2019 Pac-12 Championship Game.
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Anyone who follows college football is familiar with the debate. Many in the west, especially from Pac-12 followers, believe there is a bias that favors schools from east of the Rio Grande. That is quite possible, but are the colleges west of that line doing their part to stem the perception? The facts in 2020 say no.
The first USA Today-Amway Top 25 Coaches Poll was released this week. The Pac-12 Conference placed three teams in the Top 25. Ninth-ranked Oregon (1,164 points) led the way. Next was number 17 Southern California (521), followed by Utah (241) at 20.
No one is under the illusion that any current Pac-12 programs are at the same level as LSU, Clemson, Alabama, or Ohio State. During the Pete Carroll era, USC was at that level, but success came at the cost of integrity. It’s clear the conference has fallen in stature compared to the SEC and Big Ten.
The opening poll is more important than it should be. If a school isn’t in the Top 25, at the start, it’s hard to make a big run up the polls. It will be especially hard for Pac-12 schools this season due to a shortened conference-only schedule.
Rankings affect recruiting, and the cycle continues. The case can be made that coaches in the west, in general, and the Pac-12 specifically are responsible for failing to represent their area. There are 65 coaches in the poll, ten come from schools west of Texas.
Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers, Coaches Poll voter. (Photo by LambeauLeap80, via Wikicommons)
The effects of conference representation show up in the poll results.
Six SEC schools are among the Top 25 (and a seventh just missed). As a matter of fact, they are all ranked between 3–13. Seven of fourteen conference coaches, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, voted.
Six Big Ten schools are ranked. They also had seven coaches vote. Four ACC teams made the list (five others got votes). Seven of their fourteen coaches plus conference associate member Notre Dame voted. Finally, the Big 12 has six of ten coaches voting. They put four teams in the Top 25, as well.
Now we get to the Pac-12. For some reason, only four conference coaches, Kevin Sumlin, Arizona; Jonathan Smith, Oregon State; Clay Helton, USC; and Kyle Whittingham, Utah, are voters.
I’m not saying that the teams who are ranked don’t belong there or Pac-12 schools do. But it’s human nature to go with what you know. The teams that coaches watch the most are the ones in their conference. And there aren’t enough people familiar with Pac-12 teams in the pool of voters.
So, for example, teams 7–9, Penn State (1,189), Florida (1,176), and Oregon (1,164) are separated by 25 points. If there was one less Big Ten or SEC coach, and one more Pac-12 coach on panel, who knows UO, maybe they pick up some places. Oregon gets a little more consideration, and a team ahead of them gets a little less. Suddenly, the Ducks start the season ranked seventh.
Who is to say that Iowa State (135 points) ranked 25th is better than Arizona State (88). But 60 percent of Big 12 coaches voted as opposed to a third of Pac-12 coaches.
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott
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.
If the Pac-12 wants to step up their game and image, it starts with showing up.