The 2011 college football season has drawn to a close. It featured the lowest viewer turnout for a BCS Championship game in BCS history, three high-scoring shootouts—two of which featured Pac-12 teams—and dozens of upsets, firings, hirings and general shenanigans.
Despite finishing with a 2-5 record in bowl games this year, the Pac-12 looks to improve immensely next year. The simple addition of USC to the post-season does most of that, but several high-profile coach hirings and surging recruitment promise to figure in the final tally come 2012′s bowl season.
How do the Pac-12 teams stack up? Based on returning starters, 2011 season rankings/wins and recruitment, here are the “pre-preseason” Pac-12 power rankings.