The consensus on Utah football heading into the Pac-12? No consensus
by JazzyUte on Jun 13, 2011 12:23 AM MDT
in Football
Email
Print
Utah might be the hardest team to peg heading into the 2011 season. I don't know if anyone is sure what to expect out of them and that's evident in how varied their rankings are as they ready to start Pac-12 play.
They've been picked anywhere from 1st to 5th in the South - quite the difference of opinion there.
So why the discrepancy? Well for starters, this is uncharted territory for Utah. They've never played this difficult of a schedule and while their roster is talented and the coaches have certainly recruited well over the years, depth wise are they capable of going toe-to-toe with most Pac-12 programs?
We've come to expect competitive games with the conference and certainly the Utes have won their fair share over the years. However. one game of twelve isn't nearly as grueling as nine of nine. And that's exactly what Utah will be facing heading into this season.
Will they be able to compete on a weekly basis with programs that have experienced this type of grind for decades? That's the biggest question facing Utah and no one has that answer. Not those who think the Utes could win the South and certainly not those who think they'll finish 5th of 6th.
Utah is an unknown. They very well could claim the South crown. They also could struggle, drop six or seven games and miss out on the postseason for the first time since the 2002 season.
For the most part, the preseason college football publications currently, on average, put the Utes at 3rd in the Pac-12 South - so I guess you can say that's the consensus at the moment.
But then again, they don't know anymore than you or I do.
Those who feel Utah will compete for the Pac-12 South look at their past success (33-6 in the past three seasons), the current makeup of the division and conclude, barring a major meltdown, the Utes should be right there with the Arizona schools - especially when you factor in their schedule.
Those who feel Utah will be nothing better than a middle of the pack Pac-12 South team this year probably believe there will be a massive learning curve heading into a BCS conference. Surely they're good - but it will take a couple recruiting cycles to earn the depth necessary for a legitimate run at the Pac-12 South crown.
It's also hard not to ignore their performances against TCU, Notre Dame and Boise State. Clearly there will be more of those caliber opponents on the Utes' schedule than, say, San Jose State.
That point alone could lead someone to pick Utah to not only finish 5th in the Pac-12 South, but maybe think they're destined for a losing campaign.
If Utah had played nine teams that were at the level of their three losses last season, how many games do you think the 2010 Utes win?
6...tops?
Well we'll get to find out for real this season.
54 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
the lowest i saw them was 4th. who had them 5th?
Anderson Silva would never fight "Bones". He is too scared to fight the real P4P champion. Nick Diaz, the man who will prove to the MMA world that he is the best WW in the world. Still public enemy #1 and enjoying every minute of it.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Jun 13, 2011 2:32 AM MDT reply actions
Its Ryan Finley from the Arizona Daily Star
Dude is an idiot, I hate his stuff on Arizona Football, you might as well consider his opinion inept, seriously this dude doesn’t really understand football, I’ve been to many Arizona Practices interviewing players and he always asks the most obvious and dumb questions, so don’t worry about him.
Prediction Time!
Montana State-W (They better)
USC-L (Wake up call but keep pretty close)
BYU- W (Because what Ute fan predicts a loss here?)
Washington-L (Down to the wire, but overwhelmed by talent)
Arizona State-W (Our D is gonna kill em)
Pitt-W (Pitt is still recovering from a meltdown season)
Cal-W (A nail biter simply because of talent)
Oregon State-W (I dont know much about them, but my gut feeling tells me victory)
Arizona-L (They are fielding a really good team)
UCLA-W (Because we can)
Washington State-W (That is like playing the bottom of the MAC)
Colorado-W (Cuz it’s the MUSS baby!)
Final Regular Season Record: 9-3
Division Finish: 3-way Tie for First (USC,Utah,Arizona)
Win whatever bowl game they play in
FInal Record: 10-3
I would approve of this record.
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
Both Arizona Teams dealing with major injuries...
… Not to mention questionable coaches. I think Utah is better than both of them, and should win those games.
Pitt is a game that worries me, simply because it’s an away game. I don’t think Pitt will be great this year, but unlike years past where it’s a game Utah would normally have been up for, I just don’t see it this year.
