Quick Post: The Pac-12 reverting to it's old tricks

I thought we were past this, Pac-12.  This was supposed to be the year that the top-half of the conference re-asserted itself.  Instead, hyper-parity reigns.  Parity on a level never before seen.

Just look at this mess:

t-1 - Oregon - 8-3 (19-5)
t-1 - UCLA -  8-3 (18-6)
t-1 - Arizona - 8-3 (20-3)

4 - Arizona State - 7-4 (18-6)

t-5 - Colorado - 6-5 (16-7)
t-5 - Stanford -  6-5 (15-9)
t-5 - Cal - 6-5 (14-9)
t-5 - USC - 6-5 (11-13)

9 - Washington - 5-6 (13-11)

t-10 - Washington St - 2-9 (11-13)
t-10 - Oregon St - 2-9 (12-12)
t-10 - Utah - 2-9 (10-13)

USC, ostensibly the league's 8th best team, is only two games out of first.  The really fucked up thing is, depending on who gets hot over the final four weeks, anyone - yes, even the Trojans - could theoretically steal the #1 seed headed into LALV.  That's not saying that I consider Cal, USC, or even the Buffs true contenders for the regular-season title, just that, given the chaotic nature of this season, I wouldn't put it past anyone.

The big problem has been the league's quality teams dropping head-scratchers on a seemingly weekly basis.  UCLA beats Arizona one night, only to turn around and lose to the Sun Devils and Trojans.  Arizona seems to be cruising along, and then pops a flat when Allen Crabbe gets hot.  Oregon appeared to be the strongest team around, only to show their glass jaw when a single freshman came up lame at the wrong time.

Of course, no team has been more schizophrenic then our own Buffs, both under-achieving and over-achieving at the same time.  One minute losing to bottom-feeding Utah of all teams, the next going on the road to topple the conference leading Ducks.  Hell, had CU managed to seal the deal on single possession games like @Arizona, UCLA, and @Utah, CU would be leading the conference right now, probably ranked in the top-20, with no talk of bubble.  Conversely, they're about 2 minutes of play in both Eugene and Corvallis from having 9th place all to themselves with a 4-7 record.

It has been a wacky year, and I imagine it'll only get wackier.  Coming up next week, I'll have my stretch run predictions, but, until then, we'd better all hunker down and hope USC doesn't magically wind up on top.