Ted Miller, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Mailbag: SEC scheduling, Heisman controversy

Greetings. Welcome to the Mailbag.

If you are pursuing enlightenment, then go here.

To the notes.

Bryce from San Francisco writes:  It's already been established that many SEC teams are a bunch of cowards, afraid to visit another conference powerhouse (no, LSU fans, Cowboys Stadium doesn't count as a road game). My question is if the playoff committee will see all these SEC teams backing out of tough games to schedule patsies and reward the Pac-12 while punishing the SEC for their scheduling. The SEC deserves to be docked for softening their schedule. And the Pac-12 should be rewarded for trying to play the best, even when other conferences are too scared to.

Ted Miller: Well, hold on now. LSU has done home-and-homes with Arizona, Arizona State and Washington in the not too distant past, and let's just say that Tigers fans have room to crow about the results, particularly those who continue to smart about finishing ranked second in 2003 behind consensus national champion USC.

In general, the SEC has significantly upgraded its nonconference schedules over the past several years and there's been a concerted effort to continue that trend going forward. LSU has led the way, but Alabama also deserves credit, while Auburn earns kudos for its series with Kansas State. Though Georgia chickened out of a series with Oregon knowing it would go 0-2, the Bulldogs did do a home-and-home with Arizona State and have scheduled one with Notre Dame while continuing their rivalry series with Georgia Tech. In 2017, Florida plays Florida State and Michigan, and Texas A&M, after dropping Oregon and USC, has added Arizona State and UCLA.

The big issue for the SEC as we move into the College Football Playoff Era is not so much the nonconference slate. It's the SEC's eight-game conference schedule. That provides a institutionalized shortcut with the singular intention of avoiding competition that should operate as an automatic demerit for a contending SEC team during committee deliberations, particularly when the nonconference schedule is lacking.

I believe it will, perhaps as soon as this season, and when the selection committee confirms my belief and enrages an SEC fan base, the next SEC commissioner will push his conference to make the change.

Ah, but nonconference scheduling will be an issue this year, and I believe the committee will make it clear that cowardly scheduling has its own risks.

That brings us to the Mississippi schools as well as Baylor. While Ole Miss did take a minor step forward with a game with Boise State, even that doesn't hold the credibility it did a few years ago. Meanwhile, Mississippi State's and Baylor's nonconference schedules are a joke. They are offensive to the ideas of courage, honor, masculinity and all that is right and good. Hemingway and Maximus Decimus Meridius and Dirty Harry have personally communicated outrage to the Pac-12 blog. I may overstate things but only by a little.

What that means is pretty simple. Ole Miss, Mississippi State and/or Baylor should be significantly burdened when it comes to eclipsing a team from, say, the Pac-12 with the same record, particularly if they don't win their conference title.

So my answer is I expect the committee to provide the Pac-12 champion a positive click automatically, one that won't be available to any other conference, based on the tough nonconference schedules, nine-game conference schedules and conference title game.


Jeff from Corvallis, Oregon, writes:  More an observation. Other Pac-12 schools seem to be getting better in a positive way, Utah, Cal, UCLA, both Arizona schools, even WSU is competitive! Oregon State seems to be flat-lining while other schools are trending up. Riley the most underrated coach, yeah, OK, but 6-6 or 7-4 in a season, appears OSU will be left our of a bowl this season and losing to the Ducks every season is getting old. Every season clock-management is horrible, the red zone is like our kryptonite (except for last year) and play calling is head-scratching most of the time. Getting tired of hearing that every loss is a learning experience ... shouldn't we be undefeated by now then, with all of our losses and experiences gained? I think a change is needed. I feel better now, Pac-12 Blog, that is now off my chest. ... Thanks for listening to a disgruntled Beaver fan.

Ted Miller: You are welcome.

I understand your frustration. It's not illegitimate. It's difficult to see your team struggle while your rival thrives. And I know that many who have long supported Mike Riley are starting to wonder about the direction of the program.

I have two initial thoughts. First, let's see how things play out. Plenty of season left. Second, man, I'd be more optimistic about the rest of the season if I didn't just peruse your injury list, which features a few substantial hits to the offensive (Isaac Seumalo, Gavin Andrews) and defensive lines (Jalen Grimble), not to mention a big hit at receiver (Richard Mullaney).

Hey, injuries are part of the game. Get it. Still, ask Oregon fans what might have been if it had both starting offensive tackles all season. Of course, just about every Pac-12 team has an injury sob story.

My simple suggestion is not unlike what I once told California fans about Jeff Tedford and Utah fans about Kyle Whittingham: Tread lightly. Don't be emotional. Consider the big picture. I think things had run their course with Tedford at Cal, and I think the Bears decision to cut ties after the 2012 season was entirely justifiable. I also think Utes fans might be seeing the benefits of staying the course with Whittingham this season.

You will be hard-pressed to find too many football folks who don't believe Riley is a good coach. While the Beavers were unquestionably down in 2010 and 2011, they've still posted winning records in four of the past six seasons, twice winning nine games. On the other hand, if Oregon State finishes with a losing record, the Riley critics out there can say the Beavers have posted losing records in three of their last five seasons. They will insist that the program shouldn't settle for mediocrity and that the right coach can win in Corvallis.

(I'd recommend then asking who that coach would be.)

If the Beavers do finish with a losing record, it would be justifiable to consider a change. That wouldn't be my recommendation, but it would not be unjustifiable.


Rosie from Seattle writes: Is there a problem with UW's QB situation? Cyler Miles doesn't look confident and is concussed. Lindquist seems to have fallen behind Troy Williams. I'm just curious if we see Jake Browning come in next January and finally lead the Dawgs to a victory at Oregon and a 10-win season.

Ted Miller: The Huskies rank last in the Pac-12 in passing and 10th in pass efficiency. So, yeah, the QB play hasn't been great and that is a problem for a team trying to move up in the conference and North Division pecking order. That stands out even more when you see so many young QBs over the past few years, including Arizona redshirt freshman Anu Solomon this year, doing well.

If things continue to muddle around with the offense -- it's also last in the conference in total yards and yards per play -- I'd rate the touted Browning's chances to start next year pretty good, though I'm typically skeptical of incoming players until they prove what they can do against college competition.

I'd also rate the middling play of the offensive line as an equal disappointment as the production behind center, though obviously the two are tightly knotted together.


Doug from Portland writes: Whenever I read up on who the experts have picked for the Heisman, I get a little annoyed. Mariota is a generational talent (I'm only slightly biased as a Ducks fan) and is putting up exceptional numbers in several statistical categories. But he can't seem to get past the "flavor of the week." (No offense to Dak this week and to Everett in the next.) Has the race always been this historically fickle or is this a relatively new development? Furthermore, it seems the Pac-12, which regularly produces the best professional quarterbacks ... you know, the position that has won the award a bazillion times, can't seem to score a Heisman winner these days outside of USC. Do you have to be a Trojan to win the Heisman out West?

Ted Miller: It's easy to be disgruntled when we speak in non-specific generalities, but which season bothers your most?

The only recent Heisman winner I'd rate as controversial would be Alabama RB Mark Ingram over Stanford RB Toby Gerhart in 2009, though plenty of folks wanted to invoke a character clause with Cam Newton vs. Andrew Luck in 2010. Otherwise, the winners put up such great numbers, often for teams that significantly exceeded expectations, I have no problem with how the voting went.

If Mariota maintains his present numbers and the Ducks win the Pac-12, he's going to win the Heisman Trophy.

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