The middle of summer is when college football fans and bloggers study the schedule and see which teams and conferences have tougher or easier rides. July is a month made for schedule analysis, and that’s precisely what Don Smalley of Ducks Wire did in his article on the most important games for each Pac-12 football program in 2023.
Because some rivalry games are the most important game for both teams, there will be some repeat selections in Smalley’s list. Because of that replication, we’re adding some of our own selections which differ from Smalley — not because we think he is wrong (this is all opinion and personal viewpoint), but because there are other games which need to be spotlighted.
We’ll start with Ducks Wire’s selections and then move into our own (added) choices for the biggest games of Pac-12 football in 2023, the last fully year in which USC and UCLA will be members of the Pac-12 Conference: