Pac 12 2023- The final countdown

[Sbbruin 21734]

The last hurrah for a once great conference that has been dying a slow death for years.  Ironically, in what will be the final season before the death blow, it is also the deepest and most competitive it has been in years.  The top 5-6 teams are very good.  4 to 6 of the better QB's in the country including the returning Heisman winner.  Middle of the pack teams like U of A and CU will be intriguing.  And then, come season's end...

This thread is to track P12 games this season.  SC looked good on O, pedestrian on D in their first outing, as most suspected.  Florida at Utah Thursday should be a lot of fun.  CU travels to Ft. Worth.  A pesky Chanticleer team travels to the Rose Bowl.  Boise St goes to Seattle.  And we're off.  My predicted order of finish:

1- Oregon

2- SC

3- UW

4- Utah

5- UCLA

6- OSU

7- UofA

8- Wazzu

9- CU

10- ASU

11- Cal

12- Stanford

Let the final conference dance begin.  RIP, Pac, you'll be missed.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Sbbruin

[Upgrayedd 5805]

2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

The last hurrah for a once great conference that has been dying a slow death for years.  Ironically, in what will be the final season before the death blow

Looking forward to one last regular season tailgate at the Rose Bowl and looking forward to being able to say forever that AU was never the PAC representative in the Rose Bowl Game.

Looking forward to outperforming SB’s predicted 10th place finish and going to a bowl game (hold on - wait, JFC).

Looking back on many great memories watching PAC-8, 10, and 12 games.

[thunderlounge 7758]

[Bull Horn 118]

[Longboard Horn 40142]

 

[JBJ 3649]

PAC somehow got outmanuevered by Yormach.

It's funny to think that 10 years ago PAC was thought to be the future conference of the remaining relevant B12 schools.  Somewhere between Baylor being too Christian, LHN being too profitable, and the backdooring with Colorado; PAC decided suicide was the better option.

[Texzilla58 4717]

I lived in the Bay Area and Portland from 96 to 02. I was amazed at the apathy of the locals for college sports; I think that’s the primary difference with fans in the south and midwest. Whereas a Texas, Alabama, or Oklahoma has jillions of fans that went to different colleges or no college at all, pac schools have a hard time getting alums to give a shit. I went to games at Cal, Stanford, SC, Oregon, OSU, and UW. About like going to a directional school game. They got what they brought on themselves.

[Guest]

Conference realignment sucks.

Going to be great watching UCLA at Rutgers with a noon kick that's 9 a.m. in California.

[Left Coast 863]

Thank god the Pac 12 Network is dead after this year. The PAC’s downfall is directly related to the idiotic decision to go it alone on the cable network. 
 

Hoping UCLA surprises me and finishes higher than “meh” but not optimistic without DTR.

[Longboard Horn 40142]

36 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

I lived in the Bay Area and Portland from 96 to 02. I was amazed at the apathy of the locals for college sports; I think that’s the primary difference with fans in the south and midwest. Whereas a Texas, Alabama, or Oklahoma has jillions of fans that went to different colleges or no college at all, pac schools have a hard time getting alums to give a shit. I went to games at Cal, Stanford, SC, Oregon, OSU, and UW. About like going to a directional school game. They got what they brought on themselves.

Good friend of mine's mother grew up in the Bay Area. Die hard 49ers fan and likes the Cal Golden Bears, but doesn't follow them that much ever since she moved to Texas. Hell, she watches Texas games way more than Cal or even Stanford. She told me that the west coast just like the northeast is mainly pro fans and you don't have as many people that plan their Saturdays around watching college ball. 

[Longboard Horn 40142]

28 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Conference realignment sucks.

Going to be great watching UCLA at Rutgers with a noon kick that's 9 a.m. in California.

Or Penn State at USC with a 7PT kick time. Big Ten after dark?

[skilesare 71]

[Guest]

Just now, Longboard Horn said:

Or Penn State at USC with a 7PT kick time. Big Ten after dark?

So 11 p.m. Eastern kick off... a four hour game wrapping up at 3 a.m. Did I mention that conference realignment is stupid?

[Longboard Horn 40142]

Just now, FirstTimeCaller said:

So 11 p.m. Eastern kick off... a four hour game wrapping up at 3 a.m. Did I mention that conference realignment is stupid?

It's like we're living in a virtual reality wear the video game is real life. The NCAA game allows you to make the most random conferences. 

[Left Coast 863]

Why would the networks (who paid a kajillion dollars for the broadcast rights) schedule a game at 10p Eastern  that would reduce the audience size that much?
 

I get that the geography is stupid, but let’s get serious. 10p Eastern or 9a Pacific kickoffs (for Eastern/Pacific teams) won’t be the norm.

[Evil Bill Obrien 3190]

Very ironic that this might be one of the better years for the PAC in terms of competitiveness in recent memory....all for the league to get Thanos'd and vanish next season. 

Have a friend I may be joining bright and early Saturday to ring in the Prime era at Colorado and laugh at them get their faces kicked in by TCU, but other than that looks like lots of good ball to be played this weekend.

