The Pac-12 Thread....

Now, back to the discussion on defense......the real dirty little secret is.........USC has no depth nor super power on the D-line.  This will stress the soph linebackers, and tax a good safety.  The corners are mediocre.

On offense, USC is Oregon-lite in the RB department.  The O-line will gel, but not immediately.  The passing game, if it lives up to its potential, is scarey good. 

USC is getting poll love, as always, without having to prove themselves.  It is okay, that is the spoils of years of winning tradition.

I have much respect for Oregon and what they are accomplishing. Winning 3 PAC titles in a row is quite an accomplishment. Outside of USC, no other PAC team had ever been the PAC auto bid or Rose Bowl representative 3 times in a row since the new conference was formed after the dissolution of the PCC in 1958.

Now, on to the fairy tale above. There is no secret about USC's lack of experience or depth on the D-line, particularly at the tackle position. This has repeated ad nauseum by everyone. USC will will have to perform on the D-line, and hope that injuries are minimal, much as most other teams. As far as the corners being mediocre, wrong. Robey is the only returing All-PAC 1st team corner in the conference, and USC has much experience at the position. USC will be improved in pass defense over last year.

USC's line is fine. They return 4 of 5 starters, and 3 others who have started in the past. USC has had to replace future NFL linemen almost every year the last decade. They know how to do it. The running game should be fine. Depth is a problem if there are injuries, much like Oregon and most other schools. Who will step up if Barner is injured? Thomas? I don't see it. It will have to be some unknown, same as USC.

Poll love? USC certainly benefitted from poll love in the 90's, without earning it, but the last decade, USC has slightly outperformed it's preseason rankings. For a team constantly ranked preseason top 5 most of the last 10 years, USC has performed well, finishing ahead of its preseason ranking 4 times(+42 cumulative ranking), worse 4 times(-31 cumulative ranking), and even 2 times.

As far as 2012 goes, where should USC be ranked preseason? Knowing that there are 17 returning starters on offense and defense (more than any other team that finished in the top 10 last year); both kickers are returning; having the most PAC 12 all-conference players returning (8, which is 5 more than any other PAC team); two All-Americans are returning, plus the early Heisman favorite returning; all off of a team that finished 6th in the AP poll and handed Oregon there only home loss in the Chip Kelly era, what is the magic number?