Tag: Pac-12 Conference

USC to not play Notre Dame for the first time since 1945

No Irish

The Pac-12 was the next major conference to announce a massive shakeup in their scheduling for this fall’s football season. The Pac-12 joined the Big Ten in playing a conference-only schedule should the football season take place this fall. The news was first reported by Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic and then confirmed by the official announcement from the Pac-12 just moments ago.

With the Trojans playing a conference-only schedule, this means they will not play their biggest non-UCLA rival within one of college football’s longest-running inter-sectional rivalries. Yes, USC will not play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the first time since 1945. The last time the Trojans didn’t play the Irish was the 1943-’45 window during World War II. Coronavirus (and, one could argue, bad American governance) will now be the reason they don’t play for the first time in 75 years.

The Trojans will also avoid playing the Alabama Crimson Tide to open the season. In this specific sense, the Trojans likely dodged a bullet. The Crimson Tide were favorites to win the SEC and compete for a national championship come the winter. With everything up in the air and little time to prepare for these games, it’s probably a good idea that this game isn’t being played. It’s the highest level of football you can get; a lack of prep time is the easiest way to ensure injuries on both teams.

You simply need more time to play a game like this and the powers that be couldn’t do that safely. To that end, it’s a good thing that USC and Alabama will not play this year, but let’s hope the two schools find a way to reschedule a game that would be highly entertaining. It deserves to be played when the country isn’t being swarmed by a pandemic.

Another team that will lose out on playing USC is New Mexico. Similar to the Alabama game but inverted, it’s probably a good thing for New Mexico that the Lobos won’t have to play USC for all the reasons listed above; injuries and lack of prep time just don’t bode well for a team with an already glaring physical deficiency in this game. The Lobos will lose a good paycheck, though, and that’s the type of stuff that helps fund other programs.

Pac-12 Announces Conference-Only Football Schedule

The news drops, as expected.

In a move which was expected, following the Big Ten’s announcement of conference-only scheduling and the Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach making this initial report on Thursday, the Pac-12 Conference did indeed announce on Friday a move to a conference-only schedule for the upcoming 2020 football season. The likelihood of the adjusted plan was again reported by Auerbach on Friday afternoon.

The Pac-12 then made the announcement later in the day:

Let’s start with a necessary word of caution: Whether the conference actually plays a football schedule at all this fall remains up in the air following this move.

Trojans Wire explored the feasibility of a conference-only schedule in an article Thursday. It doesn’t seem that a conference-only schedule is going to prevent infections at a rate lower than a full schedule would allow. The theory behind a conference-only schedule is that it makes it a bit easier to track and trace, and to generally handle a number of logistical details, but one has to wonder if that’s really the case when taking into account the massive geographical expanse covered by the Pac-12 Conference.

The Pac-12 Conference covers six states, reaching as far north as Pullman, Washington, as far east as Boulder, Colorado, and as south as Tucson, Arizona. There’s a lot of travel and a number of precautions to take in the league. The Pac-12, occupying the Western United States, is spread out in ways most other conferences aren’t. Lots of SEC, ACC, and Big Ten teams coexist in relatively close proximity. Some schools in those Power Five conferences must fly long distances to play each other, but the Pac-12 has more long commutes for each of its member schools.

The Oregon schools and the Washington schools aren’t too far apart; the same goes for the Los Angeles schools and the Arizona schools… but in terms of all 12 schools traveling to other game sites, there aren’t as many short hops as there are in other Power Five leagues. It’s quite an undertaking and seems a difficult task to pull off.

If this allows the conference a better shot at handling these issues, I’m all for the Pac-12 playing a conference-only schedule. My suspicion, however, is that we will see this conversation be revisited fairly soon. One FCS league has already ditched fall football, so it wouldn’t be too shocking to see other leagues follow suit.

Another aspect to consider here is the financial cost of traveling these distances in an economic downturn. At a time when schools, including Stanford in the Pac-12, are cutting large swaths of sports, traveling all over the West Coast might not be the most prudent financial decision. It’s certainly difficult to justify when other students are being told their entire worlds are about to change. Any way you slice it, playing college football in the fall is going to be a chore. Whatever decisions these schools take should have athlete safety at the top of the priority list.

It’s time to stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen

Real talk about the present moment

What a week of turmoil and tumult for college sports.

