 million in salary, bonuses and benefits that year. It also is nearly double the $1.6 million listed for commissioner Mike Slive of the Southeastern Conference, which has won the past seven major-college football national titles and recently announced it will launch a network with ESPN in 2014.

Why is Scott so well paid? Well, a lot of that is his "quadrupling [the Pac-12's] annual television-rights revenue." From the report:

In the span of 2011-12, Scott added the Universities of Colorado and Utah as members after initially exploring the possibility of a 16-team conference. He brokered a broadcast-rights deal with ESPN and Fox worth $3 billion over 12 years, elevating the Pac-12 from a distant fifth place nationally with $58 million in primary media-rights revenue to the leader, with the new deal worth an average of $250 million annually. He led the launch of the Pac-12 Networks, the only such venture to be wholly owned by a conference.

The Pac-12 generated only $176 million in revenue in 2011-12, well behind the Big Ten at $315 million and the SEC at $273 million, but those numbers were based on the old TV deals. This past year, the Pac-12 expects to pocket more than $300 million, though financial details won't be available until next year.

The Pac-12 Network is also expected to turn a small profit in its first year of operation.

It doesn't seem like too many Pac-12 administrators are unhappy with Scott (easy there, Arizona basketball fans). From the article:

"Larry is the go-to guy that pulled all this together," said Ed Ray, the Oregon State University president and head of the committee that approved Scott's compensation package. "I would say he had a hell of a year."

Now if Scott could just get DirectTV to join his fan club.

 

I'm sure many of you have seen my story (and video!) "Wrongs of Spring," which touches on a subject that is close to all of your hearts: The Pac-12 blog being wrong, wrong, wrong!

WRONG!

Now, most of the wrong things that I write in the blog can be traced to some sort of subversive mind control that Kevin Gemmell practices in his underground lab that he thinks I don't know about. The wrong things Kevin writes can be traced to his anti-USC bias. Or is that anti-UCLA bias? Did you know he breaks out in hives every time he writes nice things about Stanford? Really.

Anyway, our guess is you guys would enjoy reliving some of our 2012 preseason wrongness. And occasional rightness.

You can start with our preseason All-Pac-12 team. And here's our postseason take.

Just three players are the same on offense: Oregon RB Kenjon Barner, USC C Khaled Holmes and Stanford OT David Yankey. Defense is much better, with five players the same and there being nothing embarrassing about the misses.

Then, of course, there is the preseason top-25 players. And the postseason version. We know Washington fans would like another opportunity to voice their objections.

Here our our 2012 preseason power rankings. Yes, there's good old USC, gleaming at the top:

1.USC: The Trojans begin the season ranked No. 1 here and in the AP poll. If the national title game were held Saturday, or you could guarantee the Trojans' starting 24 today would be the same at season's end, just about everyone would hand USC the title. But a season is long. Things happen. The Trojans' defense is already down two players, DE Devon Kennard and CB Isiah Wiley. A couple more of those, and the perception of this team could change.

At least that's not completely over the top.

And the worst projection was Arizona State at No. 11:

11. Arizona State: Taylor Kelly was the surprise winner of the QB competition, and new coach Todd Graham has pressed many of the right buttons this offseason. But the Pac-12 blog always sees it as a bad sign when an angry fan base attempts to counter our skepticism by touting players who have played [none] or very little college football.

Turns out those rookies did OK, most notably Kelly and LB Carl Bradford, and we really didn't see the dominating 2012 version of DT Will Sutton coming.

Then there are the "Fearless Predictions."

Four were wrong: USC and Oregon will play twice; A Pac-12 player will be a Heisman Trophy finalist; No Pac-12 coach will get fired after the season; Four Pac-12 teams will be ranked in the final AP poll.

Four were correct (or mostly so): California, UCLA or Washington will win eight -- or nine -- games: But only one of the three. The other two will win fewer than eight games; The Pac-12 will produce two BCS bowl teams and still fill its contracted bowls; At least three Pac-12 defenses will rank in the nation's top 25 in total defense (this actually proved true for scoring defense, but we're giving ourselves a break); and, The Pac-12 blog will, at some point, be wrong about something.

One was pretty darn close: The Pac-12 will go 28-8 in nonconference games (it went 28-15; we didn't include bowl games in the original calculation).

One is pending -- The NCAA will not hammer Oregon -- and the Pac-12 blog continues to believe that to be true.

What about the bowl projections?

BCS National Championship Game, Jan. 7: USC vs. BCS 1 or 2
Rose Bowl Game, Jan. 1: Oregon vs. Big Ten
Valero Alamo, Dec. 29: Stanford vs. Big 12
Bridgepoint Education Holiday, Dec. 27: Utah vs. Big 12
Hyundai Sun, Dec. 31: Washington vs. ACC
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, Dec. 22: California vs. MWC
Kraft Fight Hunger, Dec. 29: UCLA vs. Navy
Gildan New Mexico, Dec. 15: Washington State vs. MWC

We batted .000 there, with three of those teams -- Utah, California and Washington State -- not ending up bowl eligible.

Finally, there were our "Best case-worst case" flights of fancy. There is a strong possibility this series will be retired. It feels as if it might have jumped the proverbial shark.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

• Arizona's backup RB Daniel Jenkins won't transfer to Washington State, as was previously announced.
• Arizona State coach Todd Graham wants to channel Tom Coughlin.
• Memorial Stadium financing at California ... well ... why not be optimistic!
• Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre is looking for Aaron Rodgers but he'd settle for a Whit Taylor.
• This former Oregon great dominated in two sports.
• Some Chip Kelly wit and wisdom, but he's got a couple of Oregon State Beavers competing at cornerback.
• Is Stanford the Pac-12's rising national power?
• You should expect UCLA LB Eric Kendricks to be less underrated this fall.
• Former USC QB Carson Palmer looks for a satisfying career finish in Arizona.
• A former Utah player and coach was the touchstone for the offseason's most ridiculous story: Nick Saban as the devil. Yeah, let's take this seriously.
• Some observations about Washington.
• Logan Mayes adds his name to a list of Washington State players who are having offseason off-field issues.
• And this is the best news you will get today.