2023 Post-Spring Pac-12 Power Rankings: Can USC win the league for the first time since 2017?
With spring football in the rearview mirror, the transfer portal activity slowly — albeit not totally — starting to slow down, and coaches on the road out recruiting their next wave of future signees, now is a great time to assess where teams stand entering the summer before the 2023 season.
On Monday, we debuted the series with the 2023 SEC post-spring power rankings. We continued the series with the nation’s second-best conference in the Big Ten. Then we rolled out the 2023 Big 12 Power Rankings and the 2023 ACC Power Rankings.
Today, we conclude the series with a look at the Pac-12, a conference featuring four legitimate schools that have championship hopes in 2023.
Can USC win the league for the first time since 2017? Will Utah three-peat? The 2023 Pac-12 Power Rankings are deep.
Here’s how I see the league stacking up in the 2023 Post-Spring Pac-12 Power Rankings.
1. USC Trojans
The Trojans have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Caleb Williams, and Lincoln Riley’s offense projects to be even better in Year 2 in Los Angeles with the addition of Arizona transfer Dorian Singer, the leading receiver in the Pac-12 in 2022, and former 5-star recruit MarShawn Lloyd at tailback.
As always though with a Lincoln Riley team, USC’s ceiling this fall will come down to its defensive improvements. Despite a so-so spring game performance, the Trojans feel better about Alex Grinch’s unit exiting the spring. Eight starters are back and they’ve beefed up the depth chart with impact transfers like DT Bear Alexander from Georgia, a former 5-star recruit, end Jack Sullivan from Purdue, All-Big 12 linebacker Mason Cobb, pass rusher Anthony Lucas from Texas A&M and corner Christian Roland-Wallace from Arizona.
USC hasn’t won the Pac-12 since 2017, but in its final year in the league, Riley looks to have the team that could snap a six-year drought.
2. Washington Huskies
The Huskies spent the spring breaking in a new interior OL, replacing both guards and their starting center. Because most everything else is back for Kalen Deboer after a surprising 11-2 season in Year 1 at Washington.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is an early Heisman Trophy candidate and he’s throwing to a super-talented set of receivers. Washington snagged a pair of tailbacks out of the transfer portal, as the offense (which averaged nearly 40 points per game in 2022) figures to be elite once again if the OL meshes accordingly.
Defensively, the Huskies are solid up front but they must play better in the back-end if they want to win the Pac-12 this fall. Their secondary allowed 7.8 yards per attempt — third-worst in the league — and they had just seven picks all season. Oklahoma State transfer corner Jabbar Muhammad should help, and there’s hope that a guy like freshman Thaddeus Dixon pops.
3. Oregon Ducks
Unlike USC or Washington, the Ducks do not return the sort of experience or continuity off a team that went 10-3 a year ago. Quarterback Bo Nix is back, but Oregon has a new OC with Kenny Dillingham now the head coach at Arizona State.
The roster turnover includes 33 players to leave the program since their bowl win over North Carolina. Thankfully for Ducks fans, young head coach Dan Lanning has proven he can shrewdly fill holes via recruiting — both traditionally and using the transfer portal. Oregon signed a Top 10 recruiting class in 2023 and they also welcomed 14 transfers to Eugene, including headliners like wideouts Traeshon Holden (Alabama) and Tez Johnson (Troy), former 5-star end Jordan Burch (South Carolina) and corners Khyree Jackson (Alabama), Tysheem Johnson (Ole Miss) and Evan Williams (Fresno State).
The Ducks stand to light up the scoreboard again this fall, but they need to play much better on defense to win the league. One notable target for improvement is pass rush: They had just 18 sacks in 2022 — fourth-fewest in the league.
4. Utah Utes
Kyle Whittingham’s team has won the Pac-12 two straight seasons and arguably would be listed higher on these rankings if not for some uncertainty surrounding senior quarterback Cam Rising, who continues to rehab a torn ACL he suffered in the Rose Bowl.
Whittingham said that Rising is on schedule and “cautiously optimistic” the QB will be ready to start Week 1 against Florida. If Rising can’t go, then redshirt freshman Bryson Barnes would get the nod, and he did spend all spring working with the 1s. Utah has a deep set of tailbacks and tight ends, and freshman wideout Mikey Matthews was one of the team’s spring standouts.
The Utes lost star corner Clark Phillips, but they added Miles Battle from the portal and do have one of the better safety duos in the nation, led by Cole Bishop. Eight starters are back in total off a group that ranked No. 2 in the league in scoring (21.4 points per game).
5. Oregon State Beavers
Jonathan Smith delivered his alma mater its third 10-win season ever in 2022, and the Beavers return one of the best offensive lines and running back rooms in the Pac-12 this fall.
