1. 2021 Pac-12 schedule winners and losers
Before the fun gets started, the winners and losers in your 2021 Pac-12 football schedule are …
Winner: USC
And not just a winner. How about the steaming hot pile of winning love with the MASSIVE breaks in the schedule that either scream 1) gross incompetence by the Pac-12 to let this happen, 2) genius by the Pac-12 to help USC get into a position to win the title and maybe have a shot at the College Football Playoff, or 3) all of the above.
What’s the big whoop?
Arizona, Colorado and UCLA all have to play both Oregon and Washington – most likely two of the league’s best teams. Arizona State misses Washington, Utah misses Oregon, and USC MISSES BOTH OF THEM.
USC vs. Oregon, USC vs. Washington – those are it. Those are the money games that people in Florida and Michigan and Delaware would tune in to watch no matter who else is playing on any given Saturday, but nope.
Oh, and if that’s not enough, USC only plays four Pac-12 road games.
There is a run of three games in four weeks starting with Notre Dame, but boo hoo.
Loser: Colorado
You know how Colorado had a surprisingly great first season under Karl Dorrell and turned into one of the Pac-12’s better teams? Yeah, that was fun.
After being served Northern Colorado as a tasty snack, the Buffs get Texas A&M and Arizona State. They get USC at home, but they have to play five Pac-12 road games including at Oregon, at UCLA, at Arizona State and at Utah. Oh, and there’s a home date against Washington from the North, too.
Winner: Washington State
While Washington is going off to play Michigan and Oregon gets a layup at Ohio State, Wazzu will be fighting the good non-conference fight against Utah State and Portland State to start the season. Yeah, BYU isn’t bad, but if that’s your one decent non-conference game – and it’s at home, too – you’re living right.
The Cougars do have to go to Oregon and Washington, and they have to deal with five Pac-12 road games, but overall this slate is built for a decent mid-level bowl appearance.
Loser:ย Stanfordย
The program was tweet-bragging about how it’s playing all 12 games against Power Five teams …
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ง๐๐
๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ ๐จ
โ๏ธ Only school to play 12 P5 opponents
โ๏ธ Only P5 school to begin season with three straight games away from home๐ ยป https://t.co/Usu8xpBzwa#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/pmbmgz962w
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) March 2, 2021
Yeah, that’s great, but that means you’re, well, playing 12 Power Five opponents. Even the easy one of the bunch – Vanderbilt – is on the road.
That’s not enough masochism for the Cardinal.
Not only do they play a rough non-conference slate, but they don’t play at home until September 25th. Not only is that bad, but they have to play USC from the South – on the road.
Not only is thatย bad, but they miss both Arizona and Colorado – probably the two teams from the South you actually would like to play.
There is a wee bit of a break in the scheduling gloom with Oregon and Washington both home games, and with just one road date after October 16th, but closing out with Washington, Utah, at Oregon State, Cal, and Notre Dame isn’t exactly easing out of the 2021 season.
2021 Pac-12 Schedules, Analysisย
North Cal | Oregon | Oregon State
Stanford | Washington | Washington State
South Arizona | Arizona State | Colorado
UCLA | USC | Utah
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