A Jersey Guy: Pac-12 going out with a bang

Pac 12 is having its best season in a generation as it disappears into the sunset

The irony, of course, is obvious.

 The Pac-12, the self pro-claimed conference of champions which has been gutted by its fellow Power 5 conference members, is arguably the best conference this season.

Yes, it it still only September and we have barely touched the conference races, but look at some numbers being posted West of the Rockies.

The Top 8 teams--Washington, Oregon, USC, Oregon State, Utah, Washington State, UCLA and Colorado have a combined record of 32-4.

Washington, Oregon and USC are al have Top 10 credentials and should be regarded as serious contenders for CFP Final Four bids, as well as a national championship

Of that group, Washington, which has received almost no attention from the national media other than oblique references because of its lack of prime timer exposure, may be the best sleeper team in the country

If you have been in college football hibernation for the past two years,  you may be unaware that the league started to unravel last season with the startling announcement that UCLA and USC, the two "glamour'' teams in the Pac-12 conference, were heading East to join  the Big Ten.

That was just the start of the tsunami which crested this summer when the Big Ten then plucked Oregon and  Washington, while the Big 12 took Colorado, Utah, Arizona State and Arizona and the ACC grabbed California and Stanford. 

That left Oregon State and Washington State as the Pac-2, a duet with a lot of NCAA basketball money in the league coffers and a proud conference name, but little else.

There has been chatter about the Mountain West and the surviving members of the Pac-12 joining, but under which umbrella? 

An expanded Mountain West could easily absorb Oregon State and Washington State, but the Pac-12 brand would then vanish.

A more likely scenario  would have the 12 Mountain West teams "join'' Oregon State and Washington State as an expanded 14-team Pac 12.

But those are moves for the future.

For now, the focus should be on the Pac-12 as competitive 12 team entry, with only Cal and Stanford out of the mix as dangerous competition each week.

Washington, under second year coach  Kalen DeBoer, has been a solid success story. 

The Huskies won 11 games a year ago, falling only a couple possessions shy of an unbeaten season.

With quarterback Michael Penix Jr., a transfer from Indiana, emerging as a super star, the Huskies credentials are solid, not only in the Pac-12, but beyond

The first showdown will come in a couple of weeks when Oregon comes to Seattle for what should be a showdown of unbeatens. 

The Huskies must get through the final month of the regular season with games at USC and Oregon State and home games against Utah and Washington State.

The rest of the country might still be focused on races in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12, but it would be foolish to think that the Pac-12 won't be a player in its final season as it currently exists.