Ted's Takes: Pac-12 Awards, Coaching Changes and Bowl Season Impact

It may be imperfect, but the new College Football Playoff was a win for the Pac-12. Oregon's No. 2 seed and Rose Bowl trip confirmed the conference's standing as second to the SEC. The nonconference records we examined here last week had to play well with the selection committee.

Also winning was Arizona, which was not penalized for a one-sided loss to the same team it had beaten earlier this year. The Wildcats landed a New Year's Day game with a reasonable expectation that they can travel fans to the nearby Fiesta Bowl (unlike the Pac-12 Championship Game). 

Then, the domino effect kicked in and UCLA earned an Alamo Bowl matchup with the Big 12's Kansas State.

Stanford secured a perfect marriage with the Foster Farms (formerly Kraft Hunger) Bowl. The Cardinal have never played in the Bay Area game, now housed in Levi's Stadium—a mere 13 miles from the Palo Alto campus.

Utah fans should descend upon Las Vegas, thrilled to see the Utes back in the bowl business. Same for USC fans, who will see the Trojans meet Nebraska in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl, their best bowl matchup since the 2009 Rose Bowl game with Penn State. 

Breathing easily Sunday night was Washington, the team whose bowl fate was directly tied to Arizona. No New Year's Day game for Arizona would have meant no guaranteed bowl game for the Huskies. So when the last conference domino fell, Washington drew a trip to the Cactus Bowl against Oklahoma State.

Honesty demands that Pac-12 schools have never received better treatment in the bowl process. Credit to Commissioner Larry Scott, who delivered expansion to 12 teams, which meant more TV money, better bowl contracts and, yes, a championship game. Run that concept by Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby this week and brace for the explosion from a man whose league translates "12" to "10," thus no championship game and no CFP berth this year.

Coaching Silly Season

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For those left out of bowls, coaching free agency has begun.

The first impact was in Corvallis, Oregon, but Nebraska may have done both Mike Riley and Oregon State a favor. Riley, universally liked and respected, gets one last chance to win big (and don't sell that concept short to a man who once led an NFL team).

Oregon State also now has a chance to win big, as candidly stated by athletic director Bob De Carolis in a December 8 letter addressed to Beaver Nation (h/t Gina Mizell of The Oregonian).

"Last week's announcement that Mike Riley would become the head coach at the University of Nebraska created new opportunities for Oregon State University and our football program."

De Carolis now has the potential to replace Riley. He can survey the field and give Beavers football a fresh start. It could be an experienced candidate—former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford's agent has already started the media sales pitch—or a rising coach, similar to OSU's hire of Wayne Tinkle in men's basketball. 

Meanwhile, there is damage control underway in Pullman, Washington, where Washington State is trying to conceal disappointment over the lack of progress in head coach Mike Leach's three seasons. 

Leach dismissed two coaches last week, including defensive coordinator Mike Breske. The poor season was blamed on injuries and the team's youth (Leach has had three recruiting classes), while the head coach accepts no accountability.

Houston? It fired head coach Tony Levine Sunday, and KTRK-TV in Houston linked Leach to the opening, a report WSU would go on to deny, according to Jacob Thorpe of The Spokesman-Review. Would the Cougars of Houston follow Nebraska and relieve the Cougars of Pullman of a $2.75 million annual salary owed to Leach? 

Pac-12 Awards

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Best Player: Oregon's Marcus Mariota performed at an elite level with full scrutiny on him. He had the utmost responsibility to lead his team to the first CFP while hoping to place himself in the Heisman Trophy race. Success on both counts. He should lift the Heisman Saturday and then prepare for January.

Best Coach: We get to revote on this one. In mid-November, Arizona State's Todd Graham was anointed in this space. But Arizona's Rich Rodriguez charged on the outside to steal this award in the final weeks. Simple standard: If you rated the talent level of the five teams that contended for the South title, Arizona would land no higher than third, perhaps fourth.

Reaching the Fiesta Bowl makes Rodriguez the most important offseason Pac-12 target. Arizona AD Greg Byrne has to be feverishly working on a retention package. Memo to Greg: Don't be afraid to ask your basketball alums for help, all of whom are proud to see their school relevant in football.

Best Defensive Player: Arizona's Scooby Wright III was voted this honor by the conference coaches for a season that could also include most improved honors.

Watching Wright play reminded me of 49ers rookie linebacker Chris Borland. They look small but play much bigger. When the play ends, more often than not, they are at the ball. The best news for the Wildcats is that they'll have at least one more year of Wright as the anchor of the defense.

Underrated Player, Upper-class Division: Here is a sure trivia stumper for your next bar bet: Which school had the most defensive players chosen as first-team All-Pac-12?

Answer: Washington, with three. There was the all-around brilliance of Shaq Thompson, a junior who must be looking at the NFL draft (I have seen projections of Thompson as a first-round pick), and the pass-rushing sack master in Hau'oli Kikaha. But the anchor, both in body and spirit, was defensive tackle Danny Shelton. His physique is mind-blowing, redefining short and squat with calves the thickness of redwood trunks.

Then you see Shelton defy his appearance and play with athleticism. In the Apple Cup, an instant before the ball was snapped, he dropped to the ground, did a 360-degree roll to the right, popped back into his stance and blew past the center at the snap to attack the quarterback. All this was accomplished in a second. I had to rewind the play many times to soak in Shelton's agility.

Underrated Player, Upper-class Division (Round 2): Who was the best quarterback in Los Angeles this season? I submit Cody Kessler.

Expectations were lower, but a USC quarterback is never anonymous. There were moments (the Hail Mary thrown by Arizona State, a backwards pass that was left untouched and returned for a touchdown by Utah) where the Trojans appeared to be a mix of unaware and unprepared.

But Kessler stood as a rock amidst the ups and downs, commanding an early-season win at Stanford and a decisive smackdown of Notre Dame. Kessler can let the numbers talk: 70.7 completion percentage and 36 TD passes against only four interceptions (Mariota was 36/2.)

Underrated Player, Freshman Division: Trivia question 2: Which back had the most runs of 20 or more yards in the Pac-12?

Answer: Nick Wilson, Arizona freshman, with 12.

That was more than USC's Buck Allen, UCLA's Paul Perkins and Utah's Devontae Booker, all of whom were voted all-conference. It was more than the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, Oregon's Royce Freeman. Wilson scored three touchdowns in the division-clinching win over Arizona State and teamed with Terris Jones-Grigsby for over 200 rushing yards in the regular-season win over Oregon.

If Wilson played for one of the Los Angeles schools, his reputation would be on par with Freeman.

Underperformer of the Year: UCLA's Brett Hundley. Unfair, perhaps, but so is the world of magazine covers, Heisman hype and potential draft glory. Hundley had tremendous moments—most notably the win over USC—but a desolate performance against Stanford cost Hundley the chance to play underneath the brightest lights.

How attractive would Hundley vs. Mariota have been last Friday night in the Pac-12 title game? Instead, UCLA plays a second-tier bowl game, and Hundley heads into a draft world more uncertain than he ever could have imagined back in September.

 
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.