Pac-12 again shows how unprepared they are for big time football
Well, the Pac-12 did it again. They increased their first mess by piling a second mess on top of it. The end result could make the conference look worse, which no one thought possible, than it already does.
Everybody knows that Plan B is never as good as Plan A. If it were, Plan B would be the first option. Sometimes Plan B is so ill-conceived that putting it into action is worse than calling the whole thing off. Welcome to Pac-12 Championship Weekend.
News broke on Monday afternoon that Pac-12 North Division winners the Washington Huskies cannot play in the championship game due to COVID-19 cases and contact tracing within the program. They won’t have the required 53 scholarship players, and their entire offensive line is unavailable.
Rather than declare the game a no contest and make USC the Champs or even co-champions with Washington (which is still better than this), the Pac-12 replaced UW with Oregon. Now a sham game sends the winner to a New Year’s Six Bowl. It’s a screw up with catastrophic consequences.
First of all, sending a team into a championship game that didn’t earn it is wrong. This isn’t a boxing match where if a fighter breaks his hand in training, the promoters find someone to take his place. This is football, where teams earn their shot at a title. There is no back door into championship games. Further, Oregon wasn’t an “alternate” to Washington; they finished second.
For everyone who said Washington ducked (no pun intended) Oregon in the regular-season finale and deserves this, think about it. UW had their opener against California canceled. No one accused the Bears of anything nefarious. Of course, Oregon lost to previously winless Cal in their most recent game on December 6.
The USC – Oregon matchup is a money only proposition, and not a good one. They want to make FOX happy. Don’t count on anyone being happy, except the University of Oregon and their supporters.
UPDATE: Statement on 2020 #Pac12FCG ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/QKg6rheTmj
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 14, 2020