Before 2011, it was one of the great theoretical questions in college football: What would happen if you plopped an elite non-automatic qualifying team into the middle of an AQ conference? Utah provided us an answer the past two seasons, one in which neither the pro-AQ folks nor the pro-non-AQ folks can claim complete victory -- as in: "They'd get dominated!
It appears that the Pac-12 could produce two top-10 selections on Day 1 of the NFL draft on April 25. It's also a bit unusual that both play defense in a conference known for offense. So who should be picked first: Oregon defensive end/outside linebacker Dion Jordan or Utah nose guard/defensive tackle Star Lotulelei?
Some teams want to hide their true depth charts. Some teams want to act like they are meaningless. But reporters and fans love depth charts. One fun thing Utah does is update its depth chart frequently during spring and preseason practices.
You might have noticed a theme this week. We kicked off the "Biggest Shoes" series and had two polls (North and South) on replacing departed players. So that means it's now time for your Pac-12 bloggers to weigh in on which two players we believe leave the biggest holes.
Identity is why Dennis Erickson decided to become Utah's offensive coordinator. He has one and Utah's offense didn't last fall. Erickson, one of the seminal minds behind the spread passing attack, is a football coach at heart.
Utah signed 23 players on Wednesday, including five defensive linemen and four running backs. Nine were defensive players and three were listed as quarterbacks. You can view the official list here. And here's the list from ESPN recruiting.
ESPN RecruitingNation has signing day covered. Follow ESPNU’s coverage, chat with analysts and get breaking news on our Signing Day Live page beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET through 7 p.m. ET. For more on what to expect on signing day, check out the Pac-12 conference breakdown .
We've been handing out individual grades to each team with our 2012 team-by-team season review. But on the whole, what grade does the Pac-12 get? That's the question your bloggers are tackling this week.
It took a while for Utah to be Dunn with Colorado. (Yes, that just happened). Reggie Dunn, the Utes kicker returner extraordinaire -- and the term sells Dunn short -- provided Utah the winning points in a 42-35 victory over Colorado with another 100-yard kick return in the fourth quarter, this time immediately answering the Buffaloes' Marques Mosley, who had done the same on the previous kickoff.
The most disappointed Pac-12 teams as 2012 winds down, other than USC, are the conference's newest members: Colorado and Utah. While both came into the season with very different expectations, both fell well short of their hopes.
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