Interesting article.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...te-lobbies-better-playoff-ranking/2135474002/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...te-lobbies-better-playoff-ranking/2135474002/
USA Today/Chun going to bat for WSU
- Thread starter Coug95man2
- Start date
Very interesting. Joel Klatt articulates things very well. My question is, if someone from the selection committee needs to argue WSU's case...as Klatt indicates at the end of the article...does the committee chair have the ability to speak up? Rob Mullens is the chair and UO's athletic director. Certainly, you would think he's aware of WSU's case this year. If the Cougars end up in the Fiesta or Peach Bowl, it would also benefit all of the Pac-12 financially and the Ducks by allowing them to play in a better bowl game this year, too. I'm hoping he will argue for WSU come Sunday.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Too little too late. He should have anticipated this bs (because we all knew it was going to happen) and gotten out in front of it in Monday during the coaches' presser.
It might look a little ridiculous to complain about a poll that had not come out yet. I think this is the right time to argue WSU's case because you actually can point to the fact that a couple of undeserving teams are ranked higher than the Cougs.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
This is no different than Mack Brown lobbying for Texas. Get the message out early and often
There is still time....and the USA Today article indicates someone could change their votes based on all the points that are being made on WSU's behalf. One can only hope at this point.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Exactly you did not even know if you would be 13 on Monday. And most importantly if you were what teams would be ahead of you.
Call me naive, but I actually think the committee could very well drop Penn State and/or Fla. depending on the performances of OSU and Georgia in the conference championships. That was both of those team's "quality losses".
Also if the Utes can upset UW that will give WSU a better quality win.
Outstanding to hear. Glad Chun, Leach and Klatt are aligned on this and making noise.
Unfortunately one article - good as it is - won't make much of a difference. But if the committee knows they're going to catch hell EVERY WEEK from multiple corners for bouncing non-VIPs like WSU, their hand will be forced. Keep bringing the heat.
If the boss is picking buddies for promotions at work, it's easy to keep sweeping under the rug until you have a chorus of voices training him that he will catch hell.
Unfortunately one article - good as it is - won't make much of a difference. But if the committee knows they're going to catch hell EVERY WEEK from multiple corners for bouncing non-VIPs like WSU, their hand will be forced. Keep bringing the heat.
If the boss is picking buddies for promotions at work, it's easy to keep sweeping under the rug until you have a chorus of voices training him that he will catch hell.
Ronnie Lott and Mullen's Need to be called out. Does anyone really think that Mullen’s is his own man? Phil Knight might as well be in that room. Anyone believe that Phil Knight wants WSU to play in an NY6? The team that beat down Oregon the last 4 years? Don’t tell me Phil Knight wants the $750K payout that Oregon is missing out on. He could give a shit. It’s about making sure the non-brands have little more than a 1 year run.
You might be right about Mullens/Knight. But if they are thinking about good business, they should realize that WSU playing a New Year's Bowl will not only mean more revenue for each school in the conference, but moving all teams up a notch to a better bowl. For UO, that could mean a Holiday Bowl invitation instead of eating Cheez-Its in Arizona.
Glad Cougar
The difference is - and though they say they don't watch the polls, the CFP committee DOES watch the polls - the SEC guys are smart enough to know to vote their top 4 or 5 teams ridiculously high. Hell, they probably vote the 12th best team somewhere into the Top 25 just to bulk up the strength of schedule.
Whereas, the Pac-12 media and coaches likely just vote where they think the squads should be.
An SEC voter would have put Washington no lower than #5 this week after the Apple Cup win. And WSU probably would have stayed around #9 or #10.
It's all about the money.
Whereas, the Pac-12 media and coaches likely just vote where they think the squads should be.
An SEC voter would have put Washington no lower than #5 this week after the Apple Cup win. And WSU probably would have stayed around #9 or #10.
It's all about the money.
Are voter-specific rankings available?
If you ask voters, they'll say they believe in their rankings. They should then have every confidence in putting them out there. Take away the anonymity and make them stand by their assessments.
Meanwhile, where's our grifter commissioner......in downtown SF snacking on faux graux and planning his next G550 outing???
For what this asshole is paid it's time he do his damn job, like getting on the phone and defending his league, if he's not too busy.
For what this asshole is paid it's time he do his damn job, like getting on the phone and defending his league, if he's not too busy.
Nothing like a little fatty duck liver on insanely expensive crackers to make a fella feel important.
Larry Scott and his minions should be doing some work here, too. Will they? Doubt it.
I wonder if Scott & Company might be compelled to sit on the sidelines when it comes to WSU's behalf due to Mike Leach's salty missives regarding the Commissioner and Woodie. Nah, he wouldn't be that petty, right?
Glad Cougar
Good for the AD.
It may not get the result they wanted but it's worth the effort for future consideration.
It may not get the result they wanted but it's worth the effort for future consideration.
Maybe thinking about paying back his $1.8 million "relocation loan" the conference gave him 9 years ago?
