Pac 12 Tabs Oregon Ducks as Conference Champs, ESPN Says Not So Fast

Nov 17, 2012; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (14) defends against Stanford Cardinal running back Stepfan Taylor (33) at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

On Friday, media members of the Pac 12 named the Ducks the team to beat this season. However, Monday’s Pac 12 Blog on ESPN told a different story. Both writers Kevin Gemmell and Ted Miller have the Stanford Cardinal winning the North Division, and the conference title.

Of course when the final votes were tallied Oregon was at the top, but with the Cardinal defeating Oregon last season on their home turf there are some questions of course with the Ducks going into this season. The biggest is coaching with Chip Kelly giving way to Mark Helfrich. There are also several defensive positions that have some big question marks after the graduation and departure of Michael Clay, Kiko Alonso, and Dion Jordan.

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The biggest piece of the Ducks that is intact is the Offense, they lost Kenjon Barner, but most everyone else returns. Sophomore Quarterback Marcus Mariota and Running Back/Punt Returner/Game Changer De’Anthony Thomas along with Wide Receiver Josh Huff along with the rest of the Offense should be able to stay or keep ahead of just about everyone, but with what happened last year at Autzen November 2nd is certainly circled on a lot of calendars, and for many – has been for a while.

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