The Bruins won’t be joining the Big Ten until 2024, putting them in a precarious situation with the Conference of Champions over the next two seasons.
With the season just around the corner, fans are about to get their first glimpse into the West Coast’s premier college football conference.
Pac-12 Football Media Day is set to kick off in Downtown Los Angeles on Friday. It will be the second-to-last one for UCLA football and its crosstown rival USC, with the two schools set to leave the conference in favor of the Big Ten in 2024.
Beyond that dominant storyline, though, is an entire season of promise, disappointment, highlights, lowlights, superstars and breakout performers. The road begins Friday, and this is what is on the slate for the Bruins and the conference as a whole.
Basic Information
WHAT: Pac-12 Football Media Day
WHERE: Novo Theater – 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: Friday, July 29, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
WHO: Coach Chip Kelly, offensive lineman Jon Gaines II, safety Stephan Blaylock, commissioner George Kliavkoff
HOW TO WATCH: Pac-12 Networks, Pac-12.com, Pac-12 Now App
Format
Kliavkoff, Senior Associate Commissioner Merton Hanks and Stanford Athletic Director Bernard Muir will kick things off with an opening press conference and Q&A.
After that wraps up, coaches will take over on the main stage while student-athletes will get set up on a side stage. Members of the media will get to speak to representatives from every school in 25-minute blocks for each program.
UCLA won’t be available to the general media until after the lunch break, with its press conference running from 3-3:25 p.m. Kelly, Gaines and Blaylock are scheduled to take the podium then.
All coaches and student-athletes will also rotate through the media village, taking turns with live radio and local television affiliates. The Bruins will come through from 1:15-1:35 p.m.
Topics of Conversation
UCLA and USC Leaving: It doesn’t take an insider to predict that a lot of the buzz Friday will be built around the upcoming departure of the Bruins and Trojans. While many coaches will surely dismiss questions on the matter, Kliavkoff will have to go in depth on it, at the bare minimum. Losing the Los Angeles market impacts the Pac-12’s finances, media rights negotiations, conference payout structure and more, and it could end up toppling college football on the West Coast as we know it. Even more niche topics like how UCLA and USC will be treated by the conference and its network over the next two years could pop up as well.
Additional Conference Realignment: The Pac-12 has several options for where to go post-UCLA and USC. They could join forces with the Big 12 or ACC – creating an alliance or merging outright – they could poach schools from the Mountain West or they could end up dissolving altogether. Obviously, Kliavkoff & co. want to avoid that last route at all costs, so it remains to be seen what they are willing to do to dance around it and stay alive.
Playoff Expansion: Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren threw his weight behind expanding the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, and Kliavkoff is sure to do the same Friday. As someone who has been publicly supporting the idea of playoff expansion for several years, though, Kliavkoff could have a more concrete proposal to bring to the table compared to Warren’s more vague approval of the idea in theory. The Pac-12 needs expansion now more than ever, so Kliavkoff will lobby for it in any way he can.
Top Heavy Field: Yet again, the Pac-12 does not appear to have a true national championship contender in its ranks in 2022, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any teams that can make a little noise. Oregon and Utah could very well meet each other in the conference title game again, while USC is a wild card with a high ceiling thanks to Lincoln Riley and a tidal wave of elite incoming transfers. Even UCLA could make some noise, with a creampuff schedule to open the year, a top-level returning quarterback-running back duo and only a handful of games that are expected to have postseason implications. Those four teams are all in a position to really beat up on the lower tier squads, placing even more importance on their wider success across the season to keep the Pac-12 in the national headlines.
