Melva Thompson-Robinson may reflect the current state of the Pac-12. Her son, Dorian Thompson Robinson, is University of California at Los Angeles The quarterback star and Heisman Cup candidate who led the Bruins to a nearly undefeated mid-season record. But her heart – at least part of it – is with her alma mater 1,600 miles away.
“My mom is tough Michigan “I’m impressed,” Dorian said. She was a bit disappointed because I couldn’t play in the Big House. Shoot, sometimes even watching the Michigan game on her phone while she’s at my game.”
That’d be an eloquent anecdote except that UCLA will soon play Michigan in the Big Ten conference games. The appearance of the Pac-12 this season may come with an asterisk. (* Don’t get used to it.)
USC And UCLA are both undefeated And the On their way out the door. For every match they win, it brings the current Pac-12 game closer to the playoff berth. It’s also part of a long agonizing farewell from the conference for which they are so famous.
Thanks to the traumatic events of the summer, the Trojans and Bruins stayed season-and-a-half in the Pac-12 before heading to the Big Ten in 2024. Meanwhile, the current situation is a reminder, as the Conference is back on the national radar, how weak it will be without the Los Angeles central.
“It’s been a long time since the two L.A. schools have had this success,” said Martin Garmond, UCLA athletic director. “There are still a lot of matches to play…but you have to enjoy these moments.”
It is called bittersweet or refreshing. Return of the West Coast. The Pac-12 has four teams ranked late in the season for the first time since 2019. USC and UCLA are both 6-0 for the first time since 2005. Oregon He won five times in a row. title holder Utah He has played in three of the last four Pac-12 Championship matches.
For a league that hasn’t played a College Football Playoff in six years, that’s great stuff.
Also, an omen: USC and UCLA have always been the shining gems of the Pac-12. They have combined to win a stake in at least 56 conference titles dating back to the time the old Pacific Coast Conference was formed in 1915. Together they played in 46 of the 108 Rose Bowls.
Now, they are something like Bagers rugs. When they leave for the Big Ten in two years, there will be a giant conference hole in Los Angeles.
“I’m not going to give up on L.A.,” PAC 12 commissioner George Klyavkov said before the season.
At the same time that the Los Angeles schools are winning, they are moving behind the scenes to a new league. Another bittersweet reminder: There is now a possibility that one or both of them will play “home” at the Rams’ SoFi Stadium, the site of the 2023 CFP National Championship.
“You don’t want to see Pac 12 schools disappear,” Melva Thompson Robinson said. “But, you know, it’s also a new world.”
The confrontations in the next two weeks will increase the nation’s focus on the Pac-12. No. 6 USC plays at No. 20 Utah on Saturday. Defending champion Oates has broken down his last eight encounters with the Trojans. Then next week, UCLA No. 11 travels to No. 12 in Oregon. Ducks have been running since that embarrassing loss to Georgia.
Utah 4-2 but still in line for another Pac 12 title. The key is to break away from the familiar league habit: failing to make a dominant team. There hasn’t been a single losing team or no loss in the Pac-12 across an entire season since 2016.
At the moment, this is the highest number of times for a Pac-12 since then Washington It was the CFP’s last appearance at the conference that season. Huskies were quickly wiped out by Alabama In the semi-finals. Since then, the conflict has been largely on the national scene.
Dan Lanning is Oregon State’s third coach in the past seven seasons. Washington and Washington state Each one has three in that period. Utah Kyle Whittingham is the benchmark. Just YesKirk Ferentz has been at FBS for a longer period. Utes’ strength has grown over time winning four division titles since 2015 and playing in their first Rose Bowl in January.
This is part of the reason why there are files Big 12 interested to seize Utah if the reorganization continues.
Kliavkoff declined to comment for this story. Instead, the conference sent a statement from Merton Hanks, the senior associate commissioner for football operations.
“Our member schools, working with the conference, have made a concerted effort over the past 18 months to raise the bar for Pac-12 football,” the statement read in part. “…These efforts have benefited football programs in all of our schools, and we are very pleased with the results on the field so far this season.”
For now, it’s okay to just bask in the special. Lincoln Riley’s transformation at the University of Southern California exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. Oklahoma Caleb Williams transferred QB as promised to become Heisman’s candidate himself. USC’s defense has taken a quantum leap under the leadership of Coordinator Alex Grinch. Trojans lead the country in interceptions and sacks.
Positive a lot. Riley was asked this week about not being defeated halfway through and playing six more games.
“Only six?” asked Riley rhetorically, clearly referring to the Trojans’ season that lasted more than 12 games. “This will be quoted. Everyone calms down.”
It’s hard to calm down when Los Angeles is noisy.
“I try to stay inside my house as much as possible,” said the UCLA quarterback aka DTR. “Stay away from all the noise so I can stay focused. I was there before when we had a great win and a good classification and then we were robbed and no one wanted to deal with us anymore.”
