LASH Roundtable: Pac-12 Edition

Cody Kessler and the Trojans couldn’t run away from Notre Dame last year. Both USC and UCLA will need strong showings in relatively soft non-conference schedules to keep National Championship hopes alive. Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Jason: The good news for UCLA is that they get to face Oregon, Stanford, and USC at the Rose Bowl. The bad news is that they HAVE TO FACE OREGON, STANFORD AND USC. Not to mention they have to play at Texas, at Arizona State, and at Washington. That’s a brutal schedule, especially when you consider they have to play USC and Stanford on back-to-back weekends. It’s a rough road for a very talented team.

As for USC, they lucked out in avoiding Oregon this season. They only have one truly tough “road” game – at Stanford in Week 2. Yes, I almost consider the Rose Bowl a neutral game when UCLA and USC play each other. Otherwise their schedule is pretty cupcake-y. They’ll probably drop one game that is a stunner but otherwise I think they have a relatively easy road…just not to the playoffs. It’s certainly easier than UCLA’s.

Anthony: Objectively, USC has the easier road to the playoffs. While UCLA gets to play Oregon, Stanford, and USC at home, as Jason mentioned, they end the season with games against Washington (on the road), USC, and Stanford. If USC can get past Stanford in their second game of the season, then UCLA on November 22nd might be the only thing keeping them from one of those four playoff berths. 

Micky: I agree with Jason that UCLA got the raw end of the deal as far as Pac-12 North opponents are concerned. Their Oregon-Washington duo versus USC’s games against Oregon State-Washington State will be tougher tests. But I hesitate to have any sympathy over their non-conference games. Texas, while returning plenty of starters on both sides of the ball, is an unknown commodity under new coach Charlie Strong. Memphis and Virginia? Sh’mon.

USC has a slightly easier schedule overall, but the gap is not that wide. Fresno State will struggle in its first game in the post-Derek Carr era. Boston College couldn’t hang last year, and they lost Andre Williams to the NFL. Nobody knows what Notre Dame will be like at the end of the season.