Big Decisions Looming in Pac-12 South

As college football's regular season nears its end, a number of schools in the Pac-12 will be turning their attention to finding a new head coach. Disappointing seasons at Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, and Washington State (though not official), have led to all four schools looking to re-tool their football program for the future. Here's a quick breakdown of the reasons behind each program's firing and a list of potential coaches who could be a good fit.

Arizona State Sun Devils

With USC being ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA sanctions, the Pac-12 South was the Sun Devils' to lose in 2011, and incredibly, they found a way to lose it. After starting the season 6-2, Arizona State proceeded to unravel at a startling pace, losing to UCLA, Washington State, Arizona and California. Though many of the struggles could be attributed partially to a bevy of injuries, the Sun Devils still had the most talent out of any postseason-eligible team in the South division. Down the stretch, they were plagued by poor discipline on both sides of the ball and an inability to overcome adversity late in games. After the loss to rival Arizona, who made a splash by hiring former West Virginia and Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez, Erickson's firing seemed to be a foregone conclusion. He was fired this afternoon but will still be allowed to coach the team's bowl game, which will be announced on December 4th. With the increasing level of competition in the Pac-12, it's clear that Arizona State needs to make a big coaching splash in order to stay competitive. Thus far, former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach appears to be the leading candidate, with Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin being another name near the top of the list. If the Sun Devils want to be competitive going forward, they'll undoubtedly have to shell out big money in order to get the coach they want in a competitive coaching market.

Potential candidates: Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin, former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, SMU head coach June Jones, Arizona State offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen

Prediction: Mike Leach

UCLA Bruins

At 6-6, the UCLA Bruins are your Pac-12 South division champions. No, I'm not making that up. Vegas has already had a field day with the matchup, putting Oregon as the 30 1/2 point favorite over the Bruins, in what has to be one of the biggest championship game matchups in the history of sport. At any level. But all semi-kidding aside, UCLA faces the small possibility of making the Rose Bowl less than a week after firing their head coach. After coming to UCLA in 2007, Neuheisal promised Bruins' fans that the days of the USC football dynasty was coming to an end. But despite his big talk, his promises never materialized, and he will finish his UCLA career with a 21-27 record, pending the Pac-12 championship game and subsequent bowl appearance. As Lane Kiffin and USC blazed through the conference and the Bruins in their final regular season game, it's clear that the Trojans will be taking no prisoners in 2012. UCLA fans know that they must get a big name in order to compete with Kiffin and the rest of the Pac-12 going forward. Luckily for the Bruins, UCLA is the most desirable coaching vacancy in the Pac-12 at the moment, if not the country, with a rich program tradition and a location in the middle of the recruiting hotbed that is southern California. Boise State's Chris Petersen has already been the name mentioned most by several outlets, but it's still unclear whether Petersen is ready to leave the perennial-BCS contending program the Broncos have become. One thing you can be sure of is that the next head coach of the UCLA Bruins will be high-profile, but will face the daunting task of toppling USC as the college football dynasty in southern California.

Potential candidates: Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen, former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, former Oregon head coach Mike Belotti, TCU head coach Gary Patterson

Prediction: Chris Petersen