USC is a possible win, but I could see the game going either way.
I can see Utah losing 2 regular season games, and then the Pac-12 Championship game against Oregon (Because I see Stanford having a disappointing season Sans Harbaugh), and then winning the Bowl Game.
Of Course being a Utah fan I’m also predicting 14-0 baby, National Champions.
Speaking of NC possibilities
Just looked up on Sportsbook for fun, the Utes are listed at +10000 odds to win BCS title.
Other notables:
Oregon +800
ASU +7500
Arizona +20000
BYU +20000
Oklahoma +450
Bama +450
Florida St. +900
Stanford +1400
Boise St +1800
I'd like that - though it'd be sweet to beat to beat SC...
And I’d hate to lose our first ever Pac-12 home game.
Perspective
I think 3rd place is reasonable. It is where the Utes have finished more often than not recently. Championships are hard to come by. Since Whitt has become the head coach of Utah this is where the Utes have finished in the final Mountain West standings.
2005: 4th
2006: 3rd
2007: 3rd
2008: 1st
2009: 3rd
2010: 2nd
I think it's harder to compare division to overall conference standings...
In the MWC, a third place finish is decent because it means you placed better than six conference teams. A third place finish in the Pac-12 South is exactly right in the middle.
Factor in only six teams instead of nine and I’d wager a 3rd place finish, on average as it was in the MWC, would mean the program is actually a step below where it should be.
To compare, here are the 3rd place finishers in each division of college football last year and their overall records (not counting 2nd place ties):
ACC:
Georgia Tech – 4-4 – 6-7 overall
In the Atlantic Division, there was no true 3rd place team – as Maryland and NC State finished tied for second. Boston College could technically go there, but they were fourth overall in their division.
Big 12:
Kansas State – 3-5 – 7-6
In the Big 12 South, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M finished tied for first. Baylor, at 4-4 and 7-6 overall, finished technically third – but, like BC, was the fourth team back.
Conference USA:
Houston – 4-4 – 5-7
East Carolina, So. Miss finished tied for 2nd. Marshall finished in the third spot, but four back at 4-4, 5-7.
MAC:
Temple – 5-3 – 8-4
Western Michigan – 5-3 – 6-6
SEC:
Georgia – 3-5 – 6-7
Arkansas and LSU finished ‘tied’ for second, so Alabama was ‘third’ but the fourth ranked team in their division (Auburn went undefeated) at 5-3, 10-3.
Now there is one difference: The Pac-12 will have an extra conference game than these other conferences. I don’t know if that will impact the overall point, though,
Basically, what I’m saying, is that a third place finish in a nine team conference is not bad. Third place in a twelve team conference is pretty good. Third place in a six team division more times than not means losing conference record and potentially a losing overall record.
Of those teams that truly finished in the third spot, three had overall losing records. One was slightly above .500 (Kansas State), one was right at .500 (Western Michigan) and the last, Temple, finished with a respectable record.
So I’m not so sure I’d call 3rd place reasonable. It probably means they’re very close to a losing record (which could happen, I concede, but something I hope isn’t the case).
But as far as what to expect this season…I still don’t know.
The funny thing is....
I personally am just as all over the board. I can see scenarios where we do well, and scenarios where we struggle, and everything in between.
Affectionately known on Over the Monster as "Pete"
Follow me on twitter: @BigBenSportsGuy
by BigBenSportsGuy on Jun 13, 2011 2:52 PM MDT reply actions
I'm right there with ya. I simply have no idea.
by fountainofute on Jun 13, 2011 3:20 PM MDT up reply actions
It's like this every year in the PAC...
Always one or two who look like clear cut favorites, one or two certain doormats and a whole lot of “who knows how it’ll shake out” in the middle. Who would have guessed UW would finish third last year? They did and that is how it goes every year.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
I love it
That’s what is making this season so much fun. The Utes Fiesta Bowl run was exciting for a different reason. I wasn’t sure how they were going to do when they opened the season against Texas A&M. It was billed as the biggest game in Utah football history. After the Utes waxed them and were beating teams by three touchdowns, we kind of knew the ending before the characters were even developed.