Oregon State also grabbed quarterback DJ Uiagalelei from the transfer portal, but the former Clemson 5-star isn’t even guaranteed start with incumbent Ben Gulbranson back, as well as impressive freshman Aiden Chiles.
The Beavers lost star linebacker Omar Speights to LSU, and three starters in the secondary are gone, but they return a stout defensive line and should still be one of the better units overall in the league this fall.
6. UCLA Bruins
Exiting the spring, the Bruins still have a big decision to make at quarterback. Does Chip Kelly go the safe route and roll with a more experienced veteran, or does he hand the keys to the offense to 5-star freshman Dante Moore?
Complicating matters is finding a replacement for star tailback Zach Charbonnet and replacing three starters off the offensive line. The Bruins were aggressive in the portal, adding a couple of impact receivers, a pair of offensive linemen and underrated tailback Carson Steele, who had 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns for Ball State last season.
UCLA’s defense has a new coordinator with D’Anton Lynn taking over for Bill McGovern. The Bruins do have eight starters back, including top pass rusher Laiatu Latu (10.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss). In the pass-happy Pac-12, their secondary must perform better after ranking second-to-last in the league in 2022 and giving up 25 touchdowns, third-most in the league.
7. Washington State Cougars
The good news is WSU brings back quarterback Cameron Ward, who should be better in his second season playing in the Power 5. They also have a strong set of young playmakers at receiver.
The bad news is neither might matter if the offensive line doesn’t improve after allowing a Pac-12-high 46 sacks in 2022.
The Cougars were salty defensively last season (No. 3 in scoring defense), and while they lost star pass rusher Daiyan Henley, this is still a unit that overall projects to be among the top groups in the league come the fall, especially after a couple of key transfer linebackers were added the depth chart this offseason.
8. Arizona Wildcats
Jedd Fisch has the Wildcats flirting with bowl eligibility in Year 3, which is not nothing after he took over a program that went winless in 2020 and won a single game in 2021.
Jayden de Laura is back as an experienced option at QB, and even after losing Singer to USC, the Wildcats still have a nice, talented young room of receivers. Arizona actually led the Pac-12 in yards per play in 2022 (7.3), and it should be one of the more explosive offenses again this fall.
Fisch dipped into the transfer portal to fix a defense that was bad last season, adding likely starters in linebackers Justin Flowe and Orin Patu and tackles Bill Norton and Tyler Manoa.
9. Arizona State Sun Devils
If not for Deion Sanders, Kenny Dillingham might’ve engineered one of the more radical roster rebuilds this offseason, with 29 transfers joining the program after 21 players entered the portal his offseason.
Entering the summer, Arizona State still has an ongoing quarterback battle with Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne and true freshman Jaden Rashada. The Sun Devils did nab FCS All-American tailback Cameron Skattebo, who had 1,373 yards and seven touchdowns as the Big Sky Player of the Year at Sacramento State last season.
Dillingham certainly attempted to retool the defense through the portal, aiming to provide juice (and bodies) to a unit that allowed over 30 points per game last fall.
10. California Golden Bears
Maybe, just maybe, Cal will have a functional offense in 2023. Head coach Justin Wilcox hired former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital as OC, and TCU transfer QB Sam Jackson impressed this spring. The Bears have been allergic to scoring points the last several seasons, averaging under 24 points per game in 2022.
If the transfer portal additions hit offensively (namely tight end and tailback), Cal has the defensive makeup to be a fringe bowl contender this fall — likely extending Wilcox’s stay in Berkeley.
11. Colorado Buffaloes
Deion Sanders has spearheaded the most dramatic roster flip in college football history this offseason, with Colorado bringing in some 60+ newcomers to the team this fall. The Buffs have certainly landed some notable impact transfers, but even sniffing a bowl game with this group would be a major boon for Sanders in Year 1.
We don’t know quite what to expect from quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the jump from FCS to Power 5, and even with all the portal additions, Colorado’s offensive and defensive lines still rank toward the bottom of all Power 5 teams.
Colorado has a brutal schedule in 2023 (nine-game Pac-12 slate, plus non-conference games against TCU and Nebraska), so it’s best to temper expectations despite the buzz Sanders has generated this spring.
12. Stanford Cardinal
First-year coach Troy Taylor inherits a team that likely will field fewer than 70 scholarship players in 2023, as the Cardinal couldn’t even hold a traditional spring game because they didn’t have enough available players.
Star tailback E.J. Smith is one of just two returning starters off an offense that averaged just 21.2 points per game in 2022 — second-worst in the Pac-12. Ari Patu projects to be the starting QB, but he’s yet to win the job outright.
Defensively, Stanford might be in even more trouble after seeing starters at all three levels transfer to other Power 5 programs. Sophomore edge David Bailey is back (8.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks) is back, but that’s about it off a group that allowed over 36 points per game last season.