Wilner's best guess on the 2014 PAC 12 bowl lineup

[UTEopia]

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2013/05/20/pac-12-football-bowl-partners-for-the-next-cycle-of-games/

1. Rose/playoff
2. Alamo vs Big 12
3. Holiday vs Big 10
4. Kraft Fight Hunger (Levi Strauss/49ers stadium in Santa Clara) vs Big 10
5. Sun vs ACC
6. Las Vegas
7. Buffalo Wild Wings (Phoenix) vs Big 12
8. New Mexico

The only difficulties I see are that El Paso and Alb. are not attractive destinations and they are difficult to get to. San Antonio, while a nice destination, is a long trip for almost every school. No games against the SEC.

[SoCalPat]

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2013/05/20/pac-12-football-bowl-partners-for-the-next-cycle-of-games/

1. Rose/playoff
2. Alamo vs Big 12
3. Holiday vs Big 10
4. Kraft Fight Hunger (Levi Strauss/49ers stadium in Santa Clara) vs Big 10
5. Sun vs ACC
6. Las Vegas
7. Buffalo Wild Wings (Phoenix) vs Big 12
8. New Mexico

The only difficulties I see are that El Paso and Alb. are not attractive destinations and they are difficult to get to. San Antonio, while a nice destination, is a long trip for almost every school. No games against the SEC.

Toss this theory around: The SEC doesn't want bowl games west of the Mississippi on an annual basis because it would never draw the crowds it does for the climes in which its bowls are currently played, and is afraid of playing what could amount to a road game in the bowl season. You'd think there's a sizable group in the SEC contingent that would like to trade Nashville or Atlanta for San Diego or Phoenix for a few years?

Every other high-major league has bowls against the Pac-12. It's a fair question to call out the SEC in this regard.

[Mormon Red Death]

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2013/05/20/pac-12-football-bowl-partners-for-the-next-cycle-of-games/

1. Rose/playoff
2. Alamo vs Big 12
3. Holiday vs Big 10
4. Kraft Fight Hunger (Levi Strauss/49ers stadium in Santa Clara) vs Big 10
5. Sun vs ACC
6. Las Vegas
7. Buffalo Wild Wings (Phoenix) vs Big 12
8. New Mexico

The only difficulties I see are that El Paso and Alb. are not attractive destinations and they are difficult to get to. San Antonio, while a nice destination, is a long trip for almost every school. No games against the SEC.

Its too bad we couldn't get the new mexico bowl to move to Denver, Portland or Seattle. Additionally, I would prefer to have the poinsettia bowl instead of the New Mexico bowl.

[Utah]

Toss this theory around: The SEC doesn't want bowl games west of the Mississippi on an annual basis because it would never draw the crowds it does for the climes in which its bowls are currently played, and is afraid of playing what could amount to a road game in the bowl season. You'd think there's a sizable group in the SEC contingent that would like to trade Nashville or Atlanta for San Diego or Phoenix for a few years?

Every other high-major league has bowls against the Pac-12. It's a fair question to call out the SEC in this regard.

The SEC is the biggest bunch of whiny pussies is the world. "We are awesome, but we don't play on the road, we don't play real OOC teams, and our whole season is geared to winning the last game of the year."

[UteBeliever aka Port]

Its too bad we couldn't get the new mexico bowl to move to Denver, Portland or Seattle. Additionally, I would prefer to have the poinsettia bowl instead of the New Mexico bowl.

The weather in New Mexico is better in December than Denver, Portland or Seattle. You are almost guaranteed rain in Seattle and Portland that time of year.

[Mormon Red Death]

The weather in New Mexico is better in December than Denver, Portland or Seattle. You are almost guaranteed rain in Seattle and Portland that time of year.

Out of the 4 locations which one would PAC-12 fans want to go to least?

[LA Ute]

Out of the 4 locations which one would PAC-12 fans want to go to least?

How about none of the above? Seriously, as a spoiled Californian, I can say that weather-wise, Albuquerque is probably the least bad of a bad array of choices.