Preseason Media Poll
1. Utah, 384 points (26 first-place votes)
2. Oregon, 345 (2)
3. USC, 341 (5)
4. UCLA, 289
5. Oregon State, 246
6. Washington, 212
7. Washington State, 177
8. Stanford, 159
9. California, 154
10. Arizona State, 123
11. Arizona, 86
12. Colorado, 58
Preseason All-Pac-12 Teams
First Team Offense
QB: Caleb Williams, USC
RB: Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
RB: Tavion Thomas, Utah
WR: Jordan Addison, USC
WR: Mario Williams, USC
TE: Brant Kuithe, Utah
OL: Jaxson Kirkland, Washington
OL: Braeden Daniels, Utah
OL: Alex Forsyth, Oregon
OL: TJ Bass, Oregon
OL: Andrew Vorhees, USC
First Team Defense
DL: Tuli Tuipulotu, USC
DL: Brandon Dorlus, Oregon
DL: Ron Stone Jr., Washington State
DL: Van Fillinger, Utah
LB: Noah Sewell, Oregon
LB: Omar Speights, Oregon State
LB: Jackson Sirmon, California
DB: Clark Phillips III, Utah
DB: Kyu Blu Kelly, Stanford
DB: Cole Bishop, Utah
DB: Daniel Scott, California
First Team Specialists
PK: Dean Janikowski, Washington State
P: Kyle Ostendorp, Arizona
AP/ST: Travis Dye, USC
RS: DJ Taylor, Arizona State
Second Team Offense
QB: Cameron Rising, Utah
RB: Travis Dye, USC
RB: Byron Cardwell, Oregon
WR: Jacob Cowing, Arizona
WR: Jake Bobo, UCLA
TE: Benjamin Yurosek, Stanford
OL: Joshua Gray, Oregon State
OL: Brett Neilon, USC
OL: Sataoa Laumea, Utah
OL: Brandon Kipper, Oregon State
OL: LaDarius Henderson, Arizona State
Second Team Defense
DL: Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Washington
DL: Junior Tafuna, Utah
DL: Kyon Barrs, Arizona
DL:Brett Johnson, California
LB: Merlin Robertson, Arizona State
LB: Justin Flowe, Oregon
LB: Darius Muasau, UCLA
DB: Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
DB:Jaydon Grant, Oregon State
DB: Rejzhon Wright, Oregon State
DB: Mekhi Blackmon, USC
Second Team Specialists
PK: Camden Lewis, Oregon
P: Luke Loecher, Oregon State
AP/ST: Jack Colletto, Oregon State
RS: Gary Bryant Jr., USC
Honorable Mentions
QB: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA, Tanner McKee, Stanford
RB: Xazavian Valladay, Arizona State; Damien Moore, California; E.J. Smith, Stanford
WR: Gary Bryant, Jr., USC; De’Zhaun Stribling, Washington State; Jalen McMillan, Washington; Elijah Higgins, Stanford; Devaughn Vele, Utah
TE: Dalton Kincaid, Utah
OL: Branson Bragg, Stanford; Jake Levengood, Oregon State; Ryan Walk, Oregon; Matthew Cindric, California; Ben Coleman, California; Walter Rouse, Stanford; Jon Gaines II, UCLA; Frank Filip, Colorado
DL: Brennan Jackson, Washington State; Popo Aumavae, Oregon; Nick Figueroa, USC; Solomon Byrd, USC; Terrance Lang, Colorado; Jalen Sami, Colorado
LB: Mohamoud Diabate, Utah; Korey Foreman, USC; Kyle Soelle, Arizona State; Levani Damuni, Stanford; Edefuan Olofoshio, Washington; Daiyan Henley, Washington State; Oluwafemi Oladejo, California; Carson Bruener, Washington
DB: Armani Marsh, Washington State; Lu-Magia Hearns III, California; JaTravis Broughton, Utah; Bennett Williams, Oregon; Xavion Alford, USC; Stephan Blaylock, UCLA; Isaiah Lewis, Colorado; Derrick Langford, Washington State, Christian Roland-Wallace, Arizona; Jamal Hill, Oregon
PK: Everett Hayes, Oregon State; Dario Longhetto, California
P: Nick Haberer, Washington State; Ryan Sanborn, Stanford
AP/ST: Seven McGee, Oregon; Nick Alftin, California; Giles Jackson, Washington
RS: Brenden Rice, USC; Casey Filkins, Stanford; Nikko Reed, Colorado
Coverage
Stay tuned to All Bruins for complete coverage of Pac-12 Football Media Day. Expect videos, articles and live tweets about all the topics discussed above, as well as anything else UCLA-related that pops up Friday.
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