Pac-12: Week four predictions, previews, and picks against the spread

Sep 19, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora during the fourth quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Ucla won 24-23.Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Week four of the Pac-12 season is upon us, and it is time to make my picks. 

With the Pac-12 schedule finally heating up after a long three weeks of non-conference games, west coast football is about to get really interesting. Last week saw the first shot fired in the race for the conference championship when the Stanford Cardinal shocked the USC Trojans in Los Angeles. Not that far away there was another shock when UCLA announced that their star linebacker, Myles Jack, would be out for the rest of the season due to a significant knee injury.

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The conference pecking order is starting to shake out, but there are still some teams we know little about. After a couple of unimpressive games against weak competition, the Arizona Wildcats exploded for a team record 77 points and almost 800 yards of offense against FCS foe Northern Arizona. However, as we saw with the debacle USC faced in week three, those big wins over cupcake schools count for nothing when its time to play the big boys of the Pac-12.

In the higher latitudes of the conference, the race for the North division is more wide open than it has been in years, with at least three real contenders in Oregon, Stanford, and the upstart Cal bears. Still, this early in the season you cannot count out the Washington schools completely, and the Oregon State Beavers have been known to ruin a contenders party in the past, just as last year’s Arizona State Sun Devils. So every game counts and you never know what might happen on any given… Saturday.

Without further preamble, here are the week four picks:

Next: Stanford Cardinal At Oregon State Beavers