thependulumswings

With but two weeks to go in the NCAA Football regular season the ink may not be entirely dry, but the dye is mostly cast.  Sure, there are a few “what if’s” available to stoke the fire of the passion of fan bases.

But, for many teams the season’s promise was bright as summer turned to fall.  Now, as fall turns to winter, that promise has turned darker than late afternoon post the change in daylight savings time.  You set you clocks back while some team’s performance set their programs back.

So who are they?  Who are those teams that fell significantly short of meeting the expectations of their followers?  Disappointment can and does come from a few angles.  The program’s history builds in annual minimum standards.  A new, and maybe highly paid, coach can further that.  A good recruiting year or three can further that.  Some teams are bad but somewhat expected.  Some are disappointing and somewhat unexpected.

Today we begin part one of our series scanning each of the Power 5 conferences to select the most disappointing performance.  We’ll start out west and work our way east.

PAC 12

Most Disappointing

In 2016 Washington made the FBS playoffs as a four seed.  2019 is respected head coach Chris Petersen’s sixth year at the helm.  Therefore his system(s) are in place.  His culture is in place.  And, it’s his coaching staff and his recruits.  In 2016-2018 ten or more win seasons were the norm.  The PAC 12 seemed like it would come down to three teams vying for supremacy.  Oregon, Utah, and Washington were the preseason favs.  Oregon and Utah have lived up to the billing.  Each has one loss and seem to be on a collision course in the PAC 12 Championship game.

Washington returned several starters from a top 15 nationally ranked defense.  On offense talented, but unproven, Jacob Eason took over at QB.  The five star recruit started at Georgia as a freshman before transferring back closer to home.

The Huskies gave us a hint of what was to come dropping a 20-19 contest at home to California in week two.  In week six they traveled to Stanford and fell 23-13.  The Cardinal isn’t a very good team this year either.  Close home losses in back to back games to Oregon and Utah sealed their fate for 2019.

Their record is 6-4 overall, but only 3-4 in the conference.  They travel to Colorado before a season ending home rivalry game v. Washington St.  Washington is bowl eligible but they aren’t going anywhere near any bowl they aspired to prior to the start of the year.

Washington is the most disappointing PAC 12 team this year.

Also Considered

BBR took a good look at Arizona as well.  Year two for Kevin Sumlin is headed in the wrong direction.  His record overall is 9-11 and counting until Arizona cuts him loose.  Maybe he gets a third year.  Maybe.  The Wildcats are 2-5 in conference and 4-6 overall.  They’ve lost five straight.  With Utah and Arizona St ahead a 4-8 record is probable.  Their wins are over Northern Arizona, UCLA, and a fading Colorado team.  Whoop tee do.  The season began with a loss to Hawaii.  Ouch.

If expectations were higher they might have beat out Washington for the top spot.  But, if Kevin Sumlin is your coach and you have high expectations you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Tomorrow we take a look at Big 12 and the ACC.  And, as we do you’ll see that Kevin Sumlin isn’t the only year two coach who’s fallen short of alumni, booster, and fan expectations.