[closetojumping 62240]

In order of finish:

1) UW

2) USC

3) Oregon

4) Oregon State

5) Utah

6) UCLA

7) Zona

8 ) Wazzou

9) ASU

10) Cal

11) CU

12) Stanford

I think UCLA could surprise everyone if the QB is worth a shit. I think UW is the most complete team. USC's defense is pure asshole, but the offense is the tits.

[Sbbruin 21734]

3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

 

I think UCLA could surprise everyone if the QB is worth a shit. I think UW is the most complete team. USC's defense is pure asshole, but the offense is the tits.

Former UW 4star Ethan Garbers to get the start Saturday, but Chip has said both Dante Moore and Colin Schlee will get reps.  What's the old saying?  If you have 2 (or 3) QB's, you have none?  Garbers is a good game manager, but I'd start Moore now to get him reps.  

[mdmost 42865]

I'm going to miss the Pac 12 once it's gone. It's always great to have some late night football to tune into. I guess we'll still get that to some degree but it will be old Pac 12 teams playing Big 12 and Big 10 teams. I hate that CFB has to change sometimes. I think Washington could make a decent run this year. USC will lose a game it shouldn't due to their defense. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by mdmost

[CashMcCoy 3199]

Damn. Could be a real slapfight between Utah’s backup and Graham Mertz. Maybe JQJ will put the team on his back.

[cafe society 2840]

Having spent several years on the west coast, I very much wanted UT to the PAC to happen, and was disappointed when that was scuttled.  After the Horns, I always liked UW and UCLA.  
UW used to have a fun game day atmosphere, and tailgating on the water is hard to beat.

Edited August 31, 2023 by cafe society

[mdleast 8262]

I was also a proponent of us going out west and can’t help but wonder what the conference would like and what its perception would be had that realignment happened back then.

[cafe society 2840]

There would be a third behemoth among conferences, the PAC, had UT headed west.   

[Sbbruin 21734]

43 minutes ago, cafe society said:

There would be a third behemoth among conferences, the PAC, had UT headed west.   

So frustrating to think about.

[ousux 5587]

Yep, if the Pac has taken UT and bloU (plus whatever coattail riders the Texas/Chokelahoma lege insisted on) none of this would be happening...and the Pac would eventually become one of the 3 super conferences that inevitably happen.

They chose the Sepuku option instead, RIP.

[Sbbruin 21734]

Stanford at the Rainbows.  Stanford sucks, but I do think Troy Taylor is a good coach.

[Sbbruin 21734]

We play at the Bows next year

[ImissWallyPryor 9045]

On 8/30/2023 at 8:26 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

So 11 p.m. Eastern kick off... a four hour game wrapping up at 3 a.m. Did I mention that conference realignment is stupid?

7 Pacific = 10 Eastern, but to your point, it would be stupid to schedule any West Coast vs Eastern time zone teams any later than midafternoon. It will still happen, just because.

On the flip side, no one on the Weet Coast wants an 11a Eastern/8a Pacific kickoff, so the West Coast games will be jammed into two time slots, “noon” and mid-afternoon, local time, while the Eastern games will be midafternoon or early evening. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by ImissWallyPryor

[TrashMaster G 17388]

RIP PAC

Cause of death: Hubris and arrogance 

[WBT 20421]

More like disinterest 

[Sbbruin 21734]

27 minutes ago, WBT said:

More like disinterest 

It’s football,:so…

[Texzilla58 4717]

I was also a proponent of us going out west and can’t help but wonder what the conference would like and what its perception would be had that realignment happened back then.

The situation would be exactly where Texas is now, because it’s the right place to be. Fans would not have liked trying to get to places like Corvallis, the lack of natural rivals, dealing with disinterested college presidents, cultural differences, and uninspired small fan bases. The big 12 was a challenge for the SWC teams to fit into and that was with a similar DNA base. It’s Big10ism that thinks somehow big time athletics is related to academics; as we’ve always know they are exclusive concepts.

At some point Texas would have moved on and likely be in the SEC as money made it’s dominance evident. The SEC as the premier league, and whatever permutation the others ended up with, pretty much what we have now. I think the other leagues will eventually rue taking these west coast teams, especially the non LA teams. And those schools won’t like it either.

[Bullneck 18987]

The changes in college football in my lifetime have been mind blowing, and not in a good way.  "Stanford should be in the ACC" sounds like something a drunk freshman would say.

It isn't "progress."  It's late stage capitalism applied to sports where most of the labor is free.  

[mdleast 8262]

The situation would be exactly where Texas is now, because it’s the right place to be. Fans would not have liked trying to get to places like Corvallis, the lack of natural rivals, dealing with disinterested college presidents, cultural differences, and uninspired small fan bases. The big 12 was a challenge for the SWC teams to fit into and that was with a similar DNA base. It’s Big10ism that thinks somehow big time athletics is related to academics; as we’ve always know they are exclusive concepts.