This has actual intrigue. I really think if the secondary holds up and Wynn can stay healthy that the Utes will be in good shape. While any game could be lost, there isn’t a team that I am afraid of. Maybe that is foolish, but we shall see. Utah will lose a couple, but if they have a good year, they set themselves up for a great year two in the PAC12.
There is no more such a thing as the BIG 3. Each week will matter, not only for the Utes but it will be fun looking at other games in the conference because they will mean so much more. While Utah has obvious weaknesses, so do all of the other teams. I think it will be between AZ St and Utah. USC can’t play in the championship game.
by UteinBrooklyn on Jun 13, 2011 7:57 PM MDT up reply actions
Interesting
I like how you went through the third place teams of other conferences. I would think the Utes could do better than .500. I am putting the over/under at 8-4. That may be good for second place in the division. Utah does avoid Oregon and Stanford. The scheduling is kind of a big deal.
I understand the arguments of the North Division wanting to play in Southern California, but having 9 conference games is going to bite the PAC-12 on the ass. The SEC pads their records with home games against weak OOC opponents. In conference, they play two bad teams, two great teams, and four good teams. If they lose to the great teams and go 3-1 versus the good teams to finish 9-3, everyone thinks they are great.
With the PAC playing an extra game, half of the teams will automatically have an additional loss built into the final standings which makes the overall conference come out with a lower winning percentage. It’s simple math.
As for the prediction for year one… It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Utes win the division, but it also wouldn’t surprise me to see them finish in fourth place. We no nothing about the secondary in a QB rich conference. We know nothing about our running backs, though I have a great feeling about them. There is a new playbook which could mean the offense isn’t clicking early. And if Wynn isn’t healthy, who plays QB? The options don’t strike me as anything great.
All in all, third might be okay. I can’t see USC being worse, and AZ St had too many close games with a gang of returning starters to not be taken seriously. UCLA will be underrated, and AZ will depend on their OL. I think 3rd place is a safe bet.
Hi Folks! Arizona Student here!!!
First-Jazzy.. Love the blog, got it on my bookmarks at the top of my browser for ute news.
Secondly.. I grew up in SLC, parents U grads, still huge ute fan, I now go to Arizona, hence the name WildcatUte!
Thirdly… before I bore all of you, I have adamantly followed both teams for many years so I think I have a pretty good idea of where the utes will stack up in the pac12south, and I think that they will be just fine.
I see a close loss to USC, only because its in the Coliseum — L
You guys will beat Washington, always the most overrated program in the Pac — W
Arizona State is the biggest preseason joke for a favorite I have ever seen, you guys should handle them, and understand that I think all this preseason hype over a team that beat two fcs schools to get to 6 wins and one of those wins came over us after our kicker missed two extra points to hand them the game… yeah i’m still in rage mode, you guys get the W
Cal- really a rebuilding year for cal unless Zac Maynard really steps up, I don’t see it happening, pencil in a close W here too.
Oregon State- You guys have had some fun games with OSU before and this should be another one but they have a lot of questions coming into this year, I see another W
Arizona- you guys have a great shot at beating us, we are replacing all 5 offensive linemen and have been hit with the ACL injury bug this spring, but it is later in the season, and I can’t go against the ZOna Zoo, call me biased, I am! — L
UCLA- you guys want to show Neuheisel the door? — W
Washington State — while improved, you guys really can stomp on these guys, welcome to the only pansy in the PAC — W
Colorado-You guys are just better than Colorado, simply put, welcome to your new one-sided rivalry! — W
7-2 in Pac and 3-0 OOC is good enough to get a ticket to Autzen, and yes We all hate the ducks, so represent us well in the inaugural PAC12 champs game and please somebody aka Brian Blechen end lamichael james before he does one more of those stupid jumpy celebrations…
I see Arizona in 2nd
USC in 3rd
ASU in 4th
UCLA in 5th
Colorado in 6th
in the pACSouth
yes I really think you guys can take it, missing oregon/stanford in your first year regular season is genius!!!
