I truly hope y'all give it some thought instead of the usual "shoot from the hip" evaluations and attitudes that only echo a square point of view or other generic opinion that reveal nothing that is happening under the surface out west. Since the changing of the guard at the conference level, all of the new TV money that's quite suddenly appeared in football budgets has already had an effect on public opinion, especially since the days of USC and the 9 dwarfs during the middle of the last decade. 10 years after the fact, one can hardly identify the conference or compare it to what it once was in the not-too-distant past.
Probably the most obvious change can be seen in the quality and cost of head coaching salaries. Bringing on Rich Rodriguez, Jim Mora, Mike Leach and Todd Graham was a strong statement to that effect. Though Leach's Cougars are still nothing to cry over, he did manage to take them bowling in just his second season running of that once-upon-a-time laughing stock of CFB. The emergence of Oregon and Stanford as two legitimate national title contenders to replace USC at the head of the class comes as a surprise to only a very few. But to see ASU and UCLA hot on their heels with USC only a year away from regaining their recruiting advantages basically puts CFB in the east on notice. Nobody has a lock on anything so be aware of being over ambitious if anyone thinks that they can go west and make their schedule pay off with easy wins against any of the best or even 2nd tier Pac-12 opponents. Even the cellar dwellers of a year ago are no easy win anymore.
I didn't start this tread with the intention of ruining anyone's day with a bunch of hype and drivel so whatever I've written up to now that might be looked upon as that will end here. I have a few observations and several legitimate concerns about where some teams are coming from and even more about where some are going in the near future that might raise some eyebrows because you could be reminded of a team close to your heart in another part of the country. Getting the fine details out into the open should help one to predict how a team might play in a given situation. That's handicapping at its finest if you'd ask me what this is all about. Predicting future trends based upon past and present tendencies that thus far have managed to fly under everyone's radar is gold to us that handicap games. It is probably my best angle of all when I am making my weekly decisions. This is why it is so important to keep abreast of every team you can -- in an honest and well informed way of course.
In the bigger picture, I have noticed a few trending tendencies that unfortunately must cut two ways if they are to count for much. Specifically in today's rant what I am bitching about is defense in the Pac-12. If anyone has noticed, over the past couple of seasons a few teams on the west coast have come up quite a ways in that department, regardless of how far ahead on the learning curve its offenses have been playing in past seasons. Teams such as Stanford and ASU have seemingly come out of nowhere to lead the nation in important defensive statistics. Even Oregon played itself up into the top 15 in several key areas on defense.
Numerous Pac-12 teams have landed or are expected to land at least one defensive player in the first round of the NFL draft. For example, Oregon State who's defense has been uncharacteristically awful vs the run lately sends DE Scott Critchen off to the NFL, likely a 1st round pick as a sophomore in the 2013 season. His loss will obviously be felt. UCLA loses its all-American linebacker Anthony Barr who could go as high as #3 in the first round. Stanford loses 2 linebackers, Trent Murphy and Shane Skove, at least one of them expected to be drafted in the first round. Then there's ASU's Will Sutton, everyone's all-American DT sure to be a 1st round pick. Among the teams hit the hardest by declaring early for the draft was USC losing 5 players including Dione Bailey (S-LB) and George Uko (DT) both of whom will be difficult to replace. The Trojans cannot exceed their 15 player scholly limit no matter who leaves. Last year the big names were still there, notably Utah losing (DL) Star Lotulelei, the 14th overall pick and Oregon losing its own linebacker/DE phenom Dion Jordan as the NFL's #3 pick.
However things have been up to now, the trend I don't like and the point of this first post is represented by 25 Pac-12 players who have declared early for the NFL draft. Most of the 25 happen to be defensemen though there are the Marquis Lees etc that hurt teams just as hard. My question to you is can you name a few out your way that have declared early and you wish they hadn't or you wish they would have stayed just one year longer to ease up on the issue? With all of the sophomores declaring these days, CFB is looking more and more like the minor leagues to the NFL. It's easy to say that CFB's loss is the NFL's gain but it just doesn't sit right with me -- especially when I see the Pac-12 at long last developing its defenses but they just go "poof" in a hot minute with so many players declaring early.
