Coming into this year, excitement for the new Pac-12 Conference, especially the new football system, was palpable. The quality of the teams, with the addition of former Mountain West powerhouse Utah and Big 12 member Colorado, seemed to rival other top conferences. And the addition of a Pac-12 Championship without a neutral field seemed revolutionary.
Looking back after just one football season, the excitement has clearly faded.
First and foremost, the quality of teams just wasn’t there. Aside from Oregon, Stanford, and USC, there was not a single team with more than seven wins. Basically, the conference was mediocre.
Just look at the Pac 12-Championship Game. Oregon (10-2, 8-1) will be hosting UCLA (6-6, 5-4). The Bruins just capped off their season with a 50-0 loss to USC (banned this year from postseason play) and have also lost blowouts to Texas (49-20) Stanford (45-19) UA (48-12) and Utah (31-6). Their point differential in Pac-12 play is -69 and -92 overall.
This is the best the Pac-12 South had to offer this year.
Also, the Pac-12 Championship Game being played in Eugene does nothing to add to the excitement. Most people are expecting an Oregon blowout. It would typify the season the conference had — not even close to the competition.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
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