I hope you don't mind an outsider’s thoughts
To begin I have great respect for your team and I’m so glad that you came to the PAC instead of BYU (who needs another Oregon with a religious hue); I’m like most I truly don’t know how you’ll do this year but if you can perform like you have in the past I have no doubt you’ll be in the thick of things. I see Utah as a more successful OSU a smaller state school that has accomplished great things. But I tend to think that the first year in the PAC is going to be a rough one. I think that (as said above) that it will take some time for you offance to transition and that some of the not so good PAC teams are going to sneak up on you, believe me it happens(see the OSU vs WSU from last year). In short there are no weeks off in the PAC. Not that your team can’t handle it but it will take some adjustment. In short I think that Utah will be the Oregon State of the South and you will be in the title race often but will have trouble winning it (you should win a few) like let’s say a USC or (kills me to say it) an Oregon. At any rate here is to your new adventure in to the PAC and the BCS club. Good Luck and be like OSU and take down USC all the time. Oh, the Utes are my PAC south team now so I pull for you every game execpt one.
oh, them beavers
I can see how you see similarities with the Beavers
A local news commentator also compared us to OSU in a story. I don’t remember if it was in print or on the radio though so no link.
I am hoping that having our campus in the heart of downtown SLC will help give us a leg up. I used to live in a condo downtown and I literally walked home from a game one time. The stadium light rail stop is only a few stops from the heart of the city. Plus, the campus is in a beautiful location up on the foothills of the mountain range. My hopeful thinking makes me believe this beautiful atmosphere combine with placement in the center of a large metro area will help attract players.
Unlike Washington we are used to being underrated. Hopefully that trend continues and we out perform expectations.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Why did you misspell beavers in your user name?
Is it because you are more fond of the nutria? ;)
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
So mixed on this season
Mostly I’m just mad about the ticket situation. I have always been able to get tickets to Utah games, missing not a single game since 1992. But this year it was impossible as 95% of people renewed their season tickets, and I, as a recent grad and former member of the MUSS, would have had to pay 2000+ to even get the rights to be in line for those remaining 5%. No chance. Still job searching.
Of course I will always cheer for Utah. I hope they go undefeated and win it all. But a part of me won’t be so sad if they start off this season going 7-5 because I’ll bet 10-20% of those season ticket holders will drop off and I will be able to grab a permanent spot via season tickets with a smaller more manageable donation to the crimson club.
So go Utes. But if we lose, at least those transient seats with the since-2004/2008 bandwagon fans will be filled by better life-long fans for future years to come.
Go Utes! But if we lose. At least I’ll be able to get season tickets.
Those "bandwagon fans" are a good thing and many are permanent now.
It wasn’t until 2004 that I was accepted as a student at the U. I am not sorry that I was not raised a U fan, but I am one for life now.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Fan for life
Is not really bandwagon. I’m not saying that all the pre-2004 fans will be gone if we have 2-3 bad seasons. In fact, probably only a portion. I mostly just meant that if we do have a bad season somewhere in the next 5 years, I will make sure to jump on that opportunity and secure a renewable season ticket, pending my financial situation.
Glad to have you as a fan. I do not mean to diminish your devotion.
I mostly regret lacking the anticipation of joining the Pac-12 (I didn’t think it was going to happen) and getting season tickets last year when I would have been able to without making a donation to the Crimson Club first.
:(
I'm in the same boat
I was in the MUSS, graduated and moved away, and then moved closer last year and was a guest in the MUSS with my brothers-in-law. One graduated and the other won’t be on campus this fall, so suddenly I’m wishing I had bought season tickets last year. :(
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
Hopefully the expand the stadium sooner rather than later to open up more seats.
Even after they expand, I would be surprised if they weren’t able to sell out with the current prices.
Stadium Expansion is still a ways off
I’d be surprised if Stadium Expansion is even announced within the next 5 years.
My Predictions for this season:
Montana State: WIN Even with the new offense being tested in actual game play for the first time, we aren’t going to loose to Montana State.
