There are only 38 short days until the start of the ASU football season, and 62 days until the start of Pac-12 play.
It’ll take us here at The State Press a few weeks to stop typing out “Pac-10” in every story, but we’ll get there. The bigger question is how will the changes to the conference affect football across the pacific coast.
If we could see the future, we would tell you how things are going to be right now. But, we can’t, so here are pros and cons for each major change to Pac-12 football.
Conference Divisions
Easily the biggest shift in the conference is the split between north and south. Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and California will are play in the North division, while UCLA, USC, Utah, Colorado, ASU and UA fill out the South Division.
The first concern brought up once the new divisions were announced was the strength of the Pac-12 South. Utah and Colorado, critics said, will dilute the division and make things easier for the other four teams.
After all, the Utes played in the Mountain West, which isn’t exactly the strongest conference in the world, and the Buffaloes were consistently the whipping boy of the Big 12.
We call shenanigans. Utah finished 10-3 last season and was ranked as high as fifth. And the team made a habit of blowing lesser teams out of the water, something that teams like ASU and USC have a problem doing sometimes.
Colorado won a national championship in 1990. The Buffaloes haven’t been that strong as of late, but the thing about college football is that every year players graduate. Things can change almost over night.
Championship game
The first-ever Pac-12 championship game takes place on Dec 2., and most college football fans are eagerly awaiting the matchup.
It’s hard to find cons to the title game. It’s more revenue for the conference and both participating teams, a chance to see the two best schools duke it out, and more football, which is never a bad thing.
However, there are some worries about the game.
For one, it adds another game to the schedules of both teams, teams that are likely headed to bowl games. And that means another chance for star players to get hurt.
There is also the concern that the game won’t always be played by the two best teams in the conference. If Oregon and Stanford have the two best records in the conference next season, only one can go to the title game.
We don’t think that’ll be a problem. The Big 12 and SEC championship games are usually just as big as any bowl game, no matter who’s playing. The Pac-12 Championship will be just as successful.
Changed schedules
The final big change has to do with the schedules of each team. The season isn’t long enough for schools to play all 11 other teams in the conference, which means this year the Sun Devils won’t play either Stanford or Washington.
These teams have played each other every year since the conference expanded to 10 teams in 1978.
But ASU will play both of those schools next year. And in a few years, we’ll have rivalries just as strong with Utah and Colorado, and the Pac-10 will be a thing of the past.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
