Pac-12 Football: Season preview and final standings predictions
Pac-12 North
| Washington | 1 |
| Stanford | 2 |
| Oregon | 3 |
| Washington State | 4 |
| California | 5 |
| Oregon State | 6 |
In 2016 the Washington Huskies claimed their first Pac-12 North title, breaking into the back-and-forth between Oregon and Stanford. They won’t catch anyone off guard this year, but it might not matter if anyone else sees them coming. Quarterback Jake Browning and receiver Dante Pettis connected for 15 touchdown passes a year ago. Losing John Ross to the NFL Draft is going to be felt, by Pettis is going to fill the gap nicely.
More: Game by game predictions for Washington in 2017
Beyond the Huskies, both Stanford and Oregon are real threats to retake the top spot in the Pac-12 North. Stanford loses running back Christian McCaffrey, a first round selection like Ross, but seems almost immune to roster turnover. Since David Shaw took over for Jim Harbaugh in 2011 the Cardinal are 64-17. They have one season of fewer than 10 wins in the past six years.
Another consistently strong team, the Orgeon Ducks are coming off an off-year in 2016. Willie Taggart is in as the new head coach and will bring an offense that leans heavily on the power running of Royce Freeman. They’ll spread things out too, but Ducks’ quarterback Justin Herbert isn’t the dynamic playmaker that Taggart had under center at USF.
Luke Falk at Washington State could outgun any of those guys in a one-off game. Look for the Cougars to spoil someones chances at the division crown, and maybe have an outside chance at hanging around in the race into November.