2022 Pac 12 Thread

[847badgerfan]

As we discussed in the other thread, should be an interesting P12 race this year.  The contenders in my mind:

1) Utah (my pick)
2) USC (the popular pick)
3) Oregon (strange to call them a darkhorse)
4) UCLA (an actual darkhorse)

And with no divisions, who knows what kind of interesting title game matchup and possibly rematch we may get.  Any other teams I should be thinking about as dangerous?  ASU would normally be one of those teams, but they've had a bad offseason.  Does Stanford have anything in the tank?

This is interesting to me. Shaw had it rolling for a number of years, and then it seemed like as his recruiting (STARZ) picked up, there's been a drop off.

[medinabuckeye1]

As we discussed in the other thread, should be an interesting P12 race this year.  The contenders in my mind:

1) Utah (my pick)
2) USC (the popular pick)
3) Oregon (strange to call them a darkhorse)
4) UCLA (an actual darkhorse)

And with no divisions, who knows what kind of interesting title game matchup and possibly rematch we may get.  Any other teams I should be thinking about as dangerous?  ASU would normally be one of those teams, but they've had a bad offseason.  Does Stanford have anything in the tank?

As we discussed in our own league, I think that eliminating divisions should come with a schedule shift to avoid likely CG matches in the seasons' final week.  The Pac looks better situated here for this than we do.  Using SI's power rankings, here are the PAC's final weekend games:

• #10 ASU vs #12 Zona
• #3 UCLA vs #9 Cal
• #2 Oregon vs #5 OrSU
• #1 Utah vs #11 Colorado
• #7 Washington vs #6 WSU
• #8 Stanford and #4 USC have OOC games vs BYU and ND respectively

The only final-weekend game between two teams in the top-half of the preseason rankings is the Oregon/Oregon State game so the chances of a CG rematch one week after the first meeting are pretty slim.  That is good, IMHO.  FWIW, last year when Stanford instead of USC hosted Notre Dame the final weekend the Trojans hosted BYU so at least at present those two seem to be simply swapping ND/BYU.  

By way of comparison, here are the B1G's final weekend games with SI's preseason Power Rankings
SI's preseason Power Rankings:

• #8 UNL vs #5 IA
• #11 IL vs #14 NU
• #7 MN vs #4 UW
• #9 PU vs #13 IU
• #12 RU vs #10 UMD
• #3 MSU vs #6 PSU
• #2 M vs #1 tOSU

Not only does the B1G have the obvious problem of having #1 play #2 in the final weekend, but there are also possible CG rematches in MSU/PSU, MN/UW and UNL/IA.  

[CatsbyAZ]

Does Stanford have anything in the tank?

This is interesting to me. Shaw had it rolling for a number of years, and then it seemed like as his recruiting (STARZ) picked up, there's been a drop off.

Stanford’s time in the mud is entering into year 4. Probably too long at this point to believe David Shaw can lift his program from the mire. This despite all the positives indicating a stable program on paper. Recruiting consistently finishes among the best in the conference: #2 2022, #7 2021, #3 2020, #3 2019. Stanford also is one of the best at retaining their players through their senior years. This season’s starters boast 7 SRs on Offense and 8 SRs on Defense, most of whom are developed from their 2019 signing class.

Despite this solid groundwork there’s no making up for the total lack of energy around Stanford’s program. 11-19 overall and 9-15 in conference play these past 3 seasons, with no life on offense to speak of. Last season’s 3-9 team closed the season losing their last seven games, including by an average of 32 points to their last four opponents.

The roster experience and draft-able talent is there to win most any game on the schedule (last season beating #3 Oregon), but in the overall picture it will be difficult to gain early season traction with an early schedule opening with USC, @Washington, @Oregon, Oregon St, @Notre Dame and later including road games against the other two better South teams – UCLA and Utah.

[CatsbyAZ]

CincyDawg linked this story in another thread, but in short, Pac 12 commissioner George Kliavkoff isn’t happy with how slowly the joint venture between the ACC, Pac 12, and Big Ten are when it comes to scheduling football games with each other.

“The Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC announced the formation of "The Alliance" — an agreement between the three conferences to work together on key issues amid the rapidly shifting landscape of college sports — last August in wake of the SEC's move to add Oklahoma and Texas to the league no later than the summer of 2025. A key part of The Alliance is the intention for schools from the three leagues to actively schedule non-conference games against another, though it's been easier said than done approaching a year since its formation.”

My question is why let SEC aggressiveness prompt anybody to form some sort on-paper bond that sounds nice but ultimately doesn’t accomplish much. Especially if the SEC starts cannibalizing itself by adding Texas/Oklahoma. I mean what substance is there to the following language from their joint statement?

"The three conferences are grounded in their support of broad-based athletic programs, the collegiate model and opportunities for student-athletes as part of the educational missions of the institutions.”

How does scheduling North Carolina State to play Colorado or Iowa State further anybody’s “educational missions?” That wouldn’t otherwise be furthered with any other home-and-home series?

The whole thing is a Pac 12/ACC overreaction against feeling threatened by the SEC’s advantages. Not sure why the Big Ten bothered with this partnership when, if anything, the Big Ten has similar fan support, brand recognition, and on field success as the SEC.


https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1538870824249307141

[847badgerfan]

It's a rather weird thing to me.

I still think the B1G is gonna go to 16 soon. 

[Abba]

I don't get this years in advance thing.  I thought the advantage of the alliance would be that we would get flexibility with scheduling.  Each team has 1 slot locked in each year for an alliance matchup and we could decide in April who you might play that year.  You could do a big schedule release to reveal that hey Clemson plays Ohio State and USC is playing Wisconsin.  Instead, they are still thinking ok let's talk about who to schedule against Michigan in 2035.  Big opportunity wasted here.

[CatsbyAZ]

My Dad had heart surgery at the University of Utah hospital a few years ago. As part of his out-patient care they gave him a pillow that I’ve only recently seen. Reminds me of the PAC 12 equivalent of something rare that would end up on that B10 Network’s Treasure Hunters show from like a decade ago where the American Pickers dupe would try to buy Big Ten memorabilia collections.

[medinabuckeye1]

I don't get this years in advance thing.  I thought the advantage of the alliance would be that we would get flexibility with scheduling.  Each team has 1 slot locked in each year for an alliance matchup and we could decide in April who you might play that year.  You could do a big schedule release to reveal that hey Clemson plays Ohio State and USC is playing Wisconsin.  Instead, they are still thinking ok let's talk about who to schedule against Michigan in 2035.  Big opportunity wasted here.

I agree 100%.

In the fast-changing world of CFB, talking about schedules a decade or more in advance is not the way to go. A decade ago Clemson hadn't won an NC in 30 years.

IMHO, the alliance should be simple. Each year half of each league travels and half hosts. Thus you'd have:

• 7 ACC teams traveling
• 7 B1G teams traveling
• 6 Pac teams traveling
• 20 total

And:

• 7 ACC teams hosting
• 7 B1G teams hosting
• 6 Pac teams hosting
• 20 total

Now all you need to do is decide which traveling teams visit which hosts and done.

[FearlessF]

much too logical

[ELA]

The only red tape that got easier during the pandemic was college football scheduling.  Teams scheduled games like 4 days out.  Rutgers called their team back from semester break to go play in a bowl

[CatsbyAZ]

https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/status/1542559346453729281

[ELA]

https://twitter.com/wilnerhotline/status/1542559346453729281

The Athletic confirming

[utee94]

Colorado, Arizona, ASU to the B12.




Just kidding.






Probably.

[FearlessF]

unfortunately, that would be an upgrade

in TV revenue