[Mormon Red Death]

How about none of the above? Seriously, as a spoiled Californian, I can say that weather-wise, Albuquerque is probably the least bad of a bad array of choices.

So If Utah was playing in New Mexico you would rather that than play in Portland? Wouldn't it be easier for you to get to Portland?

[SoCalPat]

So If Utah was playing in New Mexico you would rather that than play in Portland? Wouldn't it be easier for you to get to Portland?

ABQ to LA: 789 miles

PDX to LA: 963 miles

[LA Ute]

So If Utah was playing in New Mexico you would rather that than play in Portland? Wouldn't it be easier for you to get to Portland?

Believe it or not, Albuquerque is an easy Southwest flight from LA. Portland, not so much. Although Portland is a much more interesting city.

[Hot Lunch]

Toss this theory around: The SEC doesn't want bowl games west of the Mississippi on an annual basis because it would never draw the crowds it does for the climes in which its bowls are currently played, and is afraid of playing what could amount to a road game in the bowl season. You'd think there's a sizable group in the SEC contingent that would like to trade Nashville or Atlanta for San Diego or Phoenix for a few years?

Every other high-major league has bowls against the Pac-12. It's a fair question to call out the SEC in this regard.

I don't know if it is a fair question to call them out. It is a two way street, the SEC doesn't want to go that far west, that is a long drive for all those motor homes, and the same goes for the PAC-12. I don't think the SEC is avoiding playing the Pac -12 in bowls. They both want to stay as close as they can geographically.

[Hot Lunch]

The SEC is the biggest bunch of whiny pussies is the world. "We are awesome, but we don't play on the road, we don't play real OOC teams, and our whole season is geared to winning the last game of the year."

I find these comments funny. At the end of the day the SEC is by far the best conference in football and I don't think it is close right now. Just look at the players getting drafted into the NFL. Some out of conference teams that SEC plays this year: Clemson, Texas, Florida State, TCU, Virginia Tech, Okie St., Oregon, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville. Those are some pretty good teams.

As a Utah fan, we are the last group of people that can mock an OOC schedule. Especially this year. We have Utah St., Weber St. and BYU as our OOC games this season. 3 nobodies in the college football world.

[Utah]

I find these comments funny. At the end of the day the SEC is by far the best conference in football and I don't think it is close right now. Just look at the players getting drafted into the NFL. Some out of conference teams that SEC plays this year: Clemson, Texas, Florida State, TCU, Virginia Tech, Okie St., Oregon, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville. There are some pretty good teams.

As a Utah fan, we are the last group of people that can mock and OOC schedule. Especially this year. We have Utah St., Weber St. and BYU as our OOC games this season. 3 nobodies in the college football world.

Good thing our AD is smart enough to change this by dropping BYU after this year.

[Solon]

I find these comments funny. At the end of the day the SEC is by far the best conference in football and I don't think it is close right now. Just look at the players getting drafted into the NFL. Some out of conference teams that SEC plays this year: Clemson, Texas, Florida State, TCU, Virginia Tech, Okie St., Oregon, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville. There are some pretty good teams.

As a Utah fan, we are the last group of people that can mock an OOC schedule. Especially this year. We have Utah St., Weber St. and BYU as our OOC games this season. 3 nobodies in the college football world.

LOL. Well put, HL. Even Alabama traveled to State College, PA recently.

[Utah]

I find these comments funny. At the end of the day the SEC is by far the best conference in football and I don't think it is close right now. Just look at the players getting drafted into the NFL. Some out of conference teams that SEC plays this year: Clemson, Texas, Florida State, TCU, Virginia Tech, Okie St., Oregon, North Carolina, Miami, Louisville. There are some pretty good teams.

As a Utah fan, we are the last group of people that can mock an OOC schedule. Especially this year. We have Utah St., Weber St. and BYU as our OOC games this season. 3 nobodies in the college football world.

