Both Washington and USC saw their Playoff hopes dashed on Friday night road games.
The Pac-12 helped screw itself out of a Playoff berth via its scheduling
The only Power 5 that entered Selection Sunday without at least a shot at the Playoff didn’t maximize its chances.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Pac-12 champ USC fell on a Friday to Washington State on a short week after a road game at Cal, all while loaded with injuries on offense. The Trojans’ two losses preclude them from making the Playoff, despite again being a team that looks like it could compete. For Washington, a Friday loss at Stanford was the end of its Pac-12 North title hopes as well.
It’s tough enough to finish 13-0 or 12-1 when all things are equal.
When your prospects for victory are undermined by unfair logistical demands — logistical demands not placed on teams in the other Power Fives — the result is playoff elimination before the middle of November.
Friday night road teams are 0-4 after playing a conference game the previous Saturday: USC lost at WSU, WSU lost at Cal, UCLA lost at Utah and Washington lost at Stanford.
Three of the four Friday night losers were favorites in the game.
And three of the four were playoff candidates.
Remember last season when former Cal coach Sonny Dykes was very vocally opposed to a scheduling structure that was unfair?
Those issues persist.
Tired. I think everybody in the locker room is tired — emotionally. I know I certainly am. We’ll be back at it tomorrow. We have a game in six days, which is crazy. We have to go to USC in six days and play a team that’s had 13 days off to prepare for us. We’re going to rebound and play our tails off against USC and get ready on a short week.
USC coach Clay Helton could have a similar gripe because his team just ran through a regular season without a bye week, which is extremely rare, to say the least. He was diplomatic about the tough situation, but admitted in fall camp that it changed the way the team prepared for the season.
It’s a business decision by each league to structure the schedule however it wants.
But for the Pac-12, it somewhat needlessly creates an extra opportunity for a team to lose.
Larry Scott is the Pac-12 commissioner who has taken the league to new heights, whether that’s negotiating its own network or broadcasting games in China, but cracking the league’s schedule across weeknights has created an issue for the league. The conference must have eight games on Thursday or Friday nights due to a contractual agreement with ESPN.
The SEC, to its credit, has a bit of a different policy for Thursday nighters. The league is contractually obligated to play only two weeknight games. The scheduling edicts don’t come from commissioner Greg Sankey.
“We’ve never said everyone has to play (on Thursday night),” Sankey said. “That’s not been an expectation. There are schools that like that opportunity and seek that opportunity and we’re happy to facilitate those types of games on campus.
“We may ask them, but we want them to be a willing participant in that scheduling activity.”
The SEC has its schedule set up to get its teams as whole as possible before marquee matchups. Florida and Georgia each have byes before playing each other in late October. Alabama and LSU do the same before their game, usually one of the best on the slate each season. The league famously plays a handful of FCS teams before the important games in November’s Rivalry Weekend.
Yet the Pac-12 puts its best Pac-12 North matchup on a short week?
It’s a curious decision, but it is the one the league has made.
The consequences are a contributing factor to why the league will sit on the sidelines of the Playoff this season.
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