It’s going to be a mighty interesting season this year in the Pac-12, knowing that there are two legitimate National Championship contenders, an up and coming newcomer, a dark horse club, and the USC Trojans, who are ineligible for the conference title. We’ll start at the top with the Oregon Ducks (Current Pac 12 Odds: 2.30 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook). The Quack Attack came up just shy of the National Championship last season, losing out at the death to the Auburn Tigers. Now, QB Darron Thomas, RB LaMichael James, and a ton of others are coming back from a team that used to routinely drop 50+ points on opponents.

There’s only one problem this year. Whereas last year, the Stanford Cardinal (2011 Pac 12 Lines: 3 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) came to Autzen Stadium, this year, the U of O has to make the trip down to “The Farm.” Considering the fact that these two share the same side of the newly formed Pac-12, it is clear that the game between the two of them is going to be for a spot in the conference championship game, knowing that neither one is likely to end up getting beaten by two other teams in conference play. QB Andrew Luck is the real deal, and had he come out of school last year, he’d have $22M in the bank and would be the starting QB for the Carolina Panthers this upcoming season. In all likelihood, Luck will once again be Top 5 NFL Draft material, and he and RB Stepfan Taylor have a great chance of leading the Cardinal to the Pac-12 crown.

There are 20 returning starters and 53 returning lettermen to this year’s Arizona State Sun Devils (Current Pac 12 Odds: 5.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) team, which definitely makes it the up and coming team in this conference. Head Coach Dennis Erickson has promised that this is the year that ASU gets it all figured out. QB Brock Osweiler has high hopes after leading this offense to 427.1 yards per game last season. We just don’t know if this team is surviving a road test at the new kids on the block, the Utah Utes, especially knowing that the road trip to Oregon is on tap the next week. The rest of the big boys are coming to Tempe though, and Stanford is dodged, so getting to the Pac-12 Championship Game is definitely not out of the question.

2011 Odds To Win The Pac 12 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 7/31/11):
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Oregon Ducks 2.30 to 1
Stanford Cardinal 3 to 1
Arizona State Sun Devils 5.50 to 1
Utah Utes 7.75 to 1
Arizona Wildcats 8.50 to 1
UCLA Bruins 18 to 1
Oregon State Beavers 19 to 1
Washington Huskies 19 to 1
Colorado Buffaloes 23 to 1
California Golden Bears 29 to 1
Washington State Cougars 125 to 1

2011 Odds To Win The Pac 12 North Division @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 7/31/11):
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Oregon Ducks 1.30 to 1
Stanford Cardinal 1.75 to 1
Oregon State Beavers 8 to 1
Washington Huskies 8 to 1
California Golden Bears 12.50 to 1
Washington State Cougars 47 to 1

2011 Odds To Win The Pac 12 South Division @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 7/31/11):
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USC Trojans 1.40 to 1 (not eligible to play in Pac-10 Championship Game)
Arizona State Sun Devils 3.60 to 1
Utah Utes 4.20 to 1
Arizona Wildcats 4.85 to 1
UCLA Bruins 10.15 to 1
Colorado Buffaloes 13 to 1

This year, there is definitely a new sheriff in charge of the Mountain West in the form of the Boise State Broncos (Current Mountain West Odds: 1 to 2.80 at 5Dimes Sportsbook). Simply put, the Broncos have the best team in this conference, and the only game that really should have any chance of tripping them up is the home date with TCU late in the season. Of course, Boise State’s eyes aren’t on winning the MWC. They’re on winning the National Championship. Many forget that the Broncos did not win their last season in the WAC last year; Nevada did. That being said, there is definitely some unfinished business for QB Kellen Moore and company, and though the team might take a bit of a step back in terms of talent from a year ago when it was a one-loss team, there’s no doubt that Head Coach Chris Peterson and company have themselves a legitimate shot at an undefeated season this year.

The bad news here is that the TCU Horned Frogs (2011 Mountain West Lines: 4.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) probably aren’t going to be contending for anything but perhaps an MWC title in their final season in this conference before heading to the Big East. Head Coach Gary Patterson knows that this is a very, very important season for recruiting purposes for next year’s jump to the big time, but after last year’s Rose Bowl performance, the team this season has a ton of hurdles to climb. We know that TCU is going to have a tremendous defense, something that has become a staple of a Gary Patterson team. However, missing QB Andy Dalton, the winningest signal caller in TCU history, is going to be a bit of a problem.

About the only other team that we could see making any noise out of this conference is the San Diego State Aztecs (Current Mountain West Odds: 12.25 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook). Head Coach Brady Hoke has moved on to the Michigan Wolverines, but he definitely hasn’t left the cupboard dry. QB Ryan Lindley is going to be on the short list for conference player of the year honors after throwing for 3,830 yards and 28 TDs last year, and RB Ronnie Hillman is coming off of a freshman campaign in which he rushed for 1,532 yards. Both TCU and Boise State are home games, but the Aztecs are going to be major underdogs in both outings.

2011 Odds To Win The Mountain West @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 7/31/11):
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Boise State Broncos 1 to 2.80
TCU Horned Frogs 4.50 to 1
San Diego State Aztecs 12.25 to 1
Air Force Falcons 16 to 1
Colorado State Rams 26 to 1
Wyoming Cowboys 36 to 1
UNLV Runnin’ Rebels 81 to 1
New Mexico Lobos 165 to 1