Let's look at Stanford vs Alabama's schedules last year:

Stanford:

San Jose 11-2
Duke 6-7
USC 7-6
Washington 7-6
Arizona 8-5
Notre Dame 12-1
Cal 3-9
Wash St 3-9
Colorado 1-11
Oregon St 9-4
Oregon 12-1
UCLA 9-5

Alabama:
Michigan 8-5
Western Kentucky 7-6
Arkansas 4-8
Fl Atl 3-9
Ole Miss 7-6
Missouri 5-7
Tenn 5-7
Mississippi St 8-5
LSU 10-3
A&M 11-2
Western Carolina DII school
Auburn 3-9
Georgia 12-2

Number of games against teams with 9+ wins:

Stanford 5
Alabama 3

Number of DII teams

Stanford 0
Alabama 1

Number of sub 4 win teams

Stanford 4
Alabama 4

Ranked opponents

Stanford 5 (if the PAC-12 had 8 conf games, that number jumps to 7)
Alabama 5

BCS opponents

Stanford 13
Alabama 10

So, where exactly is this tough schedule that Alabama played? Where did they suddenly have to beat everybody, every week to show that they were the top dog? AND, this doesn't even take into account the extra conference game Stanford has to play and the rest of the PAC-12. Do you realize that if the PAC-12 only played 8 conference games, and UCLA, Arizona and ASU could swap out a loss for a win, that Stanford's schedule suddenly becomes LIGHT YEARS tougher than Alabama's? Just based on the 8/9 game conference schedule?

[Hot Lunch]

Let's look at Stanford vs Alabama's schedules last year:

Stanford:

San Jose 11-2
Duke 6-7
USC 7-6
Washington 7-6
Arizona 8-5
Notre Dame 12-1
Cal 3-9
Wash St 3-9
Colorado 1-11
Oregon St 9-4
Oregon 12-1
UCLA 9-5

Alabama:
Michigan 8-5
Western Kentucky 7-6
Arkansas 4-8
Fl Atl 3-9
Ole Miss 7-6
Missouri 5-7
Tenn 5-7
Mississippi St 8-5
LSU 10-3
A&M 11-2
Western Carolina DII school
Auburn 3-9
Georgia 12-2

Number of games against teams with 9+ wins:

Stanford 5
Alabama 3

Number of DII teams

Stanford 0
Alabama 1

Number of sub 4 win teams

Stanford 4
Alabama 4

Ranked opponents

Stanford 5 (if the PAC-12 had 8 conf games, that number jumps to 7)
Alabama 5

BCS opponents

Stanford 13
Alabama 10

So, where exactly is this tough schedule that Alabama played? Where did they suddenly have to beat everybody, every week to show that they were the top dog? AND, this doesn't even take into account the extra conference game Stanford has to play and the rest of the PAC-12. Do you realize that if the PAC-12 only played 8 conference games, and UCLA, Arizona and ASU could swap out a loss for a win, that Stanford's schedule suddenly becomes LIGHT YEARS tougher than Alabama's? Just based on the 8/9 game conference schedule?


All because of 1 win vs. a no name team? How does that make a schedule lights years tougher? I don't understand your logic behind this.

Why did you all of a sudden start comparing Stanford and Alabama's schedule? Where did I say that Stanford didn't play a good schedule? Stanford played a tough schedule last year. So did Bama. You said that the SEC doesn't play anyone OOC in your previous post. I pointed out that they did. You also said they don't go on the road which isn't true either. They just haven't come out west much. They actually don't have to come out west in order to find good OOC games. If the Pac12 is going to play a tough OOC game on the road they have to go east. Outside of our conference, there is nothing out west that would be worthy of saying it is a tough OOC road game.

[Utah]

All because of 1 win vs. a no name team? How does that make a schedule lights years tougher? I don't understand your logic behind this.

Why did you all of a sudden start comparing Stanford and Alabama's schedule? Where did I say that Stanford didn't play a good schedule? Stanford played a tough schedule last year. So did Bama. You said that the SEC doesn't play anyone OOC in your previous post. I pointed out that they did. You also said they don't go on the road which isn't true either. They just haven't come out west much. They actually don't have to come out west in order to find good OOC games. If the Pac12 is going to play a tough OOC game on the road they have to go east. Outside of our conference, there is nothing out west that would be worthy of saying it is a tough OOC road game.

