Hey All,
Here's the final part of the summer reading portion of this blog. It's time for a look at the schedules in the Pac 12 Conference.
Pacific 12
The Pac 12 is unchanged from last year with 12 teams split into two divisions.
Pac 12 North
California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Washington State
Pac 12 South
Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado USC, UCLA, Utah
Top Five Out of Conference Games
(Note: Other Pac 12 OOC games have been discussed in other installments of this blog)
9/1- Washington v Auburn at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA: There is no doubt that after last year's dismal bowl season that the national media buried the Pac 12. The Pac 12 needs a win here about as badly as any conference has ever needed one. If the Huskies, who are the odds on favorite to win the league, get trounced by Auburn, it almost guarantees that the Pac 12 will not make the playoff and SEC lap dog ESPN will be all too eager to help in that process.
9/15- Fresno State at UCLA: This game may feature a pair of whipped teams. The Bulldogs come into this one off a big road trip to Minnesota. UCLA should arrive back in Pasadena after having their heads handed to them at Oklahoma. A much needed win would give the bRuins a positive feeling going into their bye week. The bRuins follow up that bye week with nine straight conference games to finish the season.
9/8- Colorado at Nebraska: The last time these two met were as members of the Big XII back in 2010. The Buffs were trounced by the Huskers, 45-17 in their final game as a member of the conference. CU had already accepted an invitation to join the new Pac 12 back in June of that year. Now, they meet as members of the Pac 12 and Big Ten respectively. The Buffs should be improved over last year's 5-7 mark, but can they win what is a house of horrors for them at Memorial Stadium? The Buffs have only won five times in Lincoln in the last 61 years.
9/15- USC at Texas: Last year, the Trojans won an OT thriller at the Coliseum. This year, the venue switches to Austin where the Trojans last visited in 1966. That year, the Trojans pulled off a 10-6 win with John Wayne roaming the SC sideline for added inspiration. This year, the Longhorns are looking for a big win to propel them on their way back to national prominence under second year HC Tom Herman. USC needs a big road win to kick aside their Texas troubles of late, The Trojans have been outscored 76-13 in their last two trips to the Lone Star State.
9/29- Stanford at Notre Dame: Yes, this matchup has become an annual thing on each team's schedule, but it is still a big game. For the Cardinal this game comes at the end to a September where they will have hosted USC and traveled to Oregon, not to mention an opening day rematch with the SDSU team that humiliated them last year. If ND stumbles out of the gate v. Michigan, then Stanford is an elimination game as far as the Irish are concerned.
A few intriguing games that didn't make the top five...
9/1- Colorado v. Colorado State at Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Denver, CO: Colorado owns this rivalry, but the game are usually very entertaining and just sometimes flat out crazy. It is always worth a look.
9/1- Washington State at Wyoming: The Cougars start on the road with the Pac 12's least experienced team. The Cougars return only 10 total starters and just four on offense. They are also heading into a hostile environment. What makes this small stadium environment hostile is the altitude not the crowd. It's tough to play at 7,165 feet. Meanwhile, The Cowboys have what might be their best squad of the Craig Bohl era. Yes, QB Josh Allen has gone to the NFL, but Wyoming returns 17 starters that came within a few points of winning their division in the MWC. It bodes well for The Pirate and his young Cougs of they get out of Laramie with a win.
9/8- Utah at Northern Illinois: During their tenure in the Pac 12, the Utes always seems to drop a game or two that they flat out should not. The game isn't on the ability of NIU, it's all on the how the Utes handle their first road game with Washington coming to Salt Lake City the following week. Looking ahead could be embarrassing to the Utes.
9/15- Arizona State at San Diego State: It's a homecoming for new ASU HC Herman Edwards. He spent his senior year with the Aztecs back in 1975. The Sun Devils will be looking to rebound from an embarrassing 30-20 home loss to SDSU last year that frankly wasn't as a close as the score indicates. This game comes to ASU as the middle portion of three game stretch where the Sun Devils host Michigan State the week before, then play at Washington the week after. A win would help these new-look Sun Devils a great deal.
Top Five Conference Games
9/8- USC at Stanford: The Trojans beat the Cardinal at the Coliseum and in the Pac 12 title game last year to claim the league's 2017 crown. Both games were physical, tight contests and this year's clash should be no different. Cardinal RB Bryce Love returns for a senior year Heisman shot behind four returning staters up front and a settled QB situation with K.J. Costello calling the signals. The Trojans come in with a huge question mark at QB now that Sam Darnold has gone to play for Gang Green. USC's defense will have to keep the Cardinal in check to give whoever their new QB is a chance to walk out of The Farm with a win.