USC: WIN It will be a close game, but Utah is going to go into this game with a huge chip on their shoulder because a win here will begin to prove all of the naysayers wrong about the program not being able to compete on a weekly basis.
BYU: WIN Utah will have a 2-0 record giving them the momentum to crush a BYU team with an 0-2 start.
Washington: WIN Utah will still have the need to prove the naysayers wrong. It will be a close game that Washington will want to win and ruin Utah’s first home game as a PAC-12 team, but in the end Utah will prevail.
Arizona State: WIN. OVERRATED. That is all.
Pitt: WIN Utah should have won by way more than a field goal in overtime last year, and this year they are going to crush PITT.
Cal: WIN This will be a close game because Utah will be coming into the second half of the season 6-0 and may start to become overconfident as they did last year. A close win will bring back some humility and Utah will continue their success.
Oregon State: WIN The beavers will give Utah one hell of a game, but the MUSS will encourage Utah victory and the stands will be packed to the last minute because we have all learned that when you play Oregon State that the game isn’t over until it’s over.
Arizona: WIN However, this could be a loss if Utah isn’t able to stay healthy the whole season. Given Arizona’s track record in the second half of a season, I am comfortable calling this one a win.
UCLA: HUGE WIN Norm Chow’s offense puts up 60+ points while the defense holds UCLA to less than 10. Not only does Utah win, but Rick Neuheisl gets fired the next week.
Washington State: WIN Washington State proves that you can’t overlook any team in the PAC-12, but Utah prevails.
Colorado: WIN Colorado will show up and a new rivalry will start to be born, but Utah wins.
Final Regular Season Record: 12-0
PAC-12 Championship Vs Oregon: Loss, but a very well played close game at Autzen Stadium.
Orange Bowl Vs ACC Champion: WIN Utah dominates the ACC champion while Oregon destroys LSU for the second time this season in the National Championship. There’s a new power conference in College Football and that conference is the PAC-12 baby!
FInal Record: 10-3
The Flipside
Your right I can’t see a game on our schedule we can’t win, but aside from Montana St, and of course the Rivalry game I can’t really see any other games we can’t lose as well.
That is the right assessment. Too much parity to make bold statements now. Injuries, calls and momentum will all be factors
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
You're in for a looong year.
Obviously, you’ve never played a 12-game schedule, where every team is ball-park competitive with you. What happens in such circumstances is, you lose a lot of tough games. There’s a whole lot of woulda, coulda, shoulda, if-only’s involved. Mostly involving depth, injuries, minor holes in your three deeps that become gaping wounds and nasty quirks of the schedule.
Definitely wishful thinking
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
12-0 and playing the championship game on the road?
You must be predicting Oregon to also go 12-0 (or possibly 11-1, I doubt they could be 10-2 and have a higher BCS ranking than a 12-0 team.)
I agree that there is a good chance the P12 championship game will be in Autzen stadium. 12-0 for Utah is too optimistic though. I think the odds of going perfect in the regular season are extremely low. The P12 is a strong conference top to bottom. Sure it is possible we could do it, just like it is also possible I could flip a coin 12 times and get heads.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Quick Question
How does a team go from a 12-0 Regular season record to a 10-3 final record? Especially if they only lose 1 of the 2 post season games?
I would approve of this record.
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
SOS
If Utah had played nine teams that were at the level of their three losses last season, how many games do you think the 2010 Utes win?
There definitely aren’t nine TCU/Boise/NDs on Utah’s “gift from heaven” 2011 schedule (no Oregon/Stanford, four Pac-12 road games vs no Cal/OSU, five Pac-12 road games for CU is a HUGE gift from Walnut Creek) but nine Pac-12 games will be an adjustment nonetheless.
Consider the final 2010 Sagarin Strength of Schedule Rankings
1 OSU
2 WSU
3 UW
4 UCLA
5 ASU
6 Cal
7 Arizona
8 SC
9 Furd
10 Oregon
.
.
.