This is life in a city where you are as good as your next tournament. UCLA hasn’t won a Pac-12 race since 1998 when it was a Pac-10 and Bob Toledo got into the game taking the Bruins to their first BCS game. USC has won one Pac-12 title since 2008. Utah is Oregon’s most established powerhouse in the league for the past five years. Since 2018, the champ (40-13, two pac 12s) and the Utes (37-16, one) have been ranked 1-2 in the winning percentage.
Meanwhile, USC is in the midst of one of the biggest shifts in the country this season as it continues to rebound from the 4-8 record in 2021.
“It’s just the beginning,” Riley said. “It’s not a guarantee of anything. That’s when it gets so much fun.”
Riley must know. That’s why USC spent over $100 million over 10 years to get it. The 39-year-old coach had already participated in three CFPs.
UCLA was already building something in Westwood. Dorian Thompson-Robinson picked a fifth year with the Bruins over the NFL after the program showed signs of life at eight 2021 wins. At one time, UCLA matured. DTR coach and Bruins Chip Kelly have been together for five years. The quarterback was a potential four-star player from Las Vegas who committed to Jim Mora Jr. (launched before DTR arrived).
Meanwhile, Kelly has committed to restarting his college career after a largely failed NFL run.
It all took some time. Kelly was extended in December by Jarmond. It was a show of support and commitment. The school could have avoided a potential $9 million buyout by allowing the original contract to expire, but that would have required an eight-figure transfer to a new coach. UCLA was already upside down on the budget, which explains a lot in regards to the move to the Big Ten.
“I think I’m more focused on building something out of the West and playing great football,” Garmond said. “For me, that’s the most important thing. There was a narrative that football on the West Coast wasn’t national. We show the best football that takes place in the West in Los Angeles.”
DTR put himself in the Heisman conversation to set the school’s record for career touchdown passes and lead the league in assists. duke Transferring Jake Bobo became his favorite target, as he led the team in receiving and catching five of his 15 DTR touchdown passes.
“It was a group of men who came on official visits,” Thompson Robinson recalls. “There were attacking stalkers on the visit with [Bobo]. But I had to host those two because I needed some offensive linemen this season. Bobo was there. I didn’t even know he was a recruit. He was kind of in the background, kind of shy.”
This kind of success has raised a question that hasn’t been asked before: Can West Coast football be exported to the Midwest?
The minds of the USC and UCLA are already drifting east. Kelly said this week that his crime “what [Big Ten] Conference is everything. “When he was in New Hampshire, Kelly was inspired by Bill Walsh’s West Coast attack. In the power of FCS, Kelly dubbed it “See Coast Offense.”
We see it, we love it, go and play it,” Kelly said.
Sorry, but Bo Schembechler never crossed his mind when Kelly was chasing champs and attacking defenses with his powerful offense in Oregon 12 or so years ago. Kelly is a progressive thinker focused on program development, nutrition, sleep, and winning the day. We’ll see how it mixes with sausage and beer at 30-degree temperatures.
Kelly’s new defensive coordinator is an old friend, veteran Bill McGovern. Previous Holy Cross He coached the Defensive West Chicago once in 37 years of his career (2020 K .). Nebraska analyst). Bruins’ defense had to improve, and McGovern’s unit went from 107th nationally in 2021 to second in the Pac-12 this season.
“It allows us to be free,” said Stefan Blaylock, a senior safety official. “Anything we want to bring up, we can bring up. We had a lot of player-led meetings. We dined alone. I felt like that brought us together.”
Perhaps a Big Ten affiliation could grow what has been a disappointment in the Rose Bowl this season. Attendance is down more than 24% year over year, the largest drop among Power Five programs, According to D1Ticker. The reasons are many: heat, traffic, opponent quality, and recreational competition.
“I know the [Big Ten] The fan base is amazing. Blaylock, a native of nearby Compton, California, said their arrival here could help fill the stadium more. When I was a recruit, I didn’t want to drive into Pasadena and sit in traffic. Then the parking is crazy too.”
It sounds a lot like game day at The Big House or The Shoe. Here the division appears again.
Milva Thompson Robinson couldn’t be more Michigan. I went to school with the current Michigan AD Warde Manuel. The year she graduated, 1989, Michigan won the NCAA Championship and Rose Bowl.
Her son is still texting with Arizona Coach Jed Fish, whom he met on a recruiting visit in Michigan when Fish was Jim Harbaugh’s assistant.
“I think it would be fun for me to come back as a college kid to pick up some away games and some home games with how good the Big Ten rides,” DTR said.
“I still rejoice at the blue and blue corn,” Milva said. “I think it would be pretty cool if UCLA ended up playing Michigan in the Rose Bowl.”
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