I know I am in the minority with my opinion of the SEC, and they have won the one game that matters every year (although you could argue that they have only played the second best team in the country once in the national title game). The good news is, with the playoff, if the SEC continues to dominate, then I am dead wrong. If they fall on their face, then their prestige will quickly fall as well.

[Hot Lunch]

I know I am in the minority with my opinion of the SEC, and they have won the one game that matters every year (although you could argue that they have only played the second best team in the country once in the national title game). The good news is, with the playoff, if the SEC continues to dominate, then I am dead wrong. If they fall on their face, then their prestige will quickly fall as well.

They have only played the 2nd best team once because they already beat them in the SEC conference title game. The one time was when Bama played LSU.

OK twice. Oregon was dang good the year they lost to Auburn.

[SoCalPat]

Let's look at Stanford vs Alabama's schedules last year:



This is a horrible example, because Stanford needed officiating help and OT to beat Notre Dame, while 'Bama destroyed the Irish. Right there, the scheduling argument becomes utterly meaningless as far as these two schools are concerned. Also, Stanford benefitted from once-in-a-generation seasons from San Jose State and Duke. If they combine to go 6-18 instead of 17-9, this becomes an even sillier argument.

[FountainOfUte]

Let's look at Stanford vs Alabama's schedules last year:



Stanford 5 (if the PAC-12 had 8 conf games, that number jumps to 7)

Do you realize that if the PAC-12 only played 8 conference games, and UCLA, Arizona and ASU could swap out a loss for a win, that Stanford's schedule suddenly becomes LIGHT YEARS tougher than Alabama's? Just based on the 8/9 game conference schedule?

You're saying that Stanford's schedule becomes LIGHT YEARS tougher if UCLA, UofA, and ASU play wimpier schedule? So you're trying to make an argument about genuinely tough schedules while using SEC-like smoke and mirrors to make your point? To me it looks like you're undoing your case as you're trying to build it.

[Utah]

You're saying that Stanford's schedule becomes LIGHT YEARS tougher if UCLA, UofA, and ASU play wimpier schedule? So you're trying to make an argument about genuinely tough schedules while using SEC-like smoke and mirrors to make your point? To me it looks like you're undoing your case as you're trying to build it.

According to people who say that the SEC is by far the best conference, Stanford's schedule would get tougher by playing less conference games because Stanford would be playing more ranked teams.

That was the point I was making about how the SEC is a paper tiger overall.

By the way, what's the SEC's record vs the PAC-12?

[Mormon Red Death]

This is a horrible example, because Stanford needed officiating help and OT to beat Notre Dame, while 'Bama destroyed the Irish. Right there, the scheduling argument becomes utterly meaningless as far as these two schools are concerned. Also, Stanford benefitted from once-in-a-generation seasons from San Jose State and Duke. If they combine to go 6-18 instead of 17-9, this becomes an even sillier argument.

Stanford lost to Notre Dame.

[SoCalPat]

Stanford lost to Notre Dame.

Yes, of course. Switch Stanford for Notre Dame in my post.

[OrangeUte]

it is interesting that the kraft bowl is one spot ahead of the sun bowl. i'm sure that the fact it is a big 10 matchup (tradition!) makes it a little bit more interesting as far as matchups go. plus, san francisco is much better than el paso. But, the sun bowl has so much history.

[concerned]

it is interesting that the kraft bowl is one spot ahead of the sun bowl. i'm sure that the fact it is a big 10 matchup (tradition!) makes it a little bit more interesting as far as matchups go. plus, san francisco is much better than el paso. But, the sun bowl has so much history.

the fact that it is moving to the 49ers new stadium probaby accounts for that bump.

[OrangeUte]

the fact that it is moving to the 49ers new stadium probaby accounts for that bump.

good point. i went to the Emerald Bowl in 2005 and the Cal game in 2011 and moving it out of AT&T park is a good move. That's a great stadium and the location is unbeatable, but it is awkward for a football game.