50 Utah
Never realized the Pac-10 made up the entire top 10 of the 2010 Sagarin schedule rankings
You would have to think a fairly large part of that was due to the fact that all the teams played both Oregon (#3 in final Sagarin rating) and Stanford (#2). (Except Oregon and Stanford, who obviously could only play each other and not themselves, and subsequently finished last place in the Pac-10 for schedule strength.) I would expect dodging those teams this year (if Oregon and Stanford have repeat seasons) will significantly lower Utah’s SOS relative to the rest of the conference.
I agree that the Pac-12 schedule will be a huge step up in strength of schedule. If we continue looking at Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, here were the bottom teams:
Washington State: 79
Colorado: 68
UCLA: 62
All the other future Pac-12 teams were ranked 33 or better, with a huge cluster of teams between 20 and 30. Here’s the bottom of the MWC, for comparison:
New Mexico: 170
UNLV: 131
Colorado State: 130
Wyoming: 108
That’s pretty bad. Iowa State (65) and San Jose State (161) didn’t help Utah’s SOS any. The upper half of the schedule was more typical of a Pac-12 schedule:
BYU: 45
San Diego State: 34
Pitt: 32
Notre Dame: 19
Boise State: 6 (Bowl game)
TCU: 4
Based on just the 2010 season (certainly a stretch in reasoning, but I’m too lazy to dig up years of stats), the low end of Utah’s schedule will be significantly stronger (though not unmanageable), the upper end will be fairly similar or even slightly easier with no expected top-10 teams.
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
Looking at it that way . . .
7-5 seems reasonable. We beat BYU (barely) and SDSU (barely) and Pitt (barely) but lost to Notre Dame, Boise and TCU. So assuming we beat CU, WSU and Mont. State, then we have to go 4-5 the rest of the games to get to 7-5.
No question it’s going to be an adjustment. I’m excited and nervous for us. Go UTES!
Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.
by displacedute on Jun 16, 2011 11:18 AM MDT up reply actions
There aren’t nine TCU/Boise/NDs on Utah’s "gift from heaven" 2011 schedule
Actually, there are, more or less.
All in all, that’s a fairly accurate representation of what life in the Pac-12 is going to be like.
Don’t take too much comfort in dodging Oregon and Stanford. They’re good, sure, but they’re not head and shoulders above anyone else in the conference. Not anymore. Last year was last year. We’re starting fresh now.
looking at Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, here were the bottom teams:
Washington State: 79
Colorado: 68
UCLA: 62
All the other future Pac-12 teams were ranked 33 or better, with a huge cluster of teams between 20 and 30.
Please read that last sentence one more time. `Huge cluster of teams’ includes Arizona, ASU, OSU, UW, Cal, USC. All of them in or around the top-25. Some of them are going to get better. Maybe all of them will. Who knows? They’re all certainly recruiting fairly well, they all return oodles of key talent, and they’re all well coached.
Once you’re in the ballpark, the jump from #25 to #1 is not so precipitous as you might think.
Actually, you are wrong there.
Of that “Huge Cluster of teams” not a single one of them are ranked above Notre dame. Only 2 are ranked higher than Utah last year (USC, and Arizona State). And 3 others are in the top 30.
So no there aren’t nine TCU, Boise State, or Notre Dames on our schedule. In fact since we missed Oregon and Stanford, there isn’t a single one (Top 20).
There is however, a bunch of Utah’s on our schedule. Including the Utes, there are 7 teams from the Pac-12 in the stretch from 22 to 33, and Pitt also falls into that range.
Never implied Utah wasn't capable of competing.
I imply only that you are now competing among peers. Many peers. 6-7-8-9-10 peers.
It’s really and truly a nasty, brutal, 13-week dog-fight. It’s a fight that Ute fans are not used to. Yet.
No one is arguing that Utah fans aren't used to it.
I’m just arguing with you saying there are 9 TCU or Boises on the schedule. You’d be hard pressed to find a Utah fan who doesn’t believe that Utah is in for a dog fight week in and week out.
I don't understand why you all keep using three teams you got killed by as the benchmark.
… All we can discern from the rankings of these three teams is that your competitive ceiling was somewhere below them last year. Am I missing something?
