Ted Miller in a recent column in explaining why he is cooling on the PAC-12. "..The Pac-12, simply, has obvious issues: 1. The 2015 season began with hype but ended with disappointment; 2. The Big Ten and SEC are eclipsing the Pac-12 financially and there doesn't seem to be an easy remedy; 3. The Pac-12 is slipping rather than rising in recruiting; 4. Recent coaching hires -- head and assistant -- haven't possessed much "Wow" factor."
I believe his point 2 to be true, the PAC12 is not doing as well financially. partly due to viewer availability and absence of a 24/7 national PR channel in ESPN. . But let's look at the other issues."PAC2 is disappointing. ...and The PAC12 is slipping in recruiting". The PAC12 is balanced so that 10 of its 12 teams qualified for a bowl. That's 83%-the most ever. And of those 10 bowl games they won six, led another big over TCU, before their QB went down (Oregon) and Stanford wiped out the 2nd top team in the Big 10 and did so convincingly such that a win over Alabama and Clemson was believable. The PAC12 faced 8 bowl teams with 8-12 wins this bowl season. Only 2 of their games were against nearly .500 teams. Meanwhile the SEC went 8-2 and faced 6 of those teams with 8-13 wins, 4 nearly at .500.
As to balanced divisions, despite only playing 8 conference games versus 9 for the PAC12 here's how it broke down ; PAC-12 had 50% of their teams above .500, 25% near 500 (4-5) and 25% scraping bottom (3 wins or less). The SEC had 50% of their teams above .500, 14% at 500 and 36% scraping bottom (2 wins or less). The Big 10 was worse and had 43% of their teams above .500, 7% at 500 (4-4) and 50% scraping bottom (3 wins or less).
As to coaches the coaches Kirby Smart of UGA and Doug Odom at Missouri are unknown,. Florida's, Jim McElwain (7-41) ended badly in the bowl game. Arkansas Bielma, and Kentucky's Mark Stooops are shaky. TAMUs Kevin Sumlin has lost his glitter, And Les Miles was on his way out, but got a reprieve. I can't agree that they are a conference of superior coaches beyond the top 4.
As to recruiting we know that's an iffy measure that changes from year to year geographically depending on High School talent. This year was decidedly down for the west coast. Next year is rated one of the best. So good PAC12 teams like USC get 9 players out of state and Stanford gets 22 out of state. Miller needs to do more research.
I believe his point 2 to be true, the PAC12 is not doing as well financially. partly due to viewer availability and absence of a 24/7 national PR channel in ESPN. . But let's look at the other issues."PAC2 is disappointing. ...and The PAC12 is slipping in recruiting". The PAC12 is balanced so that 10 of its 12 teams qualified for a bowl. That's 83%-the most ever. And of those 10 bowl games they won six, led another big over TCU, before their QB went down (Oregon) and Stanford wiped out the 2nd top team in the Big 10 and did so convincingly such that a win over Alabama and Clemson was believable. The PAC12 faced 8 bowl teams with 8-12 wins this bowl season. Only 2 of their games were against nearly .500 teams. Meanwhile the SEC went 8-2 and faced 6 of those teams with 8-13 wins, 4 nearly at .500.
As to balanced divisions, despite only playing 8 conference games versus 9 for the PAC12 here's how it broke down ; PAC-12 had 50% of their teams above .500, 25% near 500 (4-5) and 25% scraping bottom (3 wins or less). The SEC had 50% of their teams above .500, 14% at 500 and 36% scraping bottom (2 wins or less). The Big 10 was worse and had 43% of their teams above .500, 7% at 500 (4-4) and 50% scraping bottom (3 wins or less).
As to coaches the coaches Kirby Smart of UGA and Doug Odom at Missouri are unknown,. Florida's, Jim McElwain (7-41) ended badly in the bowl game. Arkansas Bielma, and Kentucky's Mark Stooops are shaky. TAMUs Kevin Sumlin has lost his glitter, And Les Miles was on his way out, but got a reprieve. I can't agree that they are a conference of superior coaches beyond the top 4.
As to recruiting we know that's an iffy measure that changes from year to year geographically depending on High School talent. This year was decidedly down for the west coast. Next year is rated one of the best. So good PAC12 teams like USC get 9 players out of state and Stanford gets 22 out of state. Miller needs to do more research.