Wednesday it was announced that Ohio State football had suspended voluntary workouts. That was just the beginning. On Thursday, it was announced the Big Ten had suspended all non-conference games and would only be playing a conference schedule this fall. Shortly after this announcement, the Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach said that the Pac-12 could soon adopt a conference-only schedule. This report was then confirmed by another reporter. These events represent a series of dominoes falling, one by one, and each of them moves college football one step closer to being canceled in its entirety for the current sports cycle (through June of 2021) or potentially moved to the spring.

But it’s clear from the rising cases and death tolls that the officials and powers that be should stop trying to make a season happen this year. It’s simply just not safe enough or worth the risk. The current administration has show no inclination to prevent further contamination, they’re currently telling folks that they need to learn to live with the disease. While younger people are less prone to dying, even one athlete’s life is not worth the risk of playing a game. Sports are the reward of a functioning society and we’re not there yet as a nation.

Football is great. I love the sport and hate that we have so few sports to watch right now. That said, I fully understand why we shouldn’t be playing them even as other nations are. They actually listened to scientists, stayed inside, wore masks, and the curve flattened and allowed them to return to a normal way of life. Not a single state has done that here in America, Washington probably comes the closest.

If fans want to see college football this fall, the formula is clear as day. Wash your hands, social distancing is a must, wear a mask, and self-quarantine. These simple items will do wonders in returning life to normal. When life returns to normal, sports will be back with a vengeance. Athletes want to play, fans want to see them play, but it’s imperative that they are healthy and safe when they play. If that can’t happen, then they shouldn’t be playing.

Arizona at UCLA college basketball odds, picks and best bets

Analyzing Arizona at UCLA sports betting odds and lines, with college basketball betting picks and tips.

The Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 9-6 Pac-12) visit the conference rival UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5) Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion for a 10 p.m. ET tip-off. We analyze the Arizona-UCLA odds and betting lines, with college basketball betting advice and tips around this matchup.

Arizona at UCLA: Three things you need to know

  1. Arizona has lost back-to-back games to the USC Trojans (57-48 last Thursday) and the Oregon Ducks (73-72 in overtime last Saturday). The Wildcats are still tied at No. 24 in the USA TODAY men’s college basketball poll even though they are in fifth in the Pac-12 standings.
  2. UCLA is tied with Oregon atop the Pac-12 with an 11-5 conference record. The Bruins come into this game on a six-game winning streak that includes a last-second 75-72 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils Thursday.
  3. UCLA smashed Arizona, 65-52, to start their current winning streak. The Bruins held Wildcats’ projected NBA lottery pick, Nico Mannion, to just five points on 2-of-14 shooting.

Get some action on this college basketball matchup or others by placing a legal sports bet at BetMGM! New customer offer: Risk-free first bet! Visit BetMGM for terms and conditions.

Arizona at UCLA: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Prediction

UCLA 69, Arizona 63

Moneyline (ML)

This is a great spot for UCLA (+105), which has beaten Arizona (-129) in three of their previous four meetings. First, the talent is virtually similar as both teams have seven top-100 RSCI ranked recruits on their team. Second, UCLA stunned Arizona in Tucson as a 12.5-point underdog in their first game of the season, so you know the Bruins want to take the season series against their conference rivals. Third, the Bruins have a winning record against ranked opponents (3-2) while the Wildcats are just 1-4 against ranked foes so far this season.

BET UCLA +105. New to sports betting? Bet $50 on UCLA +105 to earn a $52.50 profit if they win outright.

Against the Spread (ATS)

Personally, UCLA +2.5 (-121) is on the fringe of too much vig for insurance. The last Arizona-UCLA meeting to be decided by two or less was all the way back in 2013 (14 Arizona-UCLA games ago). For what it’s worth, the Bruins are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six home games and 4-1 ATS in their last five games as an underdog.

I LEAN UCLA +2.5 (-121) for insurance on our moneyline play. New to sports betting? Bet $121 on UCLA to earn a $100 profit if the Bruins win or lose by two or less.

Over/Under (O/U)

Three of the previous four Arizona-UCLA meetings went Under the projected total. Outside of that, there isn’t a trend that pushes me in either direction. Their combined Over/Under record against ranked opponents is 6-4 but against Pac-12 teams they are a combined 14-16-1 O/U.

PASS ON THE TOTAL (135.5).

Want some action on this matchup? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @Geoffery_Clark and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

[lawrence-newsletter]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1667]