2022 Pac 12 Thread

[OrangeAfroMan]

I was wrong about the 5 conferences whittling down to 4.  I thought it was Big 12 vs ACC in a battle to the death.  But it looks like it's the PAC vs Big 12.  Hmmph.

[FearlessF]

you were wrong???

[Cincydawg]

We're all wrong often enough.

[FearlessF]

agreed

[Brutus Buckeye]

Add the following six teams; BYU, Texas Tech, Boise, UNLV, San Diego State and Hawaii. Gobble up every major market and recruiting hotbed from W Texas, to California, to the Pacific Islands (minus LA, of course). 

[Hawkinole]

It's a rather weird thing to me.

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

Dadgummit 847Badgerfan. How in heck did you know this? You are an insider? I thought you were a hydrologist, or something like that.

[FearlessF]

something like that

he's spends a lot of time on the water

[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.

To put it another way David Shaw went 73-22 from 2011 to 2017 winning 3 Pac 12 titles and making 3 Rose Bowls. Since then Standard has sputtered along with a 20-23 record with only a Sun Bowl to show for it, and all while Shaw's salary has increased to $9M.

Though Stanford is notably patient with their coaches, many are proclaiming this as a hot seat year for Shaw, starting with Sports Illustrated: “The Cardinal have had two losing seasons in the last three years, and have consistently ranked towards the bottom of the country in just about every major statistic. Some people view it as a lack of development of recruits, as the Cardinal consistently recruit top 25 classes, while others believe the staff's refusal to change with the times in college football is what’s hurting them. Clearly…this is a make or break season for Shaw, but Stanford's schedule will not make it easy on him at all. The Cardinal have an absolute gauntlet of a schedule that ranks as the toughest in the conference, playing at the very minimum, six ranked opponents.”


https://twitter.com/AllCardinal/status/1543313510309892097

[847badgerfan]

Dadgummit 847Badgerfan. How in heck did you know this? You are an insider? I thought you were a hydrologist, or something like that.

Early chatter out of LA, actually. I have rather wealthy family out there, and they are heavy donors to their Alma Maters athletics and academics, which are UCLA, USC and Stanford.

[CatsbyAZ]

yup, academic liberal tree hungers think football is barbaric and for mouth breathers

they think it adds nothing to higher society

Why is Colorado so down in CFB?

Colorado was pretty damn great for a while under McCartney. Was he cheating?

As to why Colorado is down (To follow up on comments here and in the Lindy’s 2001 Preview Thread), maybe Colorado isn’t really down given the limits of Boulder’s platform for sports? Maybe it’s more like Colorado was always meant to be a 4 or 5 win program with a few breakout seasons here and there?

Take Cowherd’s assessment as stated 15 years ago in response to Colorado’s coach Dan Hawkins’ famous tirade:

“Dan Hawkins coaches the University of Colorado. A place that drives committed, ambitious football coaches crazy. It drove Bill McCartney into religion. It drove Rick Neuheisel out of town. It drove Gary Barnett crazy. And Dan Hawkins is the newest coach facing the weird libertine hippie culture of Boulder Colorado, the People’s Republic of Boulder. And this is what he said in front of the media - he just kind of snapped: “IT’S DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL! IT’S THE BIG TWELVE! IT AIN’T INTERMURALS! You got two weeks after finals, you got a week for July 4th, and you got a week before camp starts. THAT’S A MONTH! That’s probably more vacation than you guys get! And we’re a little bummed out that we don’t get THREE WEEKS! GO PLAY INTERMURALS BROTHER! GO PLAY INTERMURALS!”

“Dan Hawkins got an anonymous letter from a parent of a player saying ‘you only gave ‘em two weeks off – they usually get three!’ And Hawkins said we did give ‘em three. We moved a week around…and then that outburst. Here’s the first thing: Boulder Colorado is hippy central. The reason same Cal Berkeley will never be USC football, Colorado will never be Texas, and Oregon will never be Oklahoma. You know why? Because the hippie ratio is too high. And hippies don’t commit to anything. Hippies are dabblers. They dabble in literature, politics, the web, cinema, drugs. [Strung out hippie Voiceover]: Dude I’ve dabbled in real estate. But I don’t like working weekends. It cuts into my social life. You can’t dabble in college football!”

raw link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6t3VKLL-OY

[ELA]

Colorado will never be Texas,

Keep Austin weird!

