Arizona loses to Hawaii. I think to get to the CFP a Pac 12 team will have to go undefeated to get the nod over any 1 loss SEC team. Conference prestige is at an all time low. Ducks vs Auburn may give us a better tell. Go Cougs!!
Another Pac 12 thud.
- Thread starter cougarmike
- Start date
That may not be enough. We need the conference to beat the snot out of every non-conference opponent. Also, a strong SC always helps the conference’s perception.
If the conference is 36-0 out of conference, a one loss team can make it I believe. Provided the loss is early enough.
First, the Arizona loss to Hawaii is a stark reminder of the importance of our team showing up with the right attitude against Houston.
Second, the conference teams that play Arizona now have a moral obligation to beat the snot out of them. Nobody cares if your bottom feeder loses games. It's a bad look when a team contending for the title has bad losses.
Second, the conference teams that play Arizona now have a moral obligation to beat the snot out of them. Nobody cares if your bottom feeder loses games. It's a bad look when a team contending for the title has bad losses.
AZ will not even come close to looking like they could win a PAC-12 title, they are toast! They'll have at least a couple of games where someone lays 60 or more on them.
That game was so sloppy that it is hard for me to form any opinion one way or the other. Hawaii kept giving the game to Az on a platter but Arizona just could not do anything with it. First game jitters or are the Wildcats really that bad? If so then Sumlin is toast.
The Oregon/Auburn game will give us a better look at the relative strength of the conference. One game or two is not determinative but only a peek at the strength of the Pac12. Arizona/Hawaii was a cluster of a game and I throw it out as being very significant. Oregon/Auburn is the one that I am waiting for and if Oregon is successful then the Arizona debacle in the islands will be soon forgotten.
p.s. Hawaii's stadium was almost empty. Do the Rainbow Warriors really have that poor a following? June Jones' teams seemed to attract fairly large crowds if my failing memory is still correct.
The Oregon/Auburn game will give us a better look at the relative strength of the conference. One game or two is not determinative but only a peek at the strength of the Pac12. Arizona/Hawaii was a cluster of a game and I throw it out as being very significant. Oregon/Auburn is the one that I am waiting for and if Oregon is successful then the Arizona debacle in the islands will be soon forgotten.
p.s. Hawaii's stadium was almost empty. Do the Rainbow Warriors really have that poor a following? June Jones' teams seemed to attract fairly large crowds if my failing memory is still correct.
I don't know whether Arizona can really afford to fire another coach so soon. I think they are stuck with Sumlin for a bit.
First game, on the road, 3 time zones in the opposite direction, probably a pretty dead atmosphere, and let's not forget, Hawaii was actually a bowl team last year.
I chalk it up as just a funky opener, as well as Arizona just not being all that good. I don't know if they're necessarily dreadful though.
Sumlin may be in for a lesson about West Coast kids. You're not gonna get on West Coast kids the way you can Texas kids. The West Coast kids will roll, tell you to f off or just shut down.
He would be better off being a positive coach and holding people accountable to a program standard. Chewing asses only goes so far with kids from certain parts of the country.
This is why I see no upside to scheduling anyone harder than you need to or ever giving up HFA. Let people imagine or doubt what you could do against tougher opponents, don't volunteer to possibly forfeit any big hopes for the season you might have had. I'd rather be Alabama listening to people complaining about us playing MTSU in Week 9 vs playing a competent team.
I know sometimes these are fun to watch, but the best case scenario is you thump them and nobody cares because you were supposed to, while the worst case is you lose, in which case you are given the equivalent of a 5-stroke golf penalty for the balance of the season. It's like paying $1000 to win $1.
I know sometimes these are fun to watch, but the best case scenario is you thump them and nobody cares because you were supposed to, while the worst case is you lose, in which case you are given the equivalent of a 5-stroke golf penalty for the balance of the season. It's like paying $1000 to win $1.
Until we are national championship contenders every year, there is no reason to risk what we can't afford to lose. Take the wins, avoid injuries, ignore the naysayers and get ready for conference play.
Or it could be that Sumlin is just not a very good coach.
Watch the video on the NFL/Air Raid. Sumlin scored being on Bob Stoops' staff, then leveraged that into the Houston job taking Dana Holgerson and Lincoln Riley along for the ride. Then he lucked into the A&M job with Johnny Mansiel and Kliff Kingsbury as his OC.
He's not a builder or leader of men. Is it any wonder Holgerson, Riley and Kingsbury bailed on him?
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DH went from Houston OC to Okie State OC. He moved up. I wouldn't call that "bailed." Kingsbury went from A&M to the head job at TT. Again, I wouldn't call that "bailed" either.
He could very well be a terrible head coach too. If he doesn't make something happen at UA he is probably back to being a coordinator or position coach. You only get so many shots at being the head man.
