Skip to main content
SI

College Football Podcast: Contenders abound in wide-open Pac-12

The Pac-12 looks like it'll feature a wide-open race in 2016. Here's what you need to know about each of the contenders.
College Football Podcast: Contenders abound in wide-open Pac-12
College Football Podcast: Contenders abound in wide-open Pac-12

No conference may be tougher to predict this season than the Pac-12, where both divisions look set to feature wide-open races. In the Pac-12 North, defending conference champ Stanford aims to hold off Oregon, Washington and Washington State. In the Pac-12 South, UCLA, USC and Utah appear poised to battle for supremacy.

Mike Yam of the Pac-12 Networks joins host Lindsay Schnell on the SI College Football Podcast ahead of Pac-12 media days. They reveal their picks to win each division, break down all 12 teams and discuss whether the conference can send a squad to the College Football Playoff this season after getting shut out of the semifinals last year.

College Football Bracket Challenge

GET READY TO COMPETE

Pick your champion (you can change it later). We’ll email you when brackets open.

No purchase necessary. 50 U.S./D.C. 18+. Entry opens 3PM ET Dec 6, 2026 and closes 8PM ET Dec 18, 2026. Void where prohibited.See for complete details. The College Football Playoff (CFP) is not a sponsor or administrator of this contest.

If you are attempting to listen to the podcast on the Sports Illustrated app, please click here.

Subscribe to the SI College Football Podcast oniTunes,SoundCloudorStitcher. Check back on SI.com next week for another episode of the SI College Football Podcast.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Published | Modified
Lindsay Schnell
LINDSAY SCHNELL

Staff writer Lindsay Schnell joined SI in 2014 as a national college sports writer after covering Oregon State athletics for The Oregonian.