Larry Scott: A PAC-10 and PAC-12 College Football Review and Preview for the 2011 Season

This is part one in a series previewing the PAC-12 2011 season.

The rollercoaster ride continues for PAC-10, now PAC-12 commissioner Larry Scott in 2011. When Scott took the reigns as commissioner in July of 2009, all was great in PAC-10 football land. USC was coming off a dominate 2008 football season that saw the school finish with a 12-1 record (the one loss to Oregon State in Corvallis 27-21), an early season thrashing of BCS heavyweight Ohio State (35-3), a Rose Bowl win over Penn State (38-24), and their seventh straight PAC-10 conference title.

The rest of the PAC-10 was pretty good as well. Half of the schools in conference made a bowl with great results during the 2008 bowl season going 5-0; Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State 38-24, Holiday Bowl Oregon 42 vs. Oklahoma State 31, Sun Bowl: Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh 3-0, Emerald Bowl: California vs. Miami 24-17, Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona vs. BYU 31-21. All was seemingly great for PAC-10 football. Expansion was bantered about as soon as Scott took over but no serious discussions took place. Why would one want to expand the successful conference and what teams would help bolster the conferences status across the academic and sports board? The upcoming highlights and low lights no one could have predicted.

The rollercoaster ride began in week one of the 2009 football season for Larry Scott. #14 Oregon lost to #16 Boise State 19-8. After the game Oregon running back LaGarrette Blount (now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) punched Boise State defensive end Byron Hout and was subsequently suspended until November 9, when he was reinstated by the school with Scott’s permission. Nine days after the Oregon loss, UCLA pulls off a major upset at the University of Tennessee beating the Vols 19-15. On the same day #3 USC beats Ohio State 18-15 in Columbus on a last minute touchdown by running back Stafon Johnson. On September 28, Johnson would end his season in a tragic weight room accident when a barbell crushed his vocal cords, adam’s apple, and tore his neck muscles.

Parity in a tough conference ensued as each team took turns pulling upsets throughout the season. When the smoke cleared, Oregon would claim the conference championship and end the season ranked #11, Toby Gerhart finished second in the Heisman Trophy race to Alabama running back Mark Ingram, Jr. in the closest Heisman voting ever, and #22 USC at 9-4 is the only other PAC-10 team to finish the season ranked. Seven PAC-10 teams made a bowl due to the winning capabilities each team showed during intra-conference games. The downside is only two of the seven teams won their less acclaimed bowl games; Emerald Bowl: USC vs. Boston College 24-13, Eagle Bank Bowl: UCLA vs. Temple 30-21.

2010 kept the ride going for Scott. In January, then USC head coach Pete Carroll resigned from his position and took over as the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin, a former offensive coordinator at USC, resigned to take over as head coach for USC after one year as the Vols head coach amongst a national college football controversy. In February Oregon running back LaMichael James (a 2010 Heisman finalist and 2010 Doak Walker Award winner) was arrested on charges of fourth-degree assault, physical harassment, and strangulation; he pleaded not guilty. In June Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the team after being arrested for marijuana possession during a traffic stop. Masoli was on suspension during his drug arrest for the entire 2010 season after pleading guilty to second-degree burglary charges in March; he pleaded guilty to stealing two laptops and a projector from a campus fraternity house.

June 10, the announcement day of a monumental change for Larry Scott and the PAC-10, the NCAA handed down their sanctions regarding former USC running back Reggie Bush; sanctions included a loss of scholarships and a two year bowl ban. On the same day Scott wisely followed through with his announcement that Colorado will join the PAC-10 as their 11^th conference member. The University of Utah’s announcement as the PAC-12 twelfth member would follow seven days later.

The importance of the PAC-10 adding two conference members seemed to be overshadowed by the turmoil surrounding the programs currently involved. Utah a program of prominence over the past five years, including an undefeated season in 2008, was welcomed by the national media as a “great get for the PAC-10”. The University of Colorado on the other hand had been a low functioning Big 12 team over the previous five years with only one bowl appearance; Independence Bowl in 2007. The addition of the two teams would finally add legitimacy to the BCS power conference by having an end of the season conference championship game. The addition of a championship game means more revenue for the conference and teams involved. Scott was able to parlay the television rights to the first PAC-12 Championship Game to Fox for $14.5 million; the game is to air on December 3, 2011.

With the promise of an exciting future, little of that excitement translated into positive commentary for the PAC-10 when the 2010 Associated Press college football preseason rankings came out. Only three PAC-10 teams were listed; Oregon #11, USC #14, Oregon State #24. USC and Oregon State would only spend a few weeks ranked while Arizona would spend the majority of the season in the top 25 before falling out of the top 25 two weeks before seasons end on the tails of a five game losing streak. Despite finishing the season with a 6-6 record, Arizona State would not be eligible for post season play because two of their victories were over Football Championship Series teams, formerly known as Division 1-AA.

The biggest surprise of the 2010 season was Stanford; yes bigger than Oregon’s run. After the departure of Toby Gerhart to the Minnesota Vikings, many pundits did not give the Cardinal much of a chance. The rise of Andrew Luck to All-American quarterback status would change the fortunes for the 2010 Cardinal team and head coach Jim Harbaugh; Harbaugh left Stanford to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers on January 7, 2011 after 4 years in Palo Alto. Stanford cruised through the season with only one loss to eventual BCS National Championship runner-up, University of Oregon, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Harbaugh coached the Cardinal to a 12-1 record and a convincing win over ACC champion #12 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl winning 40-12.

