LOS ANGELES -- It's hype season in college football, with Power 5 media days across the country lighting fires under expectant fan bases who suspect -- no, are certain -- that, by golly, this surely will be their year.
Yet the buzz at Pac-12 media days is different. Oh, there are celebrations of star players -- look, there's Christian McCaffrey! -- and a lauding of the conference's undeniable depth. But a persistent hum keeps rising up and rasping that the conference is destined to be left out of the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season.