Ranking Pac-12 Starting Quarterbacks

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

2011 Stats: No Stats

The presumed starter for Colorado, Wood transferred from Texas and looks ready to play this fall. Nick Hirschman broke his foot before spring practice, so Wood looks to be the man in Boulder.

For the three-win Buffs, they hope that's a good thing.

Year: Sophomore

2011 Stats: 15 YDS, 0 TD, 0 INT

Todd Graham knows that Brock Osweiler won't be in uniform for the Sun Devils this year, right? The coach, who has been prone to leaving coaching job on a whim, left Pitt to take over Arizona State, which will start Bercovici at QB in 2012.

While Osweiler was a second-round pick of the Denver Broncos last month, Bercovici will get his first extended look in 2012 after arriving on the scene as a highly recruited signal-caller with all the tools from the Los Angeles area. Stay tuned to see if he realizes his potential.

Year: Senior

2011 Stats: 1828 YDS, 12 TD, 8 INT

According to reports, new UCLA coach Jim Mora won't name a starting quarterback until August but pick between the group of Brett Hundley, Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut. But it's Prince who seems to have the upper hand based strictly on experience. The redshirt senior has started 26 games over his first three seasons.

Prince, who has battled injuries, also has been inconsistent under coach Rick Neuheisel, for whom he had a problem remaining the starter. Maybe a new regime and a clean slate under Mora will be good change for Prince.

Year: Junior

2011 Stats: 78 YDS, 1 TD, 0 INT

Nottingham was highly recruit coming out high school for the class of 2010, when he was a four-star prospect that many programs were after. However, he chose Stanford and was stuck behind Andrew Luck for two campaigns. To put that into perspective, Luck was so good for the Cardinal that they named their offensive coordinator position after him.

But just as Luck will have to replace Peyton Manning with the Indianapolis Colts, Nottingham could be the man to follow Luck in Palo Alto. The junior still needs to beat out senior Josh Nunes for the job but, whenever he does get into the game, it's possible that some Luck rubbed off on him.

Year: Senior

2011 Stats: 776 YDS, 4 TD, 2 INT (2010)

No more Nick Foles for the Wildcats, who will give the keys of Rich Rodriguez's new offense to senior Matt Scott with Foles gone to the NFL. According to The Tucson Citizen, the Wildcats hope that Scott takes more of a leadership role in 2012.

The newspaper also said that RichRod has been able to install his favored read-option offense easily over the spring, when Scott played well and seemed to have a grasp of what the coach wanted to run. That's a good sign as both coach and quarterback no doubt will need to get used to one another.

Year: Sophomore

2011 Stats: 3328 YDS, 16 TD, 18 INT

The 6-foot-5 Mannion may have a big future with the Beavers, but he was a detriment in 2011. He tossed 18 interceptions as a true freshman starter for Oregon State, which won just three games.

Being placed under fire right away may be a good thing for Mannion, a Rivals.com four-star QB coming out of Pleasanton, CA, but it remains to be seen what type of leap Mannion takes in Year Two.

Year: Redshirt Senior

2011 Stats: 2990 YDS, 17 TD, 12 INT, RUSh ATT 84, 108 YDS, 4 TD

Maynard has battled problems with his accuracy, but there was some promise from the QB late in 2011. After a four-interception game against UCLA, Maynard played well in wins over Washington State and Oregon State before a two-touchdown, no-pick performance in a three-point loss to Stanford and solid play that helped put up 47 points in a win over Arizona State.

Coach Jeff Tedford is supposed to be a quarterback guru. We will see if Maynard makes Tedford look good in 2012.

Year: Redshirt Junior

2011 Stats: 727 YDS, 6 TD, 2 INT

It could be a big fall for Wynn, who has battled injuries for much of his college career. He suffered a shoulder ailmet on Oct. 1 and did not play in the final 10 games of the season for the Utes.

Wynn does have promise, though. He won the starting job as a freshman in 2009 and tossed 17 scores during a sophomore season that was supposed to a prelude to success in 2011. That may be on delay until this fall.

Year: Redshirt Freshman

2011 Stats: No Stats

It looks as if Mariota will be the starter and will earn the nod over Bryan Bennett, who saw some game action in 2011. For his part, Mariota was a redshirt in 2011 but broke out in a big way during the Ducks' Spring Game. He was 18-for-26 for 202 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Most impressively, he added two rushing scores, including an 82-yard jaunt.

If Mariota can perform like that during the season, Oregon will see more success despite the loss of standout QB Darron Thomas.

Year: Senior

2011 Stats: 276 YDS, 1 TD, 0 INT

Tuel will have the reins of the offense as senior after appearing in just three games during his junior campaign, when he broke his collar bone in the season open against Idaho State. The 6-foot-3 Tuel started all 12 of the Cougars' games in 2010, throwing 18 scores to go with 12 INTs.

It could be a good return to the helm this fall for Tuel, who will get to play in Mike Leach's "Air-Raid Offense," which keeps its quarterbacks busy.

Year: Junior

2011 Stats: 3063 YDS, 33 TD, 11 INT

For much of the viewing public, Price made his debut in it consciousness in the Alamo Bowl, where he went head-to-head with Baylor's Robert Griffin III - the second overall pick in April's draft. He threw for four touchdowns and ran for three more in a 67-56 loss to RGIII and the Bears.

As a result, many have compared the two QBs and are waiting for Price to break out in 2012 as did Griffin III, who won the 2011 Heisman Trophy and shot to stardom. The Huskies and coach Steve Sarkisian hope that the dual-threat Price - who had 48 combined TDs last fall - is ready to break U-Dub out of mediocrity.

Year: Senior

2011 Stats: 3528 YDS, 39 TD, 7 INT

Barkley is the golden boy of college football for 2012, taking the reins from Stanford's Andrew Luck, who was the first overall pick in last month's NFL draft. That's the presumed landing spot as well for Barkley, who shocked many by deciding to return to Los Angeles for his senior season.

And there's good reason for the excitement over his return. He's your classic signal-calling star who will enter his fourth year as a starter. In 2011, he threw for 3,528 yards and 39 touchdowns to go along with just seven interceptions. Put simply, he's stud and could lead USC to a national title in its return from probation.