Pac 12 Represented in Preseason Rankings

The Pac 12 has three basketball teams representing the conference in the preseason rankings. Arizona, California and UCLA have been named to Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook's preseason Top 25!

The Wildcats place at No. 10 while Cal and UCLA sit at No. 21 and 23, respectively.

The first game of the regular season tips off Sunday, Nov. 6 when UCLA faces Cal State San Bernardino.

Week 5 Pac 12 Preview

Best Upcoming Matchup: UCLA run offense vs Stanford run defense. For all of UCLA's early season issues, the Bruins do still hold a strong rushing attack. They are averaging 214 yards per game (ranks No. 2 in the Pac 12); TBs Jonathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman average more than 5.5 yards per carry. On the other side of the line, Stanford leads the entire nation in run defense. So far, no Stanford opponent has managed more than 51 rushing yards.

Keep Checking: Washington State WR Marquess Wilson. Wilson leads the country by averaging 143 receiving yards per game and he is only a sophomore. He's also averaging 28.6 yards on 15 catches. Wilson has at least 91 receiving yards and one touchdown in all three games.

Skyrocketing Numbers: Oregon RB LaMichael James has exceeded 200 rushing yards in each of the past two weeks and gained a school-record 288 in a 56-31 victory over Arizona. James now leads the nation with 613 rushing yards and is averaging 9.4 yards per carry.

Pac 12 to Remain 12

The Pac 12 Conference has decided to remain at its current size of 12 schools.

The league, with a short news release Tuesday night, put to rest swirling speculation it would soon become a 16-team super conference.

For now, the Pac 12 will remain a 12-team semi-super conference.

Picture courtesy of saturdaynightslant.com

Pac 12 Power-Ranked Low

The Pac 12 ranks fourth in conference power rankings. Some people assumed the conference would be ranked higher, even though it is widely known that power rankings aren't an exact science.

However, looking back on the first couple weeks of play, the Pac 12 lost more than one high profile nonconference games that hurt its rankings. Oregon lost to LSU while Arizona lost to Oklahoma State. Further, Oregon State was blown out by the Badgers as Colorado lost in a hefty style to Hawaii.

With the potential upcoming additions to the Pac 12, it might be possible that the power rankings change in the future. Until then, we have to rely on the regulars to step it up!

Pac 12 or Pac 16

It now appears that the possibility of the Pac 12 expansion is not a question of is it going to happen, but when it is going to happen.

The Big 12 is drowning and every team is using another's head to stay afloat. The safest bet? Putting on the lifejacket that is the Pac 12.

Many speculate that Texas will go without a conference and will survive on its own money and arrogance.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech will most likely head over to the Pac 12. Not sure who will join them (creating the Pac 16).

What do you guys think?

Oklahoma and Texas Could Join Pac 12

The Big 12 is definitely in shambles right now. Last year, they lost Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac 12. The conference is now in serious trouble because Texas A&M has told the conference that they plan on leaving. This has left plenty of schools in the Big 12 wondering about their futures.

It has been reported that Oklahoma and Texas are both discussing joining the Pac 12. The Pac 12 has the most lucrative TV deal in all of college sports and would immediately become the best football conference if these two schools decided to join it. It'd instantly rival the SEC for best football conference.

This would be very interesting if these two teams joined the Pac 12. It would be huge for the conference and great for recruiting for everyone. They might even steal all the thunder from the SEC.

Pac 12 Week 1 Scores

Oregon LSU: 27-40

USC Minnesota: 19-17

Colorado Hawaii: 17-34

UCLA Houston: 34-38

Stanford San Jose State: 57-3

Washington State Idaho State: 64-21

Oregon State Sacramento State: 28-29 (OT)

Arizona State UC Davis: 48-14

Utah Montana State: 27-10

California Fresno State: 36-21

Washington E Washington: 30-27

Arizona Northern Arizona: 41-10

LSU Beats Oregon on National Tv

Okay, so Oregon was stomped on National Tv by Louisiana State last night. I've had some time to digest this lost because I'm a huge Oregon fan. Here are my thoughts.

This is not a huge blow to Oregon's season. Oregon was replacing practically their entire wide receiver corps, offensive line, defensive line, and linebackers. Not to mention they were playing without star cornerback Cliff Harris. Oregon has tons of players to fill big holes and I expect that this team will be humming by week 4 and looking great. It wasn't reasonable to expect this team to get back to the title game, no teams go back to the title game year after year. Not even Alabama did it last year and they were loaded.

This does not hurt the Pac 12's reputation. Sure they lost in the spotlight, but look at it realistically. They were playing a loaded LSU with tons of veterans , while the Ducks were replacing starters nearly everywhere. The Ducks proved that they could beat an SEC team last year. If Oregon had played this game in week 5, it would have been a completely different story.

Oregon will be really good by week 5 and I fully expect them to run the table and make noise in the Rose Bowl.