With the 2017 College Football Season due to kick off, the high-octane Pac-12 Conference is filled to the brim with many contestants fighting for the conference crown. Last year, the Washington Huskies made a run all the way to the College Football Playoff by way of winning the Pac-12 Championship and making an example out of the Colorado Buffalos in the big dance. Here is our take on the top Pac-12 favorites to win, along with our best dark horse play. The betting odds to win the Pac-12 football crown this season have been provided by BetOnline.
TOP FAVORITES
USC +110 - After winning the 2017 Rose Bowl in dramatic fashion against Big 10 champion Penn State, the Trojans have generated a lot of fanfare and press in the off-season. Much of this could also be attested to their hot finish and the play of their quarterback Sam Darnold who is the pre-season favorite for the Heisman Trophy. The Trojans also had the sole victory over the 2016 Pac-12 champion Washington last year, when they stunned the Dawgs in Seattle. Nevertheless, this team is not a lock and should not be treated as such from an odds perspective.
WASHINGTON +275 - Our dark horse to win the National Championship, the Huskies are primed for a successful Pac-12 title defense in 2017 with quarterback Jake Browning back under center, matched by a signature and one-of-a-kind Huskies defense that mirrored what we typically see out of Stanford on an annual basis. For the Huskies, the question remains how their offense will adapt with playmaker John Brown leaving Seattle. Nevertheless given the proficiency of Browning in 2016, if he replicates his productivity in 2017 the Huskies could be back in the Pac-12 Championship Game and most likely the College Football Playoff. The books have declared the Pac-12 to more or less be a two-horse race and by far there is more value on the defending champs, as opposed to a likely overvalued USC.
STANFORD +900 - When David Shaw is calling the shots, the Cardinal are always a relevant team in the Pac-12 mix. The big question for the Cardinal is how they will adapt to life in the post-Christian McCaffery era. McCaffery could be argued to have been the best all-purpose player that America has seen in the last three years. However with a typically rugged defense in a notoriously offense-oriented conference, Stanford can besiege a weaker-by-comparison Pac-12 South and make an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship if they get by USC.
TOP DARK HORSE TEAM
WASHINGTON STATE +1200 - The Cougars were in the thick of the Pac-12 race until they were defeated by their arch rival Washington in the annual Apple Cup, last year. Nevertheless, the Cougars return a dynamic passer in Luke Falk who will spearhead a prolific Cougars aerial attack. It is very likely that the Pac-12 North may be decided yet again in the cross-state rivalry feud between the Huskies and Cougars again in 2017. Given the potency of the rivalry and defenses overall finding great difficulty to figure out the Air Cougar Raid, Wazoo makes a delicious dark horse play in 2017.
2017 Odds to Win the Pac-12 Championship
(Visit BetOnline for up to the minute Pac-12 title odds.)
- Arizona +8000
- Arizona State +5000
- California +20000
- Colorado +2500
- Oregon +1200
- Oregon State +8000
- Stanford +650
- UCLA +1000
- USC +110
- Utah +2500
- Washington +225
- Washington State +1200