Pac-12: Top 25 Coaches Poll – Eastern Bias or Western Apathy
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott
Pac-12 supporting Pac-12
Most coaches in the poll don’t even vote directly. They usually delegate the task to an assistant or their school’s Sports Information Director. So why can’t Pac-12 coaches do the same? It can’t be any harder for Nick Rolovich of Washington State or Washington’s Jimmy Lake to participate in the poll than it is for voter Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, or Bryan Kelly.
There is no excuse why the All-America Conference and Mountain West Conference have six voters, and the Pac-12 has four.
Better yet, why isn’t Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott lobbying both his member schools and USA Today for more inclusion? One of the main functions of his job is to represent and promote the conference. Well obviously, the conference is not well represented in the polls in standing or voters. That is a failure of leadership.
Some of the biggest lessons taught in this era of social justice are inclusion and representation. Scott has a list of demands from his conference football players asking for those very things. Scott can transfer those principles to a different medium. The Pac-12 won’t improve in this poll until they get more representation.
.@Utah_Football, 11-3 with a second straight Pac-12 South title last season, checked in at No. 20 on Thursday morning when USA Today released the Amway Coaches Poll. https://t.co/eSVZTQ0MtN
— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) August 6, 2020
If the Pac-12 wants to step up their game and image, it starts with showing up.