[lex24]

There was a time not so long ago – when both Stanford and Oregon were at their peak where the Pac 12 was probably the second best football conference in the country. I don’t think there’s much doubt that right now it’s the worst of the power five conferences.  And frankly it hasn’t been very good for several years now. What happened?

[lex24]

There was a time not so long ago – when both Stanford and Oregon were at their peak where the Pac 12 was probably the second best football conference in the country. I don’t think there’s much doubt that right now it’s the worst of the power five conferences.  And frankly it hasn’t been very good for several years now. What happened?

[BostonCard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0

Other conference have more of it.

BC

[BostonCard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0

Other conference have more of it.

BC

[OutsiderFan]

Consider this. The Pac-12 has the most parity of any conference in college football. Adding Utah and Colorado actually made the conference even more competitive.  Look at the coaches the conference has had and what they have done.  And consider even a program like Cal has been able to beat Oregon, Washington, and USC over the last two seasons.  ASU has improved greatly under Herm Edwards.  Utah has established itself with Wittingham.  Shaw may be struggling, but he still has three conference titles and two Rose Bowl wins. Chip Kelly is an accomplished coach.  WSU was a contending team with Leach.  Now Oregon State isn't a joke either.  Only Oregon State, Cal, and Washington State haven't played in the Pac-12 championship game in the last 10 years.

We know the SEC and ACC playing 8 conference games (in normal seasons) has ensured it will have teams with better records across the board than the Pac-12.  The Big Ten has also benefitted from 8 conference games, though starting in 2021 they will be going to 9, joining the Pac-12 and Big-12. This will leave only the ACC and SEC playing just 8 conference games. The Pac-12 teams by definition are going to suffer more losses than SEC and ACC teams, and be judged as more inferior as a result.

I don't think the Pac-12 has sunk as a conference as much as there is too much parity preventing 1-2, even 4 programs from dominating it consistently anymore. The talent is much more evenly distributed and the level of coaching has been consistently good in the Pac-12 compared to its peers. 

All that said, if you look at where most of the best football players are coming from now, they are mostly being developed in the the SEC footprint. The percentage of top prospects on the West Coast to the overall population of top football prospects is not nearly as large now as it was a couple decades ago. Georgia in particular has really increased the number of prospects it produces as a percentage of the overall population.

People gripe about Larry Scott, and rightfully so, but I don't see a different Pac-12 commissioner overcoming the structural challenges the Pac-12 faces that have made the parity in the conference so great, and prevented it from having a consistently dominant program over the last decade.

[OutsiderFan]

Consider this. The Pac-12 has the most parity of any conference in college football. Adding Utah and Colorado actually made the conference even more competitive.  Look at the coaches the conference has had and what they have done.  And consider even a program like Cal has been able to beat Oregon, Washington, and USC over the last two seasons.  ASU has improved greatly under Herm Edwards.  Utah has established itself with Wittingham.  Shaw may be struggling, but he still has three conference titles and two Rose Bowl wins. Chip Kelly is an accomplished coach.  WSU was a contending team with Leach.  Now Oregon State isn't a joke either.  Only Oregon State, Cal, and Washington State haven't played in the Pac-12 championship game in the last 10 years.

We know the SEC and ACC playing 8 conference games (in normal seasons) has ensured it will have teams with better records across the board than the Pac-12.  The Big Ten has also benefitted from 8 conference games, though starting in 2021 they will be going to 9, joining the Pac-12 and Big-12. This will leave only the ACC and SEC playing just 8 conference games. The Pac-12 teams by definition are going to suffer more losses than SEC and ACC teams, and be judged as more inferior as a result.

I don't think the Pac-12 has sunk as a conference as much as there is too much parity preventing 1-2, even 4 programs from dominating it consistently anymore. The talent is much more evenly distributed and the level of coaching has been consistently good in the Pac-12 compared to its peers. 

All that said, if you look at where most of the best football players are coming from now, they are mostly being developed in the the SEC footprint. The percentage of top prospects on the West Coast to the overall population of top football prospects is not nearly as large now as it was a couple decades ago. Georgia in particular has really increased the number of prospects it produces as a percentage of the overall population.

People gripe about Larry Scott, and rightfully so, but I don't see a different Pac-12 commissioner overcoming the structural challenges the Pac-12 faces that have made the parity in the conference so great, and prevented it from having a consistently dominant program over the last decade.

[CardinalSagehen]

When last we saw conferences competing against each other on the field of play, the Pac-12 was 4-3 in the 2019 bowl season, including a Rose Bowl win. That compares to 4-6 for the Big Ten, 4-6 for the ACC, and a pathetic 1-5 for the Big 12. 

The final Sagarin rankings by conference for 2019 showed the Pac 12 well above the ACC and neck-and-neck with the Big Ten.
https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa...onference/

I'm not saying the conference is great, and I certainly don't think it's well managed.  But I think the story is partly an overweighting of 2018 (as opposed to 2019) and ought to be mostly about the lack of dominant, standout teams, as others have suggested.

[CardinalSagehen]

When last we saw conferences competing against each other on the field of play, the Pac-12 was 4-3 in the 2019 bowl season, including a Rose Bowl win. That compares to 4-6 for the Big Ten, 4-6 for the ACC, and a pathetic 1-5 for the Big 12. 

The final Sagarin rankings by conference for 2019 showed the Pac 12 well above the ACC and neck-and-neck with the Big Ten.
https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sa...onference/

I'm not saying the conference is great, and I certainly don't think it's well managed.  But I think the story is partly an overweighting of 2018 (as opposed to 2019) and ought to be mostly about the lack of dominant, standout teams, as others have suggested.