[msqueri]

There were six good (Sagarin top 30) teams in the Pac-12 in 2022. That left six mediocre or worse teams - Washington State, Arizona, Cal, Arizona State, Stanford, and Colorado. The worst team in the conference by far was Colorado - Stanford would have been favored by double digits at a neutral site - but of course they now have the wind behind their sails with Coach Prime and are widely expected to look much different with a splashy infusion of talent. Still, 11.76 points (the differential Sagarin calculated between Stanford and Colorado) is a lot to make up, and it's plausible (though not guaranteed) Stanford will improve too in 2023. I understand pundits giving Colorado big benefit of the doubt to leap frog Stanford, but that's uncertain.

Aside from Colorado, there are several other teams in the Pac-12 that are bad - Arizona, Cal, and Arizona State. Among those, Arizona has a very appealing upward trajectory going on and would not/should not be considered among the most obvious on paper contenders for Pac-12 cellar dwellers, Cal is bad and will continue to be bad but has generally avoided cellar dwelling type calamity under Wilcox, and Arizona State is a wildcard due to new coaching just like Stanford and Colorado are.

Ultimately, I think I can buy any order of Colorado, Arizona State, and Colorado for the bottom three in the conference. The article is fair. My guess is Stanford does not end up being the worst just because of the odds (i.e., there are multiple contenders) but we very well may be.

[msqueri]

There were six good (Sagarin top 30) teams in the Pac-12 in 2022. That left six mediocre or worse teams - Washington State, Arizona, Cal, Arizona State, Stanford, and Colorado. The worst team in the conference by far was Colorado - Stanford would have been favored by double digits at a neutral site - but of course they now have the wind behind their sails with Coach Prime and are widely expected to look much different with a splashy infusion of talent. Still, 11.76 points (the differential Sagarin calculated between Stanford and Colorado) is a lot to make up, and it's plausible (though not guaranteed) Stanford will improve too in 2023. I understand pundits giving Colorado big benefit of the doubt to leap frog Stanford, but that's uncertain.

Aside from Colorado, there are several other teams in the Pac-12 that are bad - Arizona, Cal, and Arizona State. Among those, Arizona has a very appealing upward trajectory going on and would not/should not be considered among the most obvious on paper contenders for Pac-12 cellar dwellers, Cal is bad and will continue to be bad but has generally avoided cellar dwelling type calamity under Wilcox, and Arizona State is a wildcard due to new coaching just like Stanford and Colorado are.

Ultimately, I think I can buy any order of Colorado, Arizona State, and Colorado for the bottom three in the conference. The article is fair. My guess is Stanford does not end up being the worst just because of the odds (i.e., there are multiple contenders) but we very well may be.