At some point Texas would have moved on and likely be in the SEC as money made it’s dominance evident. The SEC as the premier league, and whatever permutation the others ended up with, pretty much what we have now. I think the other leagues will eventually rue taking these west coast teams, especially the non LA teams. And those schools won’t like it either.

I have no illusions that the main reasons we moved to the SEC-SEC-SEC were (1) money and then (2) to be in biggest of the big boy conferences as realignment to super-conferences was going to happen (something Dodds was discussing back during the LHN vs moving out west discussions). I think all other favors like ease of travel, “culture” and the like were FAR less weighted in proportion.

In that light, it’s hard to say what would be the result now because I believe (1) the Pac would certainly have a different TV deal had we and others joined (thus more $$$) and (2) likewise, it’s unknown what the PAC’s perception of a conference would be in this alternate timeline (though I’m sure much better than it was over the last decade)

[Sbbruin 21734]

Cal thumping North Texas.  Lotta people were calling NT to win straight up.  

[redswingline 1057]

On 8/30/2023 at 8:45 AM, Texzilla58 said:

I lived in the Bay Area and Portland from 96 to 02. I was amazed at the apathy of the locals for college sports;

The Bay Area is all about pro sports. You have the 49ers, Giants, Warriors and to a lesser extent the Raiders when they weren't in LA.

There's some interest in the colleges, but the interest isn't there when compared to BFE college towns where CFB is the only game in town and the whole work week is spent planning the tailgate and how to fuck a 2nd cousin.

 

[Sbbruin 21734]

Unfortunately can’t be there in person (health issues sidelined me), but fired the fuck up for UCLA football.  We need to roll the Chanticleers.  The pac has represented well.  We need to do the same.

W Utah
W Stanford
W Colorado
W Oregon 
W Washington
W California
W USC
W Wazzu
Let’s go!

[Sbbruin 21734]

Boom!

[Sbbruin 21734]

Our DBs were the concern.  Looks like it’s well placed

[Sbbruin 21734]

Is no one else watching this game.

[mdleast 8262]

Unfortunately can’t be there in person (health issues sidelined me), but fired the fuck up for UCLA football.  We need to roll the Chanticleers.  The pac has represented well.  We need to do the same.
W Utah
W Stanford
W Colorado
W Oregon 
W Washington
W California
W USC
W Wazzu
Let’s go!

[Sbbruin 21734]

5 minutes ago, mdleast said:

 

 

And I think the Buffs scored 49

[Gucci_Suit 2610]

PAC12 is damn good this year. 

[Guadaloopy 10923]

On 8/30/2023 at 10:17 AM, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Very ironic that this might be one of the better years for the PAC in terms of competitiveness in recent memory....all for the league to get Thanos'd and vanish next season. 

Have a friend I may be joining bright and early Saturday to ring in the Prime era at Colorado and laugh at them get their faces kicked in by TCU, but other than that looks like lots of good ball to be played this weekend.

[0xdeadbeef 1626]

12 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

PAC12 is damn good this year. 

 

It's a little early to tell. 

So far they've played and beaten two Power-5 teams.  That's not many data points yet.   The TCU win was nice, but Florida was an unranked team with 7 losses last year, but at least they are an SEC team, so that is something.    They're supposed to beat teams like Portland State, San Jose State, Southern Utah, North Texas, Colorado State, Northern Arizona and Nevada.  Even Boise State  is supposed to be a W.

 

Next week the PAC-12 plays seven Power-5 teams:

Baylor, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Oklahoma State

 Next week will tell us more.

 

[Upgrayedd 5805]

1 minute ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

It's a little early to tell. 

So far they've played and beaten two Power-5 teams.  That's not many data points yet.   The TCU win was nice, but Florida was an unranked team with 7 losses last year, but at least they are an SEC team, so that is something.    They're supposed to beat teams like Portland State, San Jose State, Southern Utah, North Texas, Colorado State, Northern Arizona and Nevada.  Even Boise State  is supposed to be a W.

 

Next week the PAC-12 plays seven Power-5 teams:

Baylor, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Oklahoma State

 Next week will tell us more.

 

Devils gonna get smoked.  So there’s that.

[Sbbruin 21734]

6 minutes ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

It's a little early to tell. 

So far they've played and beaten two Power-5 teams.  That's not many data points yet.   The TCU win was nice, but Florida was an unranked team with 7 losses last year, but at least they are an SEC team, so that is something.    They're supposed to beat teams like Portland State, San Jose State, Southern Utah, North Texas, Colorado State, Northern Arizona and Nevada.  Even Boise State  is supposed to be a W.

 

Next week the PAC-12 plays seven Power-5 teams:

Baylor, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Oklahoma State

 Next week will tell us more.

 

I Think: this is the best, deepest this conference has beeen in 20 years.  This is the deepest team we’ve had in years and we won’t sniff a conference title.

[Sbbruin 21734]

What the ever loving fuck?

[Sbbruin 21734]

Fuck

[0xdeadbeef 1626]

On one hand, the Chanticleers have only lost 7 games total in the last three years, so they're a really good team, on the other hand, they play in the F-ing Sun Belt.