Overshadowing the spot light of the Cardinal run was University of Oregon. Ducks’ second year head coach Chip Kelly would bring more excitement and hope to the Oregon faithful. During the 2010 season the Ducks would be ranked #1 in the Associated Press college football rankings for the first time in school history, finish the season with a school record 12 wins, finish the regular season undefeated with no ties for the first time in school history, and see their head coach win the Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award.

The Ducks high powered offense averaged 49.3 points per game easily outpacing all of their opponents, except for the Cal Bears (15-13). A heartbreaking loss to Auburn in the BCS National Championship Game (22-19) only fuels the fire and expectations for the 2011 Oregon Ducks team.

What will become of the newly formed PAC-12 in 2011?

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USC took the hardest hit I’ve seen in a while!

The NCAA has issued their ruling on USC’s appeal to reduce the punishment previously issued to their athletic department and their football program. With a strong and commanding NO to USC, the NCAA upheld all sanctions previously imposed.  Now the men and women of Troy are crying foul, but why? Clearly they are they thinking as fans of the program and they are not thinking of the betterment of college athletics.

Here’s a quick recap of the major highlights that lead to the NCAA’s ruling against USC on the grounds of a lack of institutional control. Reggie Bush’s family was given a $600,000 house to live in and Reggie Bush was given money and gifts by multiple agents while at USC; let’s not forget that Bush was such a standup guy that he shunned one of the agents that was giving him money once he “officially” became a pro athlete, he was taking money and gifts from anyone and everyone. An assistant on the football staff, Todd McNair, was aware of some of the gifts bestowed to Bush and his family, and did nothing to stop it or report it.

OJ Mayo, a former guard on USC’s men’s basketball team, received cash directly from then head coach, Tim Floyd, to play at USC. This does not include the front row seats to NBA games and other gifts given to Mayo while playing at USC.

Remember these are just the quick highlights. Who knows what else happened that has not been made public?

USC fans stop crying. You knew this day was coming. If you’re looking for someone to blame, blame Pete Carroll. Carroll knew what was going on, he knew what sanctions were coming to the program, and he jumped ship to the NFL. He’s another fine example of a great leader of our children! What says you Jim Tressel?

The NCAA upheld their decision to impose a two-year bowl ban on USC’s football program and a reduction of thirty, yes, 30 scholarships over three years, 10 recruits per year, and I couldn’t be happier. I understand their punishment is a huge hit, one that would be devastating to any football program, even a program that recruits as well as USC. To put this into another perspective, NCAA division 1 football teams are only allowed to sign 25 recruits each year; certain exceptions to this rule such as loss of scholarships due to transferring, etc are sometimes made. USC will only be allowed to sign 15 new players each year over the next three years. I hope they recruit really well and don’t have any injury issues or they’re in for a long three years (Hey Washington State, this is your one and only chance to beat USC!). Once their recruiting ban is lifted, it will realistically take USC a couple of years to develop quality depth on their football team from that point. This really seems more like a 5 year punishment if they’re lucky.

As for Lane Kiffin, the current head football coach at USC; he was on staff during the Bush years thus I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Kiffin seemed to keep falling forward rather than backwards as he jumped from one coaching failure to the next after leaving USC as their offensive coordinator. He hasn’t been successful since he left USC and he handled the University of Tennessee and Oakland Raiders coaching jobs poorly. Somehow Kiffin seemed to keep falling forward with his coaching opportunities and managed to land the head coaching job at USC (thanks Papa Kiffin!); until recently USC was considered one of the top football coaching jobs in the nation. Time will tell if Kiffin will keep falling forward or if his string of luck has finally ended, coming full circle to face the punishment for the good fortune he reaped because of his NCAA determined illegal stint previously at USC.

Just to clarify, I’ve never agreed with kids paying the price for those that have come before them. If the person in front of me ran a red light but I stopped, why should I get punished for their actions just because I’m occupying their old space? This is how I perceive the NCAA’s sanctions on bowl restrictions and post season play on kids that had nothing to do with the previous team’s misconduct.

I also think it is wrong to take scholarships away from students that may not get an opportunity to go to college otherwise. If USC is not awarding 30 scholarships over then next 3 years that means 30 kids will not get a chance to go to college. I understand that the 5, 4, and 3 star recruits they normally recruit will still get a chance to play somewhere else but 30 kids towards the bottom of the talent pool will now miss out. The NCAA should force these teams to put the loss of those scholarships towards other students in need. If those scholarships stay within their sports programs, so be it. Someone should still receive the benefit of that college education.

I’ve always thought a player and/or coach should be held responsible for the infractions they committed even if they are no longer at said university. Reggie Bush, OJ Mayo, Tim Floyd, and Pete Carroll should have to face some sort of punishment for their NCAA determined illegal benefits. I’m not sure if a monetary fine would be enough or always fair. At the minimum they should have to do a PSA and community service regarding the infractions they committed. The “grab the money and go” and let the chips fall where they may attitude towards the university that was trying to help you is unfair for said school.

Ohio State, Auburn, and Oregon have to be really freaking nervous today! If the NCAA increases the total punishment given to USC upon any school found to be lacking institutional control moving forward, those schools are in for a rude awakening. Let this be a lesson to athletic programs and fans, enjoy the success your team is having now because you will have to pay dearly for it at a later date.

Another note to Mark May, USC fans, and other oblivious sports fans:

If BCS president Bill Hancock decides that USC must relinquish their rights to the 2005 National Championship because of Reggie Bush’s actions, you can no longer say you have won a national championship during the BCS era. The “other” championship you “won” in the 2003-2004 season, you didn’t because that was voted on by the Associated Press not won on the field as agreed upon in a BSC game which is why the BCS was formed… no split championships! That championship belongs to LSU. You can’t change the rules in your favor as you please… I guess if you’re USC you can until you get caught and then not accept your punishment like an adult. 

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