Rating the 2012 Non-Conferece Slate: Pac-12

The Pac-12 has slightly less variety in scheduling than it has in years past, unfortunately.

1. Southern California (1 legit, 0 FCS): Hawaii, N-Syracuse, Notre Dame. One of the main reasons to like USC's chances at a title run is a soft, for them, non-conference schedule. They can reasonably expect to go 3-0 against this bunch. The Syracuse game is at the New Meadowlands (or whatever they're calling it), by the way.
2. California-Los Angeles (1, 0): @Rice, Nebraska, Houston. An away game at Rice? Well, Rice Stadium is one of the more historic venues on college football (as covered here), but old stadiums are hardly intimidating for UCLA (well, or any of Rice's opponents, but work with me here). Nebraska will likely pose a much larger challenge for the Bruins.
3. Arizona State (1, 1): Northern Arizona, Illinois, @Missouri. Illinois and Missouri aren't playing each other this year, but thanks to Arizona State, there'll only be one degree of separation. Also we get the relatively rare bird of a Pac-12 vs. SEC matchup.
4. Washington (1, 1): San Diego State, @Louisiana State, Portland State. Good luck down in the bayou, Huskies, because you will probably need it.
5. Arizona (1, 1): Toledo, Oklahoma State, South Carolina State. After years of pathetically weak scheduling, good on Arizona for actually getting a name opponent.
6. California (1, 1): Nevada, Southern Utah, @Ohio State. Cal's always done a reasonably job of making eastward journeys, with trips to Tennessee and Minnesota in the past decade. Good to see they're continuing to do so, even if the Columbus stands to be somewhat more daunting than either opponent.
7. Oregon State (1, 1): Nicholls State, Wisconsin, @Brigham Young. Wisconsin is certainly an interesting choice, especially considering their usual tendencies to stick to traditional Big Ten offense, in contract with the Beavers' more wide-open style. Of course, it would help if Oregon State were to actually be good again.
8. Stanford (0.75, 0): San Jose State, Duke, @Notre Dame. Stanford plays Notre Dame ever year, so not a whole lot to get excited about. Though I wonder what the chances are of more Duke fans than there were Wake Forest fans when I went to a game there a few years ago.
9. Utah (0, 1): Northern Colorado, @Utah State, Brigham Young. Savor Utah-BYU for the last time in a while.
10. Washington State (0, 1): @Brigham Young, Eastern Washington, @Nevada-Las Vegas. I'm sure Mike Leach has already asked how Wazzou ended up in a position to have two road games against mid-majors. Also considering Texas Tech's schedules during his reign there, don't expect them to improve much in this department.
11. Colorado (0, 1): N-Colorado State, Sacramento State, Fresno State. Playing Fresno isn't what it used to be, though I do like that Colorado is continuing to play their rival, even as other rivalry games have disappeared due to realignment.
12. Oregon (0, 1): Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech. While Oregon will almost certainly beat Arkansas State, I'm pretty sure Gus Malzhan will still figure out a way to score a few touchdowns. 

Anyway, next up is the SEC, and then a quick wrap up. Until then!