9/15- Washington at Utah: The cool pick to win the Pac 12 South is Utah. The Utes can go from a cool pick to a way cooler pick if they take down the Huskies. A loss here would really hurt the Utes chances in the league. The Utes draw UW, Oregon and Stanford from the Pac 12 North on their schedule this year, so they really need to win at least two of those to have shot at the league title tilt. Washington will come into this game in one of two mindsets. They will be either supremely confident after beating Auburn to start the season or very grim and determined after losing to Auburn.
10/13- Washington at Oregon: This is a hurdle game. What? It's a hurdle game that has several different ways it can be viewed. If Oregon upsets Stanford on 9/22, then a victory by the Quack Attack will put them in the driver's seat for the Pac 12 North crown. If they have lost to Stanford, then this game is for survival and keeping their hopes alive in the division. For the Dawgs, a win here most likely sets up their game with Stanford as being for all the marbles in the North. A loss could take UW out of everything before November. Oh, and you know that Duck fans remember the 70-21 thrashing the Huskies laid on the Ducks the last time they were at Auzten Stadium in 2016.
11/3- Stanford at Washington: Last year, the Huskies held a 14-10 halftime lead at Stanford then watched the lead and their Pac 12 title hopes wash away in a sea of Bryce Love rushing yards and TDs. You can bet the Huskies want revenge for that stinging defeat on The Farm. You can bet that the Dawgs want to whip the Cardinal and get back to the league championship game. However, Stanford will arrive at Husky Stadium with no fear as they have beaten UW 10 of the last 13 times they have squared off.
10/27- USC at Utah: The home team has won this game in each of the last five seasons. The last two games in Salt Lake City have been nail-biters with The Utes pulling out a pair of dramatic last minute wins. The Utes will have an extra day to prepare for this one as they host Arizona on the Friday night of the prior week. The crowd will loud and intense at Rice-Eccles Stadium and maybe just a little more jacked up because it is Homecoming. USC just needs to prove it can win big road games consistently. USC's defense must hold Utah early to give their new QB the chance to acclimate to the conditions. You can expect another nail-biter in this game.
A few intriguing games that didn't make the top five...
9/22- Arizona at Oregon State: This is the first league game for each of these school's new HC. That makes it worth watching to me. I do admit, I also want to see how each coach reacts to just how bad Pac 12 officials really are.
9/28- UCLA at Colorado: The bRuins have won three of their last four v. the Buffs, but they have all been tight affairs. The total separating these two teams over the last four years has been just 21 points. Oh, and as we all know, some crazy games happen in the Pac 12 on Friday nights.
10/6- California at Arizona: The Golden Bears and Wildcats always seem to play a pretty wild game. These teams have met in three of the last five years and the final scores have been 45-44, 49-45, and 33-28. This one should be worth recording.
Where are they now?
Five, count 'em, five Pac 12 head coaches were fired or resigned last season! Here's a look at where they are in 2018.
Gary Andersen- Oregon State: I think most of us remember Andersen walking away from the Beavers last year and leaving 12 million dollars on the table. This year Andersen is back with his old pal Kyle Whittingham. Andersen is now the Associate HC and DL coach at Utah. Andersen and Whittingham go all the way back to when both were assistants together at Idaho State in the 1990s.
Todd Graham- Arizona State: Graham is living in North Scottsdale, AZ and not coaching this year. He is working with his son who is a HS school QB and Safety. Here's an update from AZ Central on him. He still watches film
Jim Mora-UCLA: Mora has basically switched jobs with new UCLA HC Chip Kelly. He will be an in-studio analyst for ESPN2 on college football Saturdays.
Rich Rodriguez-Arizona: Last known sighting of RichRod was at Alabama's pro day scouting talent for the New England Patriots. I haven't found any official word on Rodriguez other than that. It was quite an interesting site at Bama's pro day as fired Arkansas HC Bret Bielema and fired Tennessee HC Butch Jones were there too. Funny thing is Jones was wearing Bama gear and letting it be known that he wanted a job with Saban. Saban, from the media reports, wasn't too thrilled with that.
Willie Taggart- Oregon: Taggart fled Oregon after a season to take the Florida State job after Jimbo Fisher put Tallahassee in his rear view mirror.
Grass or not to grass that is the question
Virginia Tech is the only team in the FBS who will play their entire regular season on natural grass. However, 18 teams will play their entire slate on the fake stuff. Of those 18 teams, three are from Power 5 conferences. Indiana, Minnesota, and Oregon are the three schools. When it comes to artificial turf I refer to the bets quote ever on the subject by the late, great Tug McGraw who when asked if he prefers natural grass or Astroturf said, "I dunno, I never smoked Astroturf."
Now, our summer reading is over for 2018, the next time you read this blog, week one of the season will be in the books. So remember, the season is almost here!
-The Commissioner