[CatsbyAZ]

Former Oregon State defensive lineman Elu Aydon arrested in connection with two armed robberies of corner stores outside Tacoma.

(https://www.q13fox.com/news/former-osu-football-player-arrested-for-pierce-county-armed-robberies)

“On April 15, Pierce County deputies were searching for Aydon after an armed robbery at the Handy Corner Store at 8009 112th Street East in Puyallup. Detectives said Aydon had a silver semi-automatic handgun, entered the store and demanded cash. After getting the money, the suspect got into a red sedan and fled with $200. Six days before, deputies said there was an armed robbery at a convenience store on Golden Given Road in Tacoma. Investigators said Aydon was the suspect in this robbery.”

“Tacoma police said Aydon was in a stolen car at a motel on Hosmer Street when he was arrested. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of possession of a stolen vehicle. Aydon was a former defensive lineman at Oregon State University from 2015-2019.”



Looks like Aydon has lost some muscle since his playing days. Or maybe waving a gun around on camera subtracts a few pounds?


https://twitter.com/PierceSheriff/status/1517217901031350273

[CatsbyAZ]

For all of UCLA's upward trending to finish on a much needed upswing last season, along with the hype going into this upcoming season, Chip Kelly and Staff are getting completely out-recruited right now by USC, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon. Three of those schools are fielding new coaches and the other (Stanford) is an uninspiring 11-19 these past three seasons.

Sure there’s plenty of time left in the recruiting cycle, but when so many of your prime targets are already off the board and committed to your rivals, it begs questions over how committed and/or able Chip Kelly’s staff is. There's a lot that this current coaching staff is failing to sell on the recruiting trail. Currently ranked 10th in the conference.

So far not the caliber of players you want to trot into Columbus in mid-November. Or Madison. Or East Lansing. Or Iowa City...


https://twitter.com/SI_AllBruins/status/1553859167667904512

[CatsbyAZ]

https://twitter.com/SI_AllBruins/status/1553859167667904512

To dive further into UCLA's recruiting setbacks, here's the standout content:

"But even if UCLA was able to secure commitments from all five of those targets, that would still only leave them with 11 players in their 2023 recruiting class. After only signing 11 recruits in 2022, that would be back-to-back very small classes for Kelly."

"The 2023 roster is set to be gutted by graduating players, with quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, running back Zach Charbonnet, receiver Jake Bobo, receiver Kazmeir Allen, tight end Michael Ezeike, offensive lineman Jon Gaines II, center Sam Marrazzo, offensive guard Atonio Mafi, offensive tackle Tyler Manoa, defensive lineman Martin Andrus Jr., edge rusher Bo Calvert, linebacker Ale Kaho, linebacker Shea Piits, cornerback Azizi Hearn, safety Stephan Blaylock and defensive back Mo Osling III all set to leave next winter. Add in the ones who declare early for the NFL draft and the ones who leave via the transfer portal, and a rebuild appears to be just over the horizon."

"Instead of stockpiling young players, Kelly seems content to go year-by-year, patching up holes with transfers in favor of building out a consistent, growing program. It almost feels like it's too late for him to turn things around on this front, with only about 15 real targets left for him and his staff to go after. Kelly will have to commit to changing his philosophy for the 2024 class, and hope that he can win enough in 2022 and 2023 to keep his job that long."

After the likelihood of a terrible 2023 season given the roster, it's worth looking ahead to when UCLA joins the Big Ten for the 2024 season and wondering whether the Bruins will not only have a new coach but a very ill-equipped roster. Even when the Bruins are winning they do not have the meat on the lines to match the muscle of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan State, to name a few.