Postscripts: Will Arizona and Utah Dominate in the Big 12?
What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, let’s talk about how “no one cares about bowl games,” Michael Penix’s Sugar Bowl faux pas and the “dominance” of the incoming Big 12 football programs.
The ‘Meaning’ Of A Bowl Game
This is the time of year that you hear a lot of people say, “No one cares about bowl games.”
That’s not accurate. What those people are really saying is, “I don’t care about bowl games.”
And, if you don’t, that’s cool. To be honest, I really don’t pay much attention to them. I wrote our West Virginia piece for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and I watched the game, but only because that was my assignment. And, frankly, a three-plus hour informercial for a condiment I wouldn’t choose to put on my worst meal is not my idea of fun. Now, whichever one of my colleagues drew the Pop-Tarts Bowl, good for him. That’s more my speed. Frosted cherry for me.
I pay attention to the College Football Playoff semifinals and the title game, no matter who is in it. But, frankly, the other bowls games don’t move the needle for me.
But I never confuse my preference with the belief that there are plenty of others out there that DO care.
The players care. They wouldn’t play in them if they didn’t. Even the ones who opt out, I think, want to play but are protecting their futures, especially the ones headed to the NFL.
The coaches care. They get 15 extra practices out of it and get a jump start on next season.
The fans care. Who do you think goes to these games?
The TV networks care. It would, however, be nice to talk more about other bowl games and not so much about the CFP during, say, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl?
Plenty of people care about these games. That’s why they keep getting played each year and they show no signs of going away, even with an expanded playoff. Heck, the Pop-Tarts Bowl was, as of Dec. 28, the highest-rated bowl game of the season.
So, if you enjoy them, watch them. Go to them. I’ve been to plenty as media. They are fun. Don’t give a thought to those that think “no one cares” because they’re obviously speaking for themselves and not for others.
By the way, the Big 12 starting 5-1 in bowl season is great for the league. But it also has no bearing at all on whether the league is better than another league. Never has been, never will be.
Don’t Be Like Mike
As in Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
During media day at the Sugar Bowl, Penix took time out to, you know, talk about Texas and the Big 12. He wasn’t going the flattery route.
So that’s fun. Never give your opponent bulletin board material, no matter how benign you may think it is. Texas is just gonna use this as fuel. Other Washington players went that route, too.
As for the Big 12, go ask coach Steve Sarkisian and his players how tough those Big 12 teams were this year. You’ll get a much different answer, one much closer to the truth about the depth and quality of the conference that Texas had to fight through to win.
Canzano is Back
Big 12 fans’ favorite Pac-12 sunshine pumper, John Canzano, has been relatively quiet this football season (I mean there was work to be done). But, earlier this week, he published a piece called “Running toward 2024… with a look back.”
I don’t have a subscription, but here’s the relevant bit, thanks to a screenshot.
I’m sorry, but, no Arizona and Utah are not going to walk into the Big 12 and be dominant ASAP. That’s nothing against Arizona and Utah, either. Both should be competitive in Year 1, coming from a Power 5 league. But his statement completely diminishes what the Big 12 HAS coming back in 2024, including an Oklahoma State team that went to the Big 12 title game and teams like Kansas State, Kansas and Texas Tech that should be serious contenders.
The only truly dominant team in the Big 12 this year was Texas, and even the Longhorns lost a game. I’m not sure what “dominant” means to Canzano, but to me it means you lose maybe one game the entire season. That’s what Texas did. That’s dominant.
Arizona finished with a 10-win season but lost three games to Washington, USC and Mississippi State. No shame in the losses to USC and Washington. But, still, that’s three losses. A great season, but not dominant to me.
As for Utah, for all its talk about wanting to be in the Big Ten this summer, the Utes went 8-5, were drilled by Arizona and lost their bowl game.
So, dominant? No. Competitive? Absolutely. Canzano has emerged as the west coast’s version of Paul Finebaum. He fancies himself an expert in everything outside of his actual expertise. In Paul’s case it’s whenever the SEC’s favorite analyst talks about Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh (and he does so a lot).
In John’s case its talking about two teams leaving the conference he’s covered for years who are going to go “dominate” a conference he knows nothing about.
But, hey, to each his own.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