Not only is Chun sticking up for WSU via this article, he's also being very vocal on twitter... So is, at least one other, AD. Utah's AD Mark Harlan.
Good for him to go to bat for the school but none of it will make a bit of difference. WSU has no influence on these matters and will not have the cash, influence or cache to be selected over the "blue bloods" of college football. Plus losing the last game against our rival guts our case. The only way, ever for WSU to assure that they get ranked #6 or higher is to go undefeated. May not be fair but those are just the facts. And if that should ever happen do not be surprised if there are still one or two one loss teams ranked ahead of the Cougars.
Losing to our rival doesn't gut our case because the case is about how far we tumbled by losing to our rival.
We lost two games, one or both by extenuating circumstances, we lost in a non-blowout in whiteout snow to a rival and yet dropped farther than any team in CFP, we're the only 1 or 2 loss P5 team being held out of NY6, a bunch of teams (ie Florida, PSU) with objectively worse records are ahead of us, we were never blown out like some of those teams were, etc.
Funny to see you post this mere minutes after posting that you don't care if WSU goes to the Fiesta or the Cheez-it Bowl.
Because being the old school fan that I am, the whole Playoff thing seems like utter BS to me. I was perfectly content when there were just the Bowl games and what happened happened. I have no need for a "National Champion" to be crowned. It never mattered to me. Largely because I know the endeavor is stacked against the Cougars from square one. Living on the East Coast as I do now I can see how nearly anything that goes on in the Pacific Time Zone is so remote to this half of the country. Might as well be on Mars. Most of the population is still east of the Mississippi, and to a certain extent as much as I dislike the SEC, I have to agree that they have something with their slogan "It Just Means More"...I am not sure how WSU can ever get around all that, the Time Zone, the general East Coast bias, and that WSU can't fill the stadium to or beyond capacity for every game. Hell some of the universities out here get 30-40,000 to show up for Spring practices.
As I've stated before, the Pac-12 (and teams west of Texas) have at least three big problems that are difficult to overcome:
The Pac-12 has a population, cultural, and geography problem. The people who are most passionate about college football live east of Colorado...and there are many more of those people than those who live in the Pac-12. It doesn't help that the networks fit our games in at night (because of aforementioned realities) when those east of Colorado are ready to go to sleep. The West is not nearly as passionate about college football as other conferences' fan bases.
How can those disadvantages be overcome? I don't see it happening. Thus, the slow fade away of the Pac-12 vs other P5 conferences. Unless the Pac-12 teams match up against some of the best teams in those conferences and defeat them. Even Washington couldn't beat a fairly average Auburn team. USC was destroyed on a neutral field vs Alabama the season before. UCLA was destroyed by Oklahoma this season. When was the last time one of the Pac-12 teams beat a good team from the SEC, Big10, Big12? I can't think of an example off-hand.
Of course, there is also our 1-8 bowl record last season that didn't help.
The Pac-12 has a population, cultural, and geography problem. The people who are most passionate about college football live east of Colorado...and there are many more of those people than those who live in the Pac-12. It doesn't help that the networks fit our games in at night (because of aforementioned realities) when those east of Colorado are ready to go to sleep. The West is not nearly as passionate about college football as other conferences' fan bases.
How can those disadvantages be overcome? I don't see it happening. Thus, the slow fade away of the Pac-12 vs other P5 conferences. Unless the Pac-12 teams match up against some of the best teams in those conferences and defeat them. Even Washington couldn't beat a fairly average Auburn team. USC was destroyed on a neutral field vs Alabama the season before. UCLA was destroyed by Oklahoma this season. When was the last time one of the Pac-12 teams beat a good team from the SEC, Big10, Big12? I can't think of an example off-hand.
Of course, there is also our 1-8 bowl record last season that didn't help.
And it always will be. Now you can add Oregon/Washington to that list to a lesser extent. USC is the big one though. There was no force for changing the system until USC was rolling over everyone. The good 'ole boys down south didn't like SC coming down there and curb stomping them. All of a sudden the old bowl system wasn't good enough and the fashion show started full on. Then SC gets slapped down with sanctions for thing that happen in the south at every school every year. I have no love for SC, but that whole thing was engineered to on purpose in my opinion and by extention it knocked the entire conference far enough behind that it will never recover. Oregon had a shot to keep it at bay for a minute but couldn't win the big one. I'm not so sure them winning would have changed anything. Maybe if they won 2.
It started earlier with the BCS when SC got left out of the top 2 when they clearly should have been in. Once Slive and the SEC/ESPN had control of things with the BCS nonsense, it was officially over for the Pac. The Big Ten with Delany is the only thing keeping this from being an all SEC party. He seems to have some balls concerning these things.
I wish the B1G and Pac would've have resisted letting the Rose Bowl get put into the rotation. That was the only leverage we had left.
Sorry for the TLDR rant. I loved college football as it was. I can't stand it now. It's the only sport that I'd rather watch the professional version of for this reason and I hate pro sports. College football is more rigged the any pro league.
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