Of all the major sports, college football is probably one of the easiest to predict in terms of who will be leading up the pack for a national championship. Generally, only ten to twelve teams have a legitimate shot at winning it all, and although half of them will be exposed as pretenders in September and October.
In the Pac-12, last year's two BCS contenders, the Stanford Cardinal and the Oregon Ducks, are the clearcut contenders to get back to the title game in New Orleans. And the new video game NCAA 12 seems to reflect that in its rankings. You might be surprised who finished on top, in case you haven't read the title.
Who should be the Pac-12 favorite, Stanford or Oregon? Let us know in the comments!
Stanford: 3rd, A rating, A+ offense, B+ defense, B+ special teams, 4 prestige*
Oregon: 5th, A rating, A+ offense, B+ defense, A special teams, 6 prestige*
Well, this is strange. Even though Oregon has better special teams and better prestige, Stanford still tops them. How does that happen?
Must be the power of Andrew Luck. Should be an A+++ offense like credit reports.
(*) Prestige: Quantifying a school's desirability for head coaches and recruits. I'm guessing it's weird that Stanford would get a lower prestige rating considering the good academics and solid weather, but Oregon's facilities probably override all those issues.