For this week’s version of “thoughts,” we’re going with questions, because right now there are more questions than there are answers. That’s usually how college football rolls until the end of the season and it use to be, beyond.
There may be no more curious conference in the land, though, than the Pac-12
- Is USC the next major power to go into the dark ages?
Over the last 20 or so years, no program has been oblivious with a blip, sometimes a deep one, in success. It usually coincides with the departure of either a historically successful coach that saw slippage or a departure of a currently very successful coach. Look up just about any power program, and you’ll see it’s been there for varying periods of time. Is USC next? Replacing Pete Carroll was bound to be tricky, but as you’ll see with other programs suffering this fate, it came down to who was the second coach hired that determined the long-term fate of how long the slump lasted. USC is on its third, and it’s starting off underwhelming at best in spite of the massive talent on the roster. That’s ominous. And that’s without the reports of Clay Helton being punched by a player, which would seem easy to prove the next time you go about seeing him if the punch was solid enough. So this is really, really bad for USC. Unless you’re from the rest of the conference, of course.
- Just how good can Colorado be?
If you just watched scrolling scores of their game against Michigan, you’d probably just have thought it was your standard, “underdog team gets not taken seriously, gets up by a bunch early, then water finds its level.” Not so much. Before the third quarter injury to Sefo Liufau, it was CU down by only 3 getting the ball back after a Michigan touchdown. All of that after some hideous special teams, particularly on the punt unit. Liufau being uncertain for this week’s game is a huge blow, but this is a darn good football team when he’s in, which trends nicely for the future.
- Is Cal turning the corner as a program, too?
Important to note after the lunacy of the ending of the Cal-Texas game, the Bears actually played good defense in that second half, giving up only 10 points after a massive shootout in the first. Texas was bound to have some up and down times getting back to where they want to get back to, and their defense is too often rubbish-like, but that’s a big win for a Cal program who has been down as low as you can be over the last several years. This is starting to look like the old Pac-12, when the entire conference top to bottom at least has strong teams. Depth, y’all.
4. Is this the week we find out something about Washington … or just more about Arizona?
So Washington is quietly 3-0 and creeping around people’s top 10’s like a door to door cable salesman canvassing a neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon. But much like the salesman, they’ve done little to get there other than get dropped off with a bunch of 20-somethings that haven’t figured out that’s miserable work. A road test in the Pac-12 should do for some steely resolve, but Arizona continues to look morbidly subpar by their standards. Yes, they beat Hawaii this past week, but it’s the smallest margin Hawaii has lost by, and it came a week after digging out of a 21-3 hole to Grambling. The search for what Washington is or is not may last another week.
5. Because of the Big 12, is the Pac-12 champ basically a shoe-in for a playoff spot?
Good question. Glad you asked, blogger.
The Pac was the one conference left out last season, and while the waters have dried on would-be title contenders, Washington and Stanford remain unbeaten and certainly others could make a push. The Big 12 looks dead in the water to this point. Baylor’s played no one (SURPRISE!) yet. Their prohibitive favorite has lost twice. Texas lost to Cal. Oklahoma State lost to Central Michigan. I mean, maybe West Virginia is really, really good and we don’t know yet? Odds are better that the Pac-12 contenders should be looking at the conference title as their auto bid to the playoff, now. Game on.
