The Pac-12 will begin its schedule tonight, with Weber State playing at Utah. Here’s a rundown of all the games over the next three days, and who will come out with W’s.

THURSDAY

UTAH vs WEBER STATE
Thursday, 8/30
6 PM / P12 Network

Ths Skinny
The Utes should be fine in their first go-around tonight. Utah is one of only three Pac-12 teams (Washington, Cal), to return their starting QB  (Tyler Huntley, 2,411 season yards) and starting tailback from 2017 (Zach Moss, 1,173 yards for season). Offense should be no problem for the Utes; they only lost three. But defensively, they only return four guys and their entire interior from last year is gone.  They do, however,  return one of the best kickers in the conference (Matt Gay). 

Offensive Starters Returning (8)
Offensive Starters Lost (3)
Defensive Starters Returning (4)
Defensive Starters Lost (7).

Prediction
Utah 41 Weber State 28

FRIDAY

#13 STANFORD vs SAN DIEGO ST
Friday, 8/31
6 PM/ FS1

The Skinny
This will definitely not be a copy of what happened last year between the Cardinal and the Aztecs. That game saw SDSU tailback Rashaad Penny, the nation’s leading rusher last year with 2,248 yards, run for 175 yards against Stanford – the most the Stanford defense surrendered all season. The Aztecs took the Cardinal down in a non-conference shocker by a score of 20-17.  With much more polished Bryce Love, who’s been working out on his receiving skills during fall camp to go along with his ridiculous rushing skills, and returning quarterback K.J Costello are set to be a real offensive threat. Most of Stanford’s interior went with graduation, so they may be in rebuilding mode defensively.

Offensive Starters Returning (8)
Offensive Starters Lost (3)
Defensive Starters Returning (5)
Defensive Starters Lost (6)

Prediction
Stanford 24 SDSU 7

COLORADO vs COLORADO ST
Friday, 8/31
6 PM/ CBSSN

The Skinny
If Colorado State could take the last quarter of their game against Hawai’i last weekend and play the same way, they might have a chance in this one. Colorado has lost key players from their heroic 2016 effort and the losing 2017 season. This is just a program that hasn’t been able to get anything going consistently since they joined the Pac-12 South. Mike McIntyre may be on the hotseat if he doesn’t get them (at the very least) into the post-season this year. This game, however, should go in the Buff’s favor simply because they do play tougher opponents in the Pac-12 and they did defeat Colorado State last year. Colorado State’s defense isn’t as good as their offense.

Offensive Starters Returning (4)
Offensive Starters Lost (7)
Defensive Starters Returning (6)
Defensive Starters Lost (5)

Prediction
Colorado 27 Colorado State 24

SATURDAY

OREGON STATE @ #5 OHIO STATE
Saturday, 9/1
9 AM PST/ ABC

The Skinny
Nothing like throwing Jonathan Smith into the lion’s den to start his head coaching career at Oregon State. Despite the fact that Urban Meyer is in a timeout and the Buckeye program just flipped off the Me-Too movement, they still will own the Beavers in this season opener in Ohio. But you can bet that Smith and Co. will embrace this experience as a learning too for a team that only won one game last season and was winless in the conference. It will be interesting to see how Smith can bring the Beavers back to life — or if he can — during the next couple of seasons, and definitely worth keeping an eye on this season. If they can win more than one game, that’s an improvement.

Offensive Starters Returning (7)
Offensive Starters Lost (4)
Defensive Starters Returning (8)
Defensive Starters Lost (3)

Prediction
tOSU 42 OSU 14

WASHINGTON ST @ WYOMING
Saturday, 9/1
12:30 PST/ CBSSN

The Skinny
This could be a very, very interesting afternoon for the Cougars. Wyoming has played quite well the past two seasons and are off to a good start, beating New Mexico State last weekend by a score of 29-7, but they lost star quarterback Josh Allen to the first round of the NFL and are fielding a new quarterback. Washington State, on the other hand, had their own loss with the heir-apparent to Luke Faulk during the off-season in the death of Taylor Hilinski. But the Cougars have a new quarterback in transfer, Gardner Minshew of Northwest Mississippi CC/East Carolina. He’s supposed to be a good one, but the Cougars lost a lot of key players from 2017. You have to give them the edge in the Pac-12 talent category against a Mountain West team, but it will still be a test for the Cougs because it’s a road game.

