Pac-12 Balance 'Stronger Than Ever;' Buffs Gaining Respect
July 14, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
CU contingent takes part in first day of Pac-12 Media Days
LOS ANGELES — Top to bottom, the Pac-12 is once again one of the nation's most-balanced, strongest conferences — and the Colorado Buffaloes are climbing up the conference ladder in terms of becoming a stronger presence in that competitive balance.
That, at least, is the general consensus from media members and coaches in attendance at Thursday's first day of the Pac-12 Media Days. What was clear from the conversations is that the balance in the league may be as strong as it's ever been.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham stressed that there are no "easy outs" in the conference. Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said, "The Pac-12 is more talented now than it's ever been in its history."
And that, Cal coach Sonny Dykes said, has led to an increasing number of competitive games.
"You have games with teams that are perceived to be not very good against teams that are perceived to be very good that come down to one or two plays week after week," said Cal coach Sonny Dykes. "That's something that the Pac-12 should be very proud of. It's a real tribute to the quality of coaching in the league but also the quality of players in the league."
That ultra-competitive balance, though, does have a danger. A year ago, it resulted in no one in the conference finishing with just one loss, and it meant the Pac-12 was on the outside looking in when the College Football Playoff pairings were announced.
"The question is whether the conference is going to be left out of the playoff for a second straight year," said ESPN's Ted Miller. "That would be concerning to folks. The question is, if the conference is left out, what does it mean? That's a lot of money left on the table."
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott acknowledged the issue, but noted that the league's nonconference schedule — one that includes a total of 18 games against bowl teams from last year — is one that improves the conference resume.
"The philosophy in our conference and amongst our schools has always been to schedule tough, take on all-comers, and if a team deserves to be in the playoff, they will be," Scott said. "The other thing that one notices is with the advent of the College Football Playoff, we know that in any given year, there will be teams with similar records, and a determining factor that the College Football Playoff selection committee will make is based on strength of schedule. So our Conference very much prides itself for a variety of reasons on playing the toughest schedule."
The annual preseason media poll, released Thursday, provided a snapshot of the Pac-12 balance. Five teams received at least one vote as the conference champion, with Stanford (20 of a possible 33) tabbed as the favorite. Others receiving at least one vote were Washington from the North and USC, UCLA and Utah from the South.
"If you look at the North, it might be a little top-heavy there because there are two, maybe three teams that can win that division," said Fox analyst and former NFL and college head coach Dave Wannstedt. "There's some separation there.
"But if you look at the South, it's not near as clear cut. People are picking UCLA and USC, and yes, they have talent. UCLA has a great quarterback (Josh Rosen) and USC has a lot of talent everywhere.
"But you look someone like Arizona — they could be as big of a surprise as anyone. RichRod is capable. Todd Graham at ASU is capable. Utah has probably as good a defense as anybody and Colorado has all those veteran kids coming back. I think the South is a little more balanced, and that's going to come down to things like schedules — who gets who at home — and momentum. Who gets on a roll early and can keep it going."
While still picked to finish last in the South, the Buffs are earning a little more respect from the media. CU finished with 63 points in the balloting, relatively close to Arizona State (85) an Arizona (87). A year ago, every team in the South receive more than twice as many points as the Buffs in the poll.
"Colorado is interesting," Wannstedt said. "(Head coach) Mike MacIntyre has done a nice job. They've been so close to turning the corner the last couple of years, you have to believe all those veteran players are hungry. This could be the year they get a little confidence and beat some people."
The Buffs do indeed return a healthy list of veterans. The official count of returning starters from last season is 18 (nine offense and nine defense). But that doesn't include players such as Addison Gillam and Jeromy Irwin, two starters who missed 11 games last year because of injury; linebacker Jimmie Gilbert, who played nearly 400 plays last year and led the team in sacks but started just two games because CU opened in a nickel defense; and nose tackle Josh Tupou, a two-year starter who sat out last season.
ESPN's Miller said with that kind of returning experience, Colorado could be a team that could make some significant headway this year — if they can get some momentum early.
"What happened to Colorado is that it's a program that was way behind in the Pac-12 style of play when they came into the league," Miller said. "They fell behind in recruiting while they were still in the Big 12. The speed of the Pac-12 is a lot like the SEC — just a different brand of football. It took some catching up and getting some coaching legs under the program.
"But now you see a veteran roster. There may not be a whole lot of superstars, but you see a lot of guys with experience and they're hungry. They've been close, they just have to get past that last bump. If they start the season well and get some wins in nonconference, they can get to a bowl game."
But the Buffs will need more than just two or three nonconference wins to get to a bowl game. They'll need to win some Pac-12 games to get there — something Miller said he believes the Buffs are capable of accomplishing.
"I don't think they're going to be a one-win, two-win team in the Pac-12," he said. "I think they're probably going to surprise some people and get some wins. Who or where, I don't know — but you have to think with that veteran roster, they're going to beat a few people in the conference this year."
BUFFS ON THURSDAY: Colorado's Media Days contingent — MacIntyre, quarterback Sefo Liufau and defensive back Chidobe Awuzie — spent the morning in interviews with the Pac-12's television media partners, including ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports and the Pac-12 Networks. The players were scheduled to take part in the Matt Leinart Foundation Celebrity Bowl on Thursday night.
Friday, the Buffs will take part in the "traditional" media day events, with interviews with individual television and radio stations in attendance in the morning, as well as the main media interview session with print and internet outlets.
POLL NOTES: For the first time in the history of the Pac-12, Oregon isn't the pick to win the North. The Ducks were picked third, behind Stanford and Washington. … It is the first time in the 56-year history of the Pac-10 and Pac-12 preseason poll that Stanford was picked to win the league championship. … The media poll has picked the league champion just 29 times in the last 55 years, and only twice in the last nine.
Poll results (points 6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):
SOUTH
1. UCLA (19) 180 points
2. USC (12) 173
3. Utah (2) 127
4. Arizona 87
5. Arizona State 85
6. Colorado 63
NORTH
1. Stanford (24) 186
2. Washington (8) 163
3. Oregon (1) 132
4. Washington State 112
5. California 67
6. Oregon State 33
PAC-12 TITLE GAME CHAMPION: Stanford (20 votes). Others receiving votes: USC (5), Washington (4), UCLA (3), Utah (1)
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
