Pac-12 Football Preview 2019: A Saturday Blitz Podcast

The Saturday Blitz podcast crew continues its preview of the 2019 season, turning their attention out west to Pac-12 football.

We are less than a month from the kickoff of the college football season, and the Pac-12 race looks as up-in-the-air and unsettled as it has in recent memory.

John and Zach continue their conference-by-conference breakdown of the upcoming college football season, shifting their attention out west for what is sure to be one of the most fascinating races in all of college football in 2019.

Defending champion Washington must replace a lot of production from last season’s stout defense, along with quarterback Jake Browning, but there are plenty of pundits who feel like this version of Chris Petersen’s Huskies might have what it takes to get back to the College Football Playoff.

Washington will face stark competition in its own division to get back to the top of the conference, with Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks loading up to take a run back toward the upper echelon of the college football world.

Both Washington State and Stanford figure to have a lot to say in the race for the Pac-12’s Northern division.

The South division is just as wide-open, albeit with less true contenders on that half of the conference. Utah took the division last season, and figures to be the favorite to do so again in 2019, but behind the Utes it is anybody’s guess to how the division will pan out.

Will UCLA take a big leap in Chip Kelly’s second season in Westwood? Can Clay Helton get USC back on the right track and maintain his employment past the 2019 season? Can the Kevin Sumlin/Khalil Tate combo find its footing enough to make Arizona a potential darkhorse in the race for the Rose Bowl?

There’s plenty of fascinating storylines to dive into, and needless to say both John and Zach are excited about the outlook of the Pac-12 this coming season. Our two podcasters make their picks for each division, the outright conference winner, and make their selections for the offensive and defensive players of the year. They also discuss whether a team in the Pac-12 has a legitimate shot at the playoff in 2019.

The Saturday Blitz Podcast is part of the FanSided Radio Network at Spreaker. The show goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.