02-04-2022, 04:40 PM
Too bad we can't do a poll of all Pac-12 football fans to see who "wins" the competition for most miserable fan base.
Stanford -- As everyone reading this knows, the Cardinal has suffered through two last-place Pac-12 North finishes in the last three years and a current 7-game losing streak, all after a period of sustained success. And there's no tangible evidence that next year will be an improvement.
Colorado -- Since joining the conference in 2011, the Buffs have gone 2-7 (t5 in the South), 1-8 (last), 1-8 (last), 0-9 (duh), 1-8 (last), 8-1 (1st!), 2-7 (last), 2-7 (last), 3-6 (5th), 3-1 (2nd), 3-6 (t4). Oh, and Colorado has no incoming 4- or 5-stars in this year's recruiting class and lost 22 (!) players to the transfer portal this year.
Arizona State -- Finished tied for second in the South in 2021, but the Sun Devils have lost 5-and-counting assistant coaches due to what are probably level 1 recruiting infractions, yet the head coach and his good friend/agent AD are still employed as of this post. Oh, and their 2022 recruiting class pulled in all of 9 signees (1 4-star) and was ranked dead last in the conference. And even adding in the 9 transfers, ASU's recruiting class ranks #67 in the nation, which is hard to do if you are a Power 5 program.
Cal -- Lots of stats to throw about, but consider this: Cal last had a winning conference record in... 2009, with Jeff Tedford as head coach and Pete Alamar as special teams coach. Alamar was fired by Tedford following that season.
Interestingly, I can find reasons for at least some optimism at the other conference schools, either because they had a reasonable amount of success on the field last year or they have new coaches and a new attitude. And then there's Arizona, who actually won a conference game in 2021 and had either #1 or #2 recruiting class this year.
Stanford -- As everyone reading this knows, the Cardinal has suffered through two last-place Pac-12 North finishes in the last three years and a current 7-game losing streak, all after a period of sustained success. And there's no tangible evidence that next year will be an improvement.
Colorado -- Since joining the conference in 2011, the Buffs have gone 2-7 (t5 in the South), 1-8 (last), 1-8 (last), 0-9 (duh), 1-8 (last), 8-1 (1st!), 2-7 (last), 2-7 (last), 3-6 (5th), 3-1 (2nd), 3-6 (t4). Oh, and Colorado has no incoming 4- or 5-stars in this year's recruiting class and lost 22 (!) players to the transfer portal this year.
Arizona State -- Finished tied for second in the South in 2021, but the Sun Devils have lost 5-and-counting assistant coaches due to what are probably level 1 recruiting infractions, yet the head coach and his good friend/agent AD are still employed as of this post. Oh, and their 2022 recruiting class pulled in all of 9 signees (1 4-star) and was ranked dead last in the conference. And even adding in the 9 transfers, ASU's recruiting class ranks #67 in the nation, which is hard to do if you are a Power 5 program.
Cal -- Lots of stats to throw about, but consider this: Cal last had a winning conference record in... 2009, with Jeff Tedford as head coach and Pete Alamar as special teams coach. Alamar was fired by Tedford following that season.
Interestingly, I can find reasons for at least some optimism at the other conference schools, either because they had a reasonable amount of success on the field last year or they have new coaches and a new attitude. And then there's Arizona, who actually won a conference game in 2021 and had either #1 or #2 recruiting class this year.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)