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I know some of you are Cougar fans, and as a Husky man I can only say... Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

OMG -- If I told someone that WSU was up by more than 30 points in the second half, their QB had NINE (9!!!) Touchdowns, they were playing at home and they were playing against a Chip Kelly coached team, you wouldn't believe me if I told you they found a way to lose and it wasn't pretty. Turnovers are the big equalizer in football.

Like the old man that I am, I fell asleep and didn't see the 2nd half and witness WSU "Coug it".

The Pac 12 is a joke. A good friend of mine, a diehard Coug fan, roots for UW to lose even to intersectional, non conference opponents. It's that kind of thinking that is going to condemn the conference to mediocrity and continue to keep Pac 12 teams off the national stage even in years they produce a worthy contender so long as they have a limited playoff format that depends on beauty contests to fill 4 playoff spots.

Oregon has already lost to Auburn, UW has lost to unranked Cal, USC has lost to unranked BYU, and Stanford has 3 losses. So much for the recognizable football schools in the conference. Now WSU lost at home to previously winless UCLA by surrendering 50 points in the 2nd half. The only team that stands a chance at securing a playoff berth is undefeated Cal if they were to run the table, but you know that ain't gonna happen. No way is a one loss Pac 12 team going to be selected over a one loss team from the other power conferences.

The Pac 12 actually toyed with the idea of starting their games at 9:00am local so they could get their product in front of east coast audiences that are accustomed to watching Big 12 or ACC games in that time slot. That shows you just how desperate the conference is to figure out a way to become relevant on the national scene again.

That had to be #1 on the "Couged It" list of all time

went to bed when they were way ahead...wow when I woke up

50 points in the 2nd half. I haven't seen or heard of that many points given up in just one half of football on any level outside 8 man or arena football.

the best team in the Pac12 is Cal. Undefeated and they are moving up in the ratings. Looked good on the road in Mississippi yesterday. Pretty sad state for the whole league this year.

jshawaii22 wrote:the best team in the Pac12 is Cal. Undefeated and they are moving up in the ratings. Looked good on the road in Mississippi yesterday. Pretty sad state for the whole league this year.

An intersectional win against Ole Miss isn't going to get Cal a lot of respect. They won't play a high enough ranked conference opponent to get enough traction to look good enough compared to, for example, a one loss Georgia or a one loss Ohio State, to be selected to participate in the playoffs. Their only chance is to run the table and go undefeated, which is highly unlikely.

Pac 12 wannabees like Cal and WSU need to start scheduling top 10 intersectional opponents like Oregon did with Auburn as I can't see the paradigm changing unless they expand the playoffs.

I wasn't rating Cal for the Playoffs, but they are 4-0 and the only undefeated team in the Pac12 and ranked 15th. I agree that is doesn't say much for the league, again this year.

jshawaii22 wrote:the best team in the Pac12 is Cal. Undefeated and they are moving up in the ratings. Looked good on the road in Mississippi yesterday. Pretty sad state for the whole league this year.

Thats a little overstated, they still have to come to Eugene and play us. They also have a boatload of tough games to play, and they dont exactly have a vaunted offense.

An intersectional win against Ole Miss isn't going to get Cal a lot of respect. They won't play a high enough ranked conference opponent to get enough traction to look good enough compared to, for example, a one loss Georgia or a one loss Ohio State, to be selected to participate in the playoffs. Their only chance is to run the table and go undefeated, which is highly unlikely.

Pac 12 wannabees like Cal and WSU need to start scheduling top 10 intersectional opponents like Oregon did with Auburn as I can't see the paradigm changing unless they expand the playoffs.

I agree with River, but I have to give it up for Auburn playing us, as opposed to Captain Cupcake Nick, scheduling 4 cupcakes and only 8 conference games. Wazzu is still a tough out. That kid put up 9 td passes in a losing effort. Either way I think Clemson wins it all anyway.

jshawaii22 wrote:I know some of you are Cougar fans, and as a Husky man I can only say... Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

OMG -- If I told someone that WSU was up by more than 30 points in the second half, their QB had NINE (9!!!) Touchdowns, they were playing at home and they were playing against a Chip Kelly coached team, you wouldn't believe me if I told you they found a way to lose and it wasn't pretty. Turnovers are the big equalizer in football.

its a was a Coug job to end all Coug jobs. I could not believe it.

USC is a dark horse in my opinion.

This won't be the last loss for either WSU or UCLA. Both have potent offenses but practically no defense. They are pretenders for dominance. Having said that, watching a WSU game is always entertaining and Mike Leach is his own side show.

I agree! USC still has some tough games ahead however, plus I have concerns that their QB's are ready for high pressure games.

obiken wrote:I agree with River, but I have to give it up for Auburn playing us, as opposed to Captain Cupcake Nick, scheduling 4 cupcakes and only 8 conference games. Wazzu is still a tough out. That kid put up 9 td passes in a losing effort. Either way I think Clemson wins it all anyway.

Captain Cupcake Nick doesn't have to play a Murderer's Row schedule, nor does anyone else in the SEC. They've already built up a ton of respect and until someone from the west coast starts acting like a national contender, the center of the CFB universe will be in the southeast.

I can understand them not wanting to have a 16 team playoff ala the FCS, but there's no reason why they can't expand the playoffs to 8 teams and give the Power 5 conference automatic bids. That would do away with this beauty contest.

Captain Cupcake Nick doesn't have to play a Murderer's Row schedule, nor does anyone else in the SEC. They've already built up a ton of respect and until someone from the west coast starts acting like a national contender, the center of the CFB universe will be in the southeast.

I can understand them not wanting to have a 16 team playoff ala the FCS, but there's no reason why they can't expand the playoffs to 8 teams and give the Power 5 conference automatic bids. That would do away with this beauty contest.

Granted River, the SEC is the best conference, but you have been to Husky Stadium, its playing inside of a Thunder cloud. Autzen its like being inside of a Jet Engine, Lloyd Carr called it the loudest stadium in the Country. When they start scheduling away games, and then beating the P12 I will kneel, but sorry until they do I am not doing the fealty thing.
Just call me El Cid!

obiken wrote:Granted River, the SEC is the best conference, but you have been to Husky Stadium, its playing inside of a Thunder cloud. Autzen its like being inside of a Jet Engine, Lloyd Carr called it the loudest stadium in the Country. When they start scheduling away games, and then beating the P12 I will kneel, but sorry until they do I am not doing the fealty thing.

Just call me El Cid!

Obi, the point is that SEC teams don't have to come up here, so why should they? Their conference champion and/or a one loss runner-up is going to get a ticket to the playoffs, so their focus is on winning the conference. They use non conference games much like NFL teams use preseason games.

The Pac 12's focus is, or should be, on earning respect on the national scene so if they have a good one loss team that voters will put them in ahead of an Oklahoma or Ohio State with the same record. Washington needs to ink a home-and-home series with top 10 programs like they did with Michigan, Miami, or Nebraska back in the 80's-90's. Short of an expanded playoffs or running off a perfect record, it's the only way they're going to get some traction on the national scene. Their loss to an unranked Cal team virtually eliminated them from the playoffs.