Utes getting good ESPN buzz
by JazzyUte on Feb 7, 2011 1:22 PM MST
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Today's ESPN college football page is devoted to Utah's move to the Pac-12. Both Andrea Adelson (the blogger for the non-BCS teams) and Tim Ted Miller (the Pac-12 blogger), had a bit of a back and forth discussing the move and Utah's chances.
It's a good read and I think balanced well.
Adelson, who has covered the Utes more recently, seems to give them a bigger benefit of the doubt than Miller. Which isn't a surprise, because Miller isn't entirely too familiar with the team. He even admits there is a potential bias to what he's saying. For what it's worth, Miller has consistently said he expects a 6-6ish record out of Utah, while Adelson believes they'll finish 9-3.
9-3, in my opinion, would be an amazing first year for the program and might signal they were more ready for the move than originally thought.
Which would definitely bolster the claim that there isn't a dramatic difference between the non-BCS and BCS.
If anything, non-BCS teams better hope Utah legitimizes them this upcoming season. If they flop, they not only hurt their credibility, they hurt every other non-BCS team's in the process.
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Same Old ESPN Blogger Debate Issues.
The one issue I have whenever they do any of these blogger debates, is lack of any real opinion.
Sure they’ll give a prediction (Adelson saying 9-3, Miller saying 6-6), but other than that, they don’t say anything of stature.
Neither one of them really said how they think Utah would handle the grind or the competition. Instead it was a lot of open ended, left up in the air comments, and rehashing of stuff we already know.
I thought the article was good.
I don’t know what more you want. Especially in February. What more did you want on how they would handle the grind of competition? Did you want them to have a crystal ball? Stop complaining and enjoy the spotlight.
First, predicting their future record is a huge part of predicting how they would handle the grind of the PAC 12. They went into more detail from there and more. They also mentioned:
- Wynn and his shoulder surgery and will he heal in time
- The number of returning starters for Utah is a concern
- Norm Chow and how he could affect the team
- Will Utah change from the spread
- Specific players that are staying are referenced.
- Utes record since 1998 against AQ teams and how it relates to the grind.
- Concern about late season losses going into next season.
- How performance could affect perceptions.
- Future schedule: how we miss Stanford and Oregon in our first year.
- Will Utah be treated differently in the Polls
- Unanswered questions that are relevant like the effect on recruiting.
Smug self-righteous judgment of others does not make you classy. Going out of your way to call people classless does not make you even classier.
There will be lots of questions...
I think we’ll be okay in the end. This team is going to be pretty talented and I expect Wynn to return playing even stronger than he did post-Iowa State.
If he does, and John White lives up to the hype, along with our great core of receivers, we’ll have a pretty potent offense.
Good outline...
As someone who injured his rotator cuff mountain biking (flew over the handlebars)…
…I can tell you that it’s not easy to recover from. It was about a year before I could lift more than 10 lbs above my head with that arm, and it still twinges from time to time when I’m working out, or even just move it awkwardly or quickly. I can only imagine what would happen if I was getting pounded week after week.
…is Wynn’s shoulder injury still “undisclosed”?
Either way...
It’s good to see that Utah, is getting most of the attention for the conference moves this season.
I’ve heard some talk about Nebraska moving to the Big 1210, and even less about Colorado. Boise State moving to the MWC has generally been considered a lateral/negative step thanks to BYU.
But Utah seems to be the one that gets the most buzz. Mainly because, as was pointed out in the article, people are intrigued.
The attention is great....
I thought it was pretty comical that even some zoobies were able to slither their way on to the blog to make their predictable comments. Are they that obsessed with being left behind? Yes – going independent is being left behind no matter how great they think their TV station is.
The reason why the Utah move is getting more attention then the CU, NU, BSU and even TCU (mostly because it does not happen for another year) moves is because Utah did something that just does not happen. A non-AQ moving up to a prestigious AQ conference is more rare then a humble TDS fan. Utah had impeccable timing in regards to success and marketing their programs. I feel that Utah will do just fine next year but be prepared that even if they were to win the PAC 12 there would still be those (mostly zoobies) claiming it was a fluke. Go UTES!!!
Yeah, they'll be fine next year: win some, lose some, give it their all always.
Regardless, I’m fairly certain that the years of sub-.500 seasons are gone forever. I keep hearing a lot about how stiff the competition is in the Pac 12 and how easy we’ve had it against the likes of Wyo, UNLV, New Mex and SDSU, but the people saying that rarely watched those teams play consistently and have no conception of the history/rivalries involved. They’re basically denigrating those teams, and undeservedly, I think. They act like Cal, Arizona or Oregon State would sweep the MWC (with the exception of TCU), but that’s just silly.
As for BYU fans: fuck ‘em. How a fanbase can think they’re better than Utah, after losing to Utah, is beyond me. The jealousy is palpable and the ignorance is astounding. Zoobs make it so I wouldn’t mind if the rivalry ended, just so I could for once read a Utah article unsoiled by goofy zoobie nonsense. I’ve never read a BYU article, but I hope Utah fans don’t do the same thing and comment on something we shouldn’t give a shit about.
That, and the fact that
The Pac-12 is nowhere near as pathetic as the Big LEast. I’ll be surprised if TCU doesn’t rampage through that conference every year, maybe getting a loss or two just because they have to travel practically across the country for their conference games. You guys, on the other hand, are joining a legit AQ conference. Congrats, and good luck to ya in ‘11-’12!
Dear Pit Crew,
If my ears aren't ringing, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.
by Brass-billed on Feb 8, 2011 10:18 AM MST up reply actions
if you read some of the comments below the article(on espn webpage) more were postive then negative
99.5 % of the nation does not know byu will be an independent next year.