Probably the most obvious change can be seen in the quality and cost of head coaching salaries. Bringing on Rich Rodriguez, Jim Mora, Mike Leach and Todd Graham was a strong statement to that effect. Though Leach's Cougars are still nothing to cry over, he did manage to take them bowling in just his second season running of that once-upon-a-time laughing stock of CFB. The emergence of Oregon and Stanford as two legitimate national title contenders to replace USC at the head of the class comes as a surprise to only a very few. But to see ASU and UCLA hot on their heels with USC only a year away from regaining their recruiting advantages basically puts CFB in the east on notice. Nobody has a lock on anything so be aware of being over ambitious if anyone thinks that they can go west and make their schedule pay off with easy wins against any of the best or even 2nd tier Pac-12 opponents. Even the cellar dwellers of a year ago are no easy win anymore.
I didn't start this tread with the intention of ruining anyone's day with a bunch of hype and drivel so whatever I've written up to now that might be looked upon as that will end here. I have a few observations and several legitimate concerns about where some teams are coming from and even more about where some are going in the near future that might raise some eyebrows because you could be reminded of a team close to your heart in another part of the country. Getting the fine details out into the open should help one to predict how a team might play in a given situation. That's handicapping at its finest if you'd ask me what this is all about. Predicting future trends based upon past and present tendencies that thus far have managed to fly under everyone's radar is gold to us that handicap games. It is probably my best angle of all when I am making my weekly decisions. This is why it is so important to keep abreast of every team you can -- in an honest and well informed way of course.
In the bigger picture, I have noticed a few trending tendencies that unfortunately must cut two ways if they are to count for much. Specifically in today's rant what I am bitching about is defense in the Pac-12. If anyone has noticed, over the past couple of seasons a few teams on the west coast have come up quite a ways in that department, regardless of how far ahead on the learning curve its offenses have been playing in past seasons. Teams such as Stanford and ASU have seemingly come out of nowhere to lead the nation in important defensive statistics. Even Oregon played itself up into the top 15 in several key areas on defense.
Numerous Pac-12 teams have landed or are expected to land at least one defensive player in the first round of the NFL draft. For example, Oregon State who's defense has been uncharacteristically awful vs the run lately sends DE Scott Critchen off to the NFL, likely a 1st round pick as a sophomore in the 2013 season. His loss will obviously be felt. UCLA loses its all-American linebacker Anthony Barr who could go as high as #3 in the first round. Stanford loses 2 linebackers, Trent Murphy and Shane Skove, at least one of them expected to be drafted in the first round. Then there's ASU's Will Sutton, everyone's all-American DT sure to be a 1st round pick. Among the teams hit the hardest by declaring early for the draft was USC losing 5 players including Dione Bailey (S-LB) and George Uko (DT) both of whom will be difficult to replace. The Trojans cannot exceed their 15 player scholly limit no matter who leaves. Last year the big names were still there, notably Utah losing (DL) Star Lotulelei, the 14th overall pick and Oregon losing its own linebacker/DE phenom Dion Jordan as the NFL's #3 pick.
However things have been up to now, the trend I don't like and the point of this first post is represented by 25 Pac-12 players who have declared early for the NFL draft. Most of the 25 happen to be defensemen though there are the Marquis Lees etc that hurt teams just as hard. My question to you is can you name a few out your way that have declared early and you wish they hadn't or you wish they would have stayed just one year longer to ease up on the issue? With all of the sophomores declaring these days, CFB is looking more and more like the minor leagues to the NFL. It's easy to say that CFB's loss is the NFL's gain but it just doesn't sit right with me -- especially when I see the Pac-12 at long last developing its defenses but they just go "poof" in a hot minute with so many players declaring early.
