LOS ANGELES >> For Pac-12 Conference football, change isn’t waiting for 2024.

Three big programs have new coaches for 2022. More than half of the conference could have new transfers starting at quarterback. Las Vegas forecasts the hottest race for the best record in the conference in nearly a decade.

Las Vegas disagrees with the league’s beat writers about who is most likely to win the conference title, the oddsmakers favoring USC (2-1) over Utah (5-2) and Oregon (3-1) while a media poll picked Utah first, Oregon second and the Trojans third.

In all, there’s a lot to look forward to — before there’s a lot to dread with the scheduled departures of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten in two years.

“With all the stuff going on in college football, it’s good to be finally getting on the field and practicing and being with your guys and getting the season going,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Whittingham, coming off Utah’s first Pac-12 championship, might have the most reason to get the season going.

But the chatter at Pac-12 media day on Friday at L.A. Live underscored how much the league has to talk about as teams open fall practice in the next few days.

“It’s still an incredibly deep conference with great coaches and great players,” Stanford coach David Shaw said.

Looking beyond USC and UCLA, here are the schools to watch:

Utah

Whittingham’s 18th Utah team has national attention and is hungry for national respect after losing a Rose Bowl shootout to Ohio State.

“We’ve always traditionally been a team that likes to fly under the radar a little bit and play with a chip on our shoulder,” Whittingham said, seeming to welcome the attention USC is getting by adding Coach Lincoln Riley and big-time transfers.

Quarterback Cam Rising is back with the Utes after leading a 36.1 points-per-game offense to a 9-1 record in conference play, and running back Tavion Thomas remains after leading the conference with 21 rushing touchdowns.

“I know their roster’s got a lot of returning players after a big-time season,” Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith said. “I can see why they were picked to win the thing.”

Utah is forecast for 8½ victories in win-total over-under betting, one win behind USC and equal to Oregon and UCLA.

Oregon

For Dan Lanning, it’s an interesting time to be the new coach at a big program like Oregon, which won the 2019 and 2020 Pac-12 championships.

“It’s probably pretty similar to being a 15-year coach in a program, because everything’s different (for everybody),” Lanning said, referring to the coming Pac-12 upheaval and changes in college sports’ rules governing transfers and athletes’ name, image and likeness compensation.

Lanning, hired after Mario Cristobal went to Miami, has 54 new players on the roster, including former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix.

He’ll get an early measure of how good they are: The Ducks open the season at Georgia, the national champion for whom Lanning was the defensive coordinator.

Washington

The Huskies should be better after falling apart during a 2021 season that they began ranked 20th in the nation, but it will be a challenge for new coach Kalen DeBoer.

“You’ve got guys that have been through a lot,” DeBoer said of players who are on their third coach since winning the 2018 Pac-12 title under Chris Petersen.

How close DeBoer comes to matching his 33.4 ppg offense at Fresno State could depend on the outcome of what he says is a three-way quarterback battle that includes Indiana transfer Michael Penix Jr.

Arizona

Coach Jedd Fisch, the former assistant with the Rams and six other NFL teams, plays up his pro connections in recruiting and has brought in Sean McVay and Bill Belichick to speak to the squad.

Fisch hopes attracting players with NFL dreams begins to pay off now, after the Wildcats went 1-11 in his first season.

“I’ve heard a lot of coaches tell our recruits that we’re an ‘offseason team,’ ” said Fisch, who is equal parts cheerleader and wiseguy. “I would say this: We have had a great offseason, and I appreciate them recognizing that.”

The major addition is quarterback Jayden de Laura, who transferred from Washington State.