Week 1 in college football is an abbreviated schedule — just two games in the Pac — so we'll combine Weeks 1A and 1B together for the first Pac-12 predictions of the 2017 season.
[divider]CHURCHILL: Predicting Every Power 5 Conference Champion
AWARDS: Pac-12 Players on Watch Lists
PAC-12 PREDICTIONS: Preseason Players, Coach of the Year
PREDICTIONS: Predicting the Pac-12 Standings in 2017
CHURCHILL: Pac-12 Coaching Hot Seat Meter
DOUGHTY: Top 100 CFB Teams of 2017[divider]
| DATE | AWAY | HOME | LINE | WINNER | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUG 26 | Oregon State | Colorado State | CSU -3.5 | Colorado State | 26-23 |
| AUG 26 | Stanford | Rice | STAN -30.5 | Stanford | 34-6 |
| AUG 31 | North Dakota | Utah | NO LINE | Utah | 38-3 |
| AUG 31 | New Mexico State | Arizona State | ASU -24 | Arizona State | 40-13 |
| SEP 1 | Colorado State | Colorado | COL -7 | Colorado | 24-20 |
| SEP 1 | Washington | Rutgers | WAS -30.5 | Washington | 45-17 |
| SEP 2 | California | North Carolina | UNC -11 | North Carolina | 30-17 |
| SEP 2 | Portland State | Oregon State | NO LINE | Oregon State | 31-17 |
| SEP 2 | Western Michigan | USC | USC -27.5 | USC | 41-20 |
| SEP 2 | Southern Utah | Oregon | NO LINE | Oregon | 54-13 |
| SEP 2 | Montana State | Washington State | NO LINE | WSU | 42-10 |
| SEP 2 | N. Arizona | Arizona | NO LINE | Arizona | 34-14 |
| SEP 3 | Texas A&M | UCLA | UCLA -3.5 | Texas A&M | 34-30 |
Just one upset prediction and that's the last game on the slate, UCLA's home loss to Texas A&M. It's a matchup that could go either way but despite having raw talent there hasn't been any evidence the past few years that Jim Mora's defense can handle the weapons the Aggies will deploy, led by all-purpose star Christian Kirk and tailback Trayveon Williams.
While there are questions at quarterback — at publish time it was unknown who will get the nod to start Week 1, but Justin Hubenak appears to be a slight favorite — but the O-line is talented and experienced enough to open holes for Williams and protect the QB.
Josh Rosen is healthy, but can the Bruins run the ball effectively and plays ound defense? They didn't do either a year ago.
There will be no FCS upset for Mike Leach's Washington State Cougars this year after falling to Eastern Washington a year ago and Portland State in 2015. Falk will have new favorite receivers, but everything else should be better for Leach's team in 2017.
The Ducks won't have problem scoring points with Justin Hebert at QB and Royce Freeman at tailback and USC should take care of Western Michigan in a matchup that could have been better had P.J. Fleck stayed in Kalamazoo.
Washington should roll on the road at Rutgers, who went just 2-10 in 2016 and started fall camp with a four-man QB competition. The Huskies return nearly their entire offensive group sans John Ross after scoring 42 points a game last season.
Oregon State gets even in their second game after falling to Colorado State to open their 2017 schedule and Stanford wins big, although it may not be pretty, on the road at Rice.