The University of Utah is off to the Pac-12 Conference and will be in the South Division. Hopefully we will get to the first ever Pac-12 Championship Game. Jon " Bones " Jones gets his chance for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title when he faces off against Shogun Rua.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Feb 8, 2011 9:52 AM MST reply actions
Ted Miller doesn't like that you got his name wrong, Jazzy
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/19034/pac-12-lunch-links-is-cal-going-all-stanford-y
Hey, Blick U, it’s Ted Miller!
by Ute in DC on Feb 8, 2011 12:43 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
No such thing as bad publicity...
You’re on the Mothership Jazzy…maybe Ted can christen you as the heir-apparent…the Wil Musschamp of the blogosphere!
Welcome aboard!
Ted often links to the SBN sites if they’re generating original content (particularly in the offseason). I hope the move is good for Utah and for your blog.
Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. - R. Feynman
From a Husky
Welcome to the PAC-12, Conference of Champions!! I can’t put into words how excited I am to see where things shake out next year. 9-3 is not out of reach for you guys. It would be truly impressive and a real message to the nation. Having said that, Ted Miller is right when he said the middle of the PAC is best predicted by throwing names in a hat. ASU, USC, and Cal will be your big tests in the south division. For what it is worth, I predict you ending up about on par with us: 7-6 plus or minus 2. Cheers to seeing you representing the PAC in a bowl next year!
That's fair, really.
I hope Utah is bowl-eligible, but I can easily see Utah between 5-7 and 9-3.
I’m really looking forward to the first opportunity to see Utah play in Seattle. It’s a beautiful city, and the Husky fans I met when you guys played at BYU last year were really cool.
Thanks, and congrats on beating Nebraska last year! :)
Ummm
ASU, USC, and Cal will be your big tests in the south division.
Cal is in the North, along with furd, UW, Oregon, OSU, and Wazzu. I think you may have meant Ucla.
Leaving aside the revulsion I feel at being mistaken for the southern extension campus, the fact that you think the baby blue will be a “test” is kind of funny.
I'm thinking of having a little party down in Newport.
Ucla has hit the iceberg and has stopped to assess the situation.
We’re faced with another hour and a half of bad acting and melodrama before the thing finally, mercifully sinks.
ASU will be athletic, fast, and scary. Then the opening whistle will blow and they will get a 15-yard flag. Such is the Erickson Way. Complete lack of discipline.
Cal will be good. Or bad. Or mediocre. One can never tell which.
USC will have the most talent in the conference. Who knows what that means? They ALWAYS have the most talent. But now they don’t have Petey.
Arizona will be the team to watch. Not especially due to their play on the field though. Rather, it’s the suspense of whether Stoops’ head will literally explode into pink mist.
Wazzu is still in the conference, apparently. We brought in Colorado to give them a fighting chance at a win every 2 years.
OrSt will play good teams tough and lose to mediocre-to-bad teams. They have a tough road next year unless their new kids can really play.
UW could be good. They have some talent. OTOH they don’t have Jock Licker to inspire them to mediocrity again.
The Tree has Andrew Luck. ’furd/Ducks at Palo Alto will likely determine the eventual Pac-12 champ.
Oregon. 2-time defending conference champs, and just brought in 3 of the 5 fastest recruits in the entire nation along with 2 of the top 5 athletes. Yowza.
Colorado. Our new, oxygen-deprived Wazzu doppelganger.
Utah. Missing ’furd and UO is an absolute gift. I see losses at USC, Cal, and Pitt and at home to ASU. 8-4, Sun- or Holiday Bowl.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Feb 9, 2011 2:26 AM MST up reply actions
I think you're about right...
Though Pitt and BYU will be toss-up games, IMO. We’ll see how effective Todd Graham is at bringing his high-tempo offense there. His teams at Tulsa and Rice were not known for their defenses and that has always, most of the time anyway, been Utah’s strength.
My thoughts on the South:
ASU – The Sun Devils certainly have the talent to win the division, but you’re right, their lack of discipline under Erickson has to be a concern. Plus, I don’t think this team is emotionally tough. That means, if they lose one or two games, they could crumble badly and fall out of the conference title picture. Remember when they lost, in OT, to a dreadful UNLV team back in 2008? They were never the same after that debacle.
Arizona – The Wildcats are an enigma. You’d think Mike Stoops would have that program turned around by now. I mean, he was a rookie coach when Urban Meyer was here at Utah! That’s a long time ago in college years and since he hasn’t been able to get ’em over the hump, I see no reason to expect anything out of them.
Colorado – Buffaloes are still a few years away from being anything in the Pac-12.
SC – Very talented with a very questionable head coach. I think the Trojans are going to be the Pac-12’s version of the 2002-2004 Florida Gators – lots of talent, but a poor head coach.
UCLA – The Bruins are a mess. Do they even have a defensive coordinator yet?
Utah – I am optimistic with the coaching changes that the Utes will be ready to go this season. Our offense, if Wynn comes back and plays like he did earlier last season, should be improved – especially with John White in the backfield.
Really, the South is wide open. Any team can win it outside of Colorado and UCLA.
We’ll see how the Utes do – but I’d be satisfied with 8-4 and a trip to the Holiday Bowl. Love San Diego.
I agree, UCLA is not a test for you guys
Assuming Wynn is healthy anything can happen. That is what you will find in the Pac-12, a ton of preseason predicting which is usually followed by a bunch of the opposite happening. I promise you two things, there will be heartache and great joy. It is a well balanced conference where anyone can beat anybody. Just look at last year, Cal almost beat UO, UW beat USC, OSU beat UA. Almost anything can happen and chances are it will.
I would not read too much into either prediction, but I would go by Miller’s as he does know the conference. And he will admit that he was wrong if you do go 9-3.
I am going to the game against you in Pullman next year, can’t wait to meet some of you there!
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