The four biggest surprises in the Pac-12 this season

Going in to every season of college football we convince ourselves we know exactly what will happen around the country. It's usually along the lines of Alabama/Georgia/Ohio State are really good, programs like Miami and Texas fight to be back, and the Pac-12 is just pure chaos.

While all of these things are true for the most part, the Pac-12 has been chaotic in a good way. The conference has had up to five teams ranked at once, and still has two unbeaten teams. Now granted those teams are USC and UCLA, so it's bittersweet for the conference considering their eventual move to the Big Ten, but even then the conference is looking as strong as ever.

There have been plenty of things that have surprised the college football world stemming from the West coast, so I thought it would be entertaining to a compile a list of things that completely caught me off guard this season. So with that being said, here are the four biggest surprises in the Pac-12 so far!

UCLA's legitimateness

Chip Kelly was once viewed as a home run hire for the Bruins, but after three straight sub .500 seasons Kelly and UCLA were written off. People began researching his buyout, when the best time was to fire him, and even began talking about who should replace him. Kelly has since silenced the doubters in a major way this season, as after beating up on lesser opponents to start the year, the Bruins beat two consecutive top-25 teams in Washington and Utah.

At 6-0, No. 11 UCLA is well on their way to their best season since 2014 and they have a legit chance at winning the Pac-12. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is having his best season at UCLA, and their defense is top 40 in total defense. The Bruins even ranked No. 1 in the latest Sports Illustrated Pac-12 Power Rankings. Their schedule is also very favorable for them, as aside from Oregon and USC they will be heavily favored in the rest of their games.

The emergence of Jadyn Ott

Cal found an absolute gem in former four-star Jadyn Ott. The freshman has burst onto the scene and established himself as one of the best running backs in the country. His 7.3 yards per carry ranks No. 6 in the country, and he is also a threat in the passing game. Cal's games have essentially come down to how well he plays, as they are 1-2 when he doesn't rush for over 100 yards. He has finally solved the issue that Cal has been constantly facing under Justin Wilcox, which is having an anemic offense.

Utah's struggles

Ahead of the season Utah was viewed as a team that had a chance to make the College Football Playoff. Now, after a Week 1 loss to a middle of the road Florida team, and being handled by UCLA, this Utes team is just fighting to contend for a spot in the Pac-12 Championship.

This team is still very good, but they just have not been able to be as dominate as they were advertised as.

Stanford's lack of improvement

Not many people were extremely high on Stanford, but there were some people including myself that assumed because they had so much returning experience and were making slight schematic changes, that this team would be improved. That is not the case, and couldn't be further from the truth.

They turn the ball over way too much, their defense which is veteran heavy gives up a ton of big plays, and the offense appears to not play to the strengths of the playmakers. This team is sitting at 1-4 right now, and their latest loss was just absolutely deflating. This team has the makings of another long losing streak, and their extremely difficult schedule gives them no breaks whatsoever.