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
And to be completely honest..
I wouldn’t even put Notre Dame in the same caliber as Boise and TCU.
Notre Dame was a game last year that Utah could have, and you can even argue should have won, but made some mistakes and didn’t.
That’s kind of exactly how the Utah Schedule shapes up this year. There isn’t a single guaranteed loss.
So to revise, there aren’t Any Boise States or TCU’s on our schedule this year.
Notre Dame schedules relatively tough.
Not Pac-X tough, but relatively, particularly compared to BSU and TCU.
If BSU and TCU were suddenly dropped into the Pac-X, to play a Pac-X schedule, they would be Utah.
Boise Maybe, TCU no
TCU would have had 1 or at the very most 2 losses each of the last two years. Boise I’m inclined to agree with you on.
The Pac-X is unique. It really is THE BEST football conference going, year after year.
It’s the best because it’s deep. Really deep. Always has been. And it schedules hard OOC. You guys traditionally schedule hard OOC, and so does Colorado. You’ll fit right in.
The conference is so different than any other, the national media and the rest of the college football establishment simply don’t know what to make of it. They can’t relate. They look at life in the SEC and the Big-10 and the Big-12 and say, `Well, the Pac-X must be like those guys, except not as good.’
Because they like being better. Or at least, thinking they are.
But they’re all wrong. The Pac-X is a totally different kettle of fish. It’s a cannibalistic kettle of really big killer fish that beats itself to death every year.
Last year was typical. Oregon came into the season as a marginal favorite, with maybe USC as the #1 lady-in-waiting. There was a pack of solid contenders in Arizona, Stanford, Cal and UW, and another pack of maybe-contenders in ASU, OSU and UCLA. And then there was Wazzu.
Poor Wazzu…
Well, just look at that for a moment. Nine of the ten teams could make a fairly solid preseason argument that they were in the hunt. If they caught a few breaks, found a few extra NFL-type players on the depth chart, got on a bit of a roll, who knows?
And here’s the really amazing thing. All nine of them were entirely correct to assume so.
UCLA wasn’t a bad football team. They beat Houston 31-13 at home, and went into Austin and smoked the Longhorns 34-12. You can’t suck and do that.
OSU wasn’t a bad football team. They played TCU in Texas and BSU in Boise, and played them both considerably tougher that Utah did. (Losing 30-21 to TCU and 37-24 to BSU). You can’t suck and do that.
ASU wasn’t a bad football team. They went into Madison and played better and tougher than the eventual 11-1 Badgers. They lost the game 20-19, but in order to lose, they had to blow 2 gimme field goals and 3 extra points. You can’t suck and do that. (Well, maybe your kicker sucks.)
And these, my new Ute friends, turned out to be the bottom feeders of the 2010 season, along with Wazzu, of course.
They are bottom feeders in relative terms only, good football teams playing in and consumed by a great and DEEP conference.
Wazzu did beat OSU
And they managed to scare Oregon (knocked out two starters), Stanford (kept it close until early-4th quarter), Arizona (knocked out QB), Washington (was tied late in 4th quarter), and Cal (was tied with five minutes left in 4th quarter).
Exactly- and artfully stated, to boot
The Pac-X is a totally different kettle of fish. It’s a cannibalistic kettle of really big killer fish that beats itself to death every year.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
@chrislandon
Perspective.
Oregon is the only team to go undefeated in a 9-game Pac-10 schedule, meaning games against all teams. They did it last year. Other teams ran through an 8-game schedule, but rarely. What I’m saying is there are really no patsies. Trivialize Wazzu at your own peril. Assume a home win against UCLA and prepare to be snakebitten. Seeing a “0” at the end of your W/L record just got much harder, the stakes higher, the rewards much larger.
Fuck you, Juju. We'll do it ourselves.
by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Jun 17, 2011 7:53 PM MDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
- Urban Meyer
"Wow. Wow. Wow."
- Daryl Johnston after Utah took a 21-0 lead on Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl
Related FanPosts on Block U
Related FanShots on Block U
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
