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PRE 2012 PAC-12 MEDIA DAY PREDICTIONS

By Rock Mayock 9:00 a.m. |  The 2012 college football season is almost upon us. That means that the power conferences will be conducting their annual media days to introduce coaches and star players to the football hungry masses. This year’s Pac-12 Media Day has been scheduled to take place on July 24, 2012, in Universal City. As always, the FOOTBALLPHDS are ready to make fearless predictions about what will take place during Media Day.

1. Arizona  All eyes will be on new head coach Rich Rodriguez and his fandangled spread offense. Expect the media to barrage Rich Rod with questions about how long he thinks it will take for the offense to take hold and enable the team to compete with USC.

2. Arizona State  Expect the media to pepper new head coach Todd Graham with questions about who he is, where in the hell did he come from and how long he will keep the ASU head coaching job before jumping ship for his next best opportunity.

3. Cal  Jeff Tedford will be mercilessly interrogated on whether or not he believes Cal has a chance in hell of generating enough interest to justify a half billion dollar renovation of Cal Memorial Stadium.

4. Colorado  Head coach John Embree will lay low and show steady improvement on the field. Go Buffs!

5. Oregon  Head coach Chip Kelly will need to answer questions about who his starting QB will be, how he will get De’Anthony Thomas more involved in the offense and whether or not the Willie Lyles situation is truly in the rear view mirror.

6. Oregon State  Last year the Beavers suffered their worst season under Mike Riley. Expect Riley to be his usual positive self and expound upon the development of Sean Mannion and his hopes for the future of the program. We love Riley, he’s the best.

7. Stanford  How do you respond to losing four players in the first two rounds of the NFL draft? You go 4-8 in the next season and blame it rebuilding! Expect to hear David Shaw give a luke warm outlook for 2012.

8. UCLA  Yet another head coach, Jim Mora Jr., will be participating in his inaugural Pac-12 Media Day. Expect Mora to convey a message of change for the Bruins of Westwood. In reality they will continue to be a .500 or below squad.

9. USC  The Trojans will be the darlings of Pac-12 Media Day. Third year head coach Lane Kiffin has been likened to a younger, yet less conniving, Nick Saban and will lead his Trojans into 2012 as the pre-season #1 team in the country. Matt Barkley will feature frosted tips and will attempt to look boyishly handsome at the podium. Unfortunately USC will find a way to play themselves out the National Championship picture due to a dearth of depth.

10. Utah  The post Norm The Guru Chow era will start with a QB controversy between former starter Jordan Wynn and his replacement for nearly 50% of last season, Jon Hays.  Expect Swole Patrol coach Kyle Whittingham to address the issue head on by deferring offensive focus to his stud running back John White IV.

11. Washington  Defense will be on Steve Sarkisian’s short list of conversation topics. Nick Holt is out as defensive coordinator and Justin Wilcox is in. Expect Sark to talk up the impact Wilcox has already made on the team in addition to getting QB Keith Price some pre-season Heisman love.

12. Washington State  In a season that will feature the debut of four new coaches in the Pac-12, the one the FOOTBALLPHDS are most eager to see is Mike Leach. The pirate loving Mike Leach and his throw first run second offense will feature a good QB in Jeff Tuel. Expect Leach to talk about competing in the Pac-12 North and then actually going on to challenge for the #2 spot in the division.

If you want to follow all of the media action, here is the itinerary for the day presented in a very handy image format (perfect for smart phones):

Rock

rock@footballphds.com

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