Offensive Starters Returning (4)
Offensive Starters Lost (7)
Defensive Starters Returning (5)
Defensive Starters Lost (6)

Prediction
WSU 31 Wyoming 21

CALIFORNIA vs NORTH CAROLINA
Saturday, 9/1
1 PM/ FOX

The Skinny
Justin Wilcox did more than he was expected to do with this Cal team in 2017, and with 18 starters back, it should be a good year for the Bears and they could get to a bowl game. Last year they opened their season on the road at North Carolina — and won. This year, they host NC in Berkeley and should be able to win again. They return tailback, Patrick Laird who rushed for 1127 yards last season, along with returning quarterback, Ross Bowers who passed for over 3000 last season. If Wilcox is going to prove his worth as a new head coach, this would be the season to do it.

Offensive Starters Returning (10)
Offensive Starters Lost (1)
Defensive Starters Returning (8)
Defensive Starters Lost (3)

Prediction
Cal 47 North Carolina 31

#15 USC vs UNLV
Saturday, 9/1
1 PM P12

The Skinny
These kind of games are rather ridiculous, but they need a rather simple opener because the next two games are on the road against Stanford and Texas.  The Trojans should be okay this season despite the loss of Sam Darnold to the league; they return key starters such as WR Tyler Vaughns, and defensive starters such as Iman Marshall and Marvin Tell in the secondary. USC needs to have a good year because Clay Helton will continue to be on a warm seat if they don’t get more done on the national stage. Unlike Washington in 2016, the Pac-12 championship in 2017 didn’t get the Trojans to the playoffs.

Offensive Starters Returning (7)
Offensive Starters Lost (4)
Defensive Starters Returning (6)
Defensive Starters Lost (5)

Prediction
USC 38 UNLV 6

UCLA vs CINCINATTI
Saturday, 9/1
4 PM/ ESPN

The Skinny
The 2017 losing season at UCLA should be forgotten now that Chip Kelly is at the helm, but since he’s suspended half the team for program violations during these first few games, who knows what to expect? They shouldn’t have any issues getting past Cincinatti in this opener, but next week they travel to Norma, Oklahoma to get slapped around by the Sooners. Kelly has his work cut out for him, but it may take another year or two before we see anything resembling the success he had at Oregon.

Offensive Starters Returning (5)
Offensive Starters Lost (6)
Defensive Starters Returning (7)
Defensive Starters Lost (4)

Prediction
UCLA 24 Cincinatti 14

#24 OREGON vs BOWLING GREEN
Saturday, 9/1
5 PM P12

The Skinny
For anyone wondering whether or not Mario Cristobal can pull the Ducks out of their slump, you might need to wait until September 22nd when they host Stanford. Until then, they put the C in the word Cupcake. The Ducks first games are against power houses Bowling Green, Portland State, and San Jose State — all home games too (but don’t expect to see ESPN lining up pastries on the sidelines becasue they get too much ad money from NIKE). The Ducks return Justin Herbert but will be fielding more youth at running back now that Royce Freeman is gone. Defensively, look for Troy Dye, Justin Hollins, and Jalen Jelks to bring some veteran experience. Afterall, Bowling Green won two whole games last season.

Offensive Starters Returning (7)
Offensive Starters Lost (4)
Defensive Starters Returning (7)
Defensive Starters Lost (4)

Prediction
Oregon 56 Bowling Green 28

ARIZONA STATE vs UTSA
Saturday, 9/1
7:30 PM PST/ FS1

The Skinny
With a new coach (Herm Edwards) and several offensive starters back, the Sun Devils might just have a better-than-average season. It all depends on how Edwards coaches and how well their defense plays. Manny Wilkins and N’Keal Harry are back on offense, but tailback Kalen Ballage is off to greener pastures in the NFL (Miami) and most of their defense graduated. UTSA is a good team to start out against because the Sun Devils need to find themselves under the new leadership of Edwards, who hasn’t coached at the collegiate level since Reagan was in office.

Offensive Starters Returning (8)
Offensive Starters Lost (3)
Defensive Starters Returning (4)
Defensive Starters Lost (7)

Prediction
ASU 27 UTSA 14

ARIZONA vs BYU
Saturday, 9/1
7:45 PM PST/ ESPN

The Skinny
New coach, Kevin Sumlin has the good fortunte of inheriting a 7-win team from 2017 that returns 16 starters. While the Wildcats travel to Houston next week, their biggest road games come against Utah and UCLA. They don’t have to face Washington this year and so this could actually be a Pac-12 South surprise. They return quarterback Khalil Tate, and most of their defensive line, linebackers, and secondary from 2017. Keep an eye on what Sumlin can bring to this part of the Southwest. They could be the darkhorse in the South and games such as Utah and a home game against USC could have some implications.

Offensive Starters Returning (7)
Offensive Starters Lost (4)
Defensive Starters Returning (9)
Defensive Starters Lost (2)

Prediction
Arizona 43 BYU 20

** NOTE: I don’t usually make predictions for the Washington game in this article. But my guess would be Washington 37 Auburn 17