Tako Tuesdays Prognosticates the 2013 Pac-12 Football Season

Six questions I have about the 2013 Pac-12 season:

1. Is there actual evidence that Keith Price is a good quarterback? - I get it. He's athletic, and lots of people watched the Alamo Bowl where he stood toe-to-toe with RGIII and shredded a terrible Baylor defense. But his numbers tell a different story. Let's take a look back at some stats:

	Yards	Completion %	Yards/Attempt	TDs	INTs	Sacks
Player A	2728	60.9	6.32	19	13	37
Player B	2214	60.8	7.48	12	10	39
Player C	2735	59.9	7.77	15	14	17

Player A is Keith Price's 2012 season.

Player B? Zach Maynard's 2012 season.

And Player C? Matt Barkley...as a true freshman in 2009.

On the road in 2012, Price's completion percentage dropped to 57.2. Against ranked teams, it was 56.2, with nine picks against only four touchdowns. When tied or playing from behind, he completed 58.6% of his passes, with a TD/INT ratio of 6/12. Plus, there's this (skip to 3:03):

WSU Football: Top Ten Plays of 2012! (via WSUCougarAthletics)

I am willing to think of Keith Price as a good quarterback, I really am. I just need someone to explain to me why. And don't give me that "he's doing the best he can with his supporting cast" bullshit that Jake Locker apologists spew out. Washington is, on paper, one of the four or five most talented teams in the Pac-12. They should be showing it by now, and it starts with Price.

2. Oregon State, right? - Let the record show: I am a fan of good Oregon State football. Rivalries are their most fun when both teams are good, and this has been the case with the Civil War the past four or five years. And what makes it even more fun is the different ways in which the Ducks and Beavers achieve success; Oregon does it with flash, gaud, and speed, and Oregon State just...wins. Picked to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12 last season, Oregon State started 6-0, and their only loss by more than four points was to Oregon. With Sean Mannion in what seems like his eighth season of eligibility, and Brandin Cooks poised to try and top his 1151 yard sophomore season, the Beavers should be good again, despite being wholly uninteresting and located in Corvallis. Mike Riley is a God.

3. The Bear Raid: Will it be Goff the Charts, or Goff the Rails? - Head coach Sonny Dykes has named true freshman Jared Goff as Cal's starting quarterback to start the season, which means there's a good chance Goff will lead the Golden Bears into Autzen Stadium at the end of September to face Oregon. He'd be the first true freshman QB to start at Autzen since 2009, when Brock Osweiler, Matt Barkley, and Jeff Tuel all did it. How did those three fare? An 0-3 record, with a combined score of 143-47. But Goff will have weapons at his disposal in Dykes' wide-open offense that averaged 51.5 points per game last season as Louisiana Tech. Brendan Bigelow looks to be the next great Cal running back, a la Jahvid Best, Justin Forsett, Marshawn Lynch, and JJ Arrington, and receivers Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper have the athleticism and talent to make a big impact.

4. Is this Kiffy-poo's Swan Song? - Losing five of your last six games is bad for any team in college football. It's downright unacceptable for USC. Yet there were the Trojans, putting out an uninterested and embarrassing performance in a 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. And now the Trojans have to rebound from a bad year, in a deeper and better Pac-12 South, with a first-year quarterback. And they still have to deal with Lane Kiffin, in-game head coach. Personally, I hope they keep winning enough games to keep Kiffin around. He'd be like a next-generation Mike Stoops, barely hanging onto a job with potential and funny faces.

5. Will this be the year the newbies start pulling their weight? - Colorado and Utah have been pretty awful in their first two years in the conference. Will Year 3 bring a bowl appearance for either one?

/checks depth chart.

/checks schedules

/checks checks and balances

/checks Chex Mix

/checks Czechs

Nope, not even a little bit.

6. Who wins it all? - to answer that, I figured the easiest solution was to pick every game of the season. So let's take a look at the official Tako Tuesdays picks, which are sure to look stupid by mid-October. But I've never been one to shy away from looking stupid. (The home team is in Bold)

Week 1
Utah St. over Utah
USC over Hawaii
Arizona over Northern Arizona
Oregon over Nicholls State
Oregon State over Eastern Washington
Auburn over Washington State
UCLA over Nevada
Boise State over Washington
California over Northwestern
Colorado over Colorado State

Week 2
Arizona State over Sacramento State
Utah over Weber State
Oregon over Virginia
California over Portland State
Colorado over Central Arkansas
Oregon State over Hawaii
Arizona over UNLV
USC over Washington State
Stanford over San Jose State

Week 3
Arizona over UTSA
WSU over Southern Utah
USC over Boston College
Nebraska over UCLA
Stanford over Army
Fresno State over Colorado
Oregon over Tennessee
Washington over Illinois
Ohio State over California
Oregon State over Utah
Arizona State over Wisconsin

Week 4
BYU over Utah
Washington over Idaho State
WSU over Idaho
USC over Utah State
UCLA over New Mexico State
Stanford over ASU
OSU over San Diego State

Week 5
Arizona over Washington
OSU over Colorado
ASU over USC
Stanford over WSU
Oregon over Cal

Week 6
UCLA over Utah
Cal over WSU
Stanford over Washington
Oregon over Colorado
Notre Dame over ASU

Week 7
USC over Arizona
ASU over Colorado
WSU over OSU
UCLA over Cal
Stanford over Utah
Oregon over Washington

Week 8
Washington over ASU
Arizona over Utah
OSU over Cal
UCLA over Stanford
Oregon over WSU
Notre Dame over USC

Week 9
Arizona over Colorado
Washington over Cal
USC over Utah
Stanford over OSU
Oregon over UCLA

Week 10
WSU over ASU
OSU over USC
Cal over Arizona
UCLA over Colorado

Week 11
Oregon over Stanford
Utah over ASU
Washington over Colorado
USC over Cal
Arizona over UCLA

Week 12
UCLA over Washington
Arizona over WSU
Cal over Colorado
ASU over OSU
Stanford over USC
Oregon over Utah

Week 13
WSU over Utah
OSU over Washington
USC over Colorado
UCLA over ASU
Stanford over Cal
Oregon over Arizona

Week 14
Washington over WSU
Oregon over OSU
ASU over Arizona
Utah over Colorado
UCLA over USC
Stanford over Notre Dame

Final Regular Season Standings
Oregon 12-0 (9-0)
Stanford 10-2 (7-2)
Oregon State 8-4 (5-4)
Washington 6-6 (4-5)
California 5-7 (3-6)
Washington State 5-7 (3-6)

UCLA 9-3 (7-2)
USC 8-5 (5-4)
Arizona 8-4 (5-4)
Arizona State 6-6 (4-5)
Utah 3-9 (2-7)
Colorado 2-10 (0-9)

Pac-12 Championship Game
Oregon over UCLA

Bowl Games
Oregon - BCS National Championship
Stanford - Rose
UCLA - Alamo
USC - Holiday
Oregon State - Sun
Arizona - Vegas
Washington - Kraft Fight Hunger
Arizona State - New Mexico

...let the games (and the cries of TAKO YOU STUPID FUCK YOU JINXED US) begin!