Skepticism of Lincoln Riley’s ability to turn around USC in one season continues to emerge. It’s understandable, to be sure, but it’s still a little surprising how pervasive that view is. Writers and pundits simply don’t feel emboldened enough to trust Riley in 2022.
This isn’t a long-term view of the USC program, to be fair. In 2023, the landscape should be different. Yet, it’s still striking how few people who cover the Pac-12 for a living are willing to give Lincoln Riley the benefit of the doubt.
A four-member panel at The Athletic was unanimous in its view that Utah will win the Pac-12 championship this season:
Which team will win the conference championship?
Morales: USC is tempting because of the offensive firepower, but Utah is the more well-rounded team right now and has the chemistry of having played together for a few years. So I’ll go with the Utes.
Kamrani: It should be Utah, but historically the Utes struggle when they are tabbed to be one of, if not the best, teams in the conference. The Utes thrive as the underdog, but they are that no more having won their first conference title in 2021. How does Kyle Whittingham block out the noise from the start? It’ll get loud before the Florida opener. That’s for sure.
Haller: Utah. The Utes are headed for (gasp!) the CFP. The schedule is tricky. Utah opens against Florida at The Swamp. Two weeks later the Utes have a dangerous home game against San Diego State. But this is a mature group. They know what’s at stake. And they have the talent to get there.
Caple: Utah. With so much speculation swirling around Washington, Oregon, Stanford and California as it pertains to potential Big Ten expansion (and obvious storylines around USC and UCLA), it can be easy to forget that Utah steamrolled its way to a Pac-12 title last season, returns most of its key players and is the highest-ranked conference team in basically every preseason poll.
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