Photo info:
Viva San Antonio! That’s Coug QB Gardner Minshew. But,
what’s with the purple shirt on that person to the right!? (Photo by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services.)
Led by their colorful QB, Cougs arrive in San Antonio
WSU will face Iowa State in Alamo Bowl Friday
By DALE GRUMMERT of the Lewiston Tribune Dec 24, 2018
Led by their colorful QB, Cougs arrive in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO - With the help of an anonymous fan, Gardner
Minshew raised the ante on his season-long ode to the 1970s.
For the Cougars' trip Sunday to San Antonio for this week's
Alamo Bowl, the happy-go-lucky Washington State quarterback donned a garish
Cougar-themed disco suit, complete with a large-collared silver shirt, left
unbuttoned at the top to expose chest hair.
The suit might have been a bit roomy for him. But it fit the
hang-loose mentality he's been trying to foster all season, expressed chiefly
by a Burt Reynolds-inspired mustache, white headband and aviator sunglasses.
"He was meant for that," WSU receiver Kyle Sweet
said of the suit.
It was a gift to the school from an unnamed WSU fan who had
worn it to Cougar games and was ready to retire it, a WSU publicist said. He
wanted to give it a last hurrah, and Minshew gladly complied.
"That's kind of a tradition," WSU coach Mike Leach
said. "A guy sent that - he had worn that for years and years and years,
every game. I don't know the whole story. Somebody mailed that in."
The get-up drew astonished laughter and cheers from a
welcoming party as the Cougars arrived at the Hyatt Regency, San Antonio River
Walk, where they'll be lodging this week as they prepare to face Iowa State on
Friday (6 p.m., ESPN) in the 26th Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome.
Unsurprisingly, a mariachi band welcomed the Cougars in the
hotel lobby. This time, however, it was an all-female trio, representing
Soberano Productions, three of the many women who in recent years have broken
into the traditionally male-dominated mariachi form. Fittingly, their song
selection diverted from bowl tradition - they didn't lead with "Cielito
Lindo."
Embarking from Pullman amid wintry conditions, the No. 12
Cougars were greeted by sunny 65-degree weather and will stage their first San
Antonio practice today at the University of the Incarnate Word, about 10 miles
north of their hotel. That San Antonio school's football team is coached by a
former Leach-era WSU assistant, Eric Morris.
"It's great to be here in sunny weather, and anything
above 25 degrees," Sweet said. "We're excited to see what San Antonio
has to offer."
As usual, Leach responded to Minshew's latest 70s tribute
with shrugging bemusement.
"I grew up in the '70s and was glad when they
ended," he said, "because the music improved. It took them about a
decade, but it got better a little ways after that."
But that didn't stop Leach from posing recently with WSU
quarterbacks in a wacky social-media "Christmas card," featuring
'70s-inspired ugly sweaters and other comic garb. Six of the QBs, including
Minshew, stand side-by-side holding a grinning, horizontal Leach, sporting a
plain gray Cougars sweatshirt.
"I was happy to be in their picture and felt fortunate
I didn't have to wear a sweater," Leach said.
::::::::::::::::::
ALERT FROM NEWS FOR COUGGROUP:
Hope you are Alamo Bowling! Cheer on the Coug football team
in person in San Antonio or at a distance (watch on TV, listen on radio, etc.)
News for CougGroup will be on vacation Dec 27 to Dec 31. There will be no
CougGroup daily email reports those dates. However, during that those dates
there may be some postings at the News for CougGroup Facebook page. News for
CougGroup daily email reports will resume Jan. 1.
Go, Cougs!
:::::::::::::::
Late 3-pointer lifts New Mexico State over Wazzu
Staff and wire reports 13 hrs ago
Lewiston Trib staff and AP reports
LAS VEGAS - New Mexico State has Washington State's number.
For the second time this month, the Aggies toppled the
Cougar men's basketball team, this time 75-72 Sunday in their Las Vegas Classic
finale.
JoJo Zamora made a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds
left and scored 28 points to boost New Mexico State.
Zamora sank 9 of 11 shots, including six 3-pointers, and he
also had seven assists. He was left open against a zone defense and hit the
3-pointer from the corner in front of the NMSU bench.
CJ Elleby scored 20 points to lead WSU (7-5). Carter Skaggs
made all four of his shots from distance and scored 14 points.
AJ Harris added 15 points for NMSU (10-3) and Eli Chuha had
11 points and 12 rebounds. NMSU also beat WSU 69-63 on December 1.
After an offensive rebound, Elleby hit a 3-pointer from the
top of the key to tie it at 72 with 14.3 seconds to go.
The Cougars were without senior starting guard, Viont'e
Daniels for the fourth-straight game due to a concussion.
WSU has a few days off for the holiday before welcoming
Santa Clara at 11 a.m., Saturday at Spokane Arena.
WASHINGTON ST. (7-5)
Elleby 6-11 6-7 20, Franks 2-9 3-4 7, Pollard 4-7 0-0 9,
Cannon 3-4 0-0 8, Robinson 3-4 0-0 7, Kunc 0-1 0-0 0, Wade 0-1 0-0 0, Ali 2-8
3-3 7, Skaggs 4-4 2-2 14. Totals 24-49 14-16 72.
NEW MEXICO ST. (10-3)
Bobbitt 1-4 1-2 3, Aurrecoechea 3-5 0-0 6, Rice 1-4 2-2 4,
Zamora 9-11 4-4 28, Harris 7-16 0-0 15, Chuha 5-5 1-3 11, McCants 0-0 0-0 0,
Henry 0-2 0-0 0, T.Brown 3-9 0-1 8, Buchanan 0-3 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
29-60 8-12 75.
Halftime-New Mexico St. 41-31. 3-Point Goals-Washington St.
10-23 (Skaggs 4-4, Elleby 2-3, Cannon 2-3, Pollard 1-1, Robinson 1-2, Kunc 0-1,
Wade 0-1, Franks 0-4, Ali 0-4), New Mexico St. 9-29 (Zamora 6-8, T.Brown 2-8,
Harris 1-6, Henry 0-1, Rice 0-1, Jones 0-1, Bobbitt 0-2, Buchanan 0-2). Fouled
Out-None. Rebounds-Washington St. 25 (Cannon 6), New Mexico St. 30 (Chuha 12).
Assists-Washington St. 14 (Ali 6), New Mexico St. 16 (Zamora 7). Total Fouls-Washington
St. 16, New Mexico St. 16.
From WSU Sports Info
WASHINGTON STATE VS. NEW MEXICO STATE
SUNDAY, DEC. 23, 2018 – 7 P.M. – ORLEANS ARENA (LAS VEGAS,
NEV.)
LAS VEGAS CLASSIC
FINAL SCORE: NMSU 75, WSU 72
POSTGAME NOTES
-Freshman CJ Elleby scored in double figures for the
eighth-straight game, finishing with 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the
field…he had 18 of his points in the second half.
-His 20 points marked his fourth career 20 point game.
-Junior Carter Skaggs tied his season-high with 14 points
including 9 in the second half. He was
4-for-4 from 3-point range…his makes ties his season high.
-Junior Jeff Pollard had a season-high 9 points…his previous
high was 7.
-He had all 9 points in the first half and added 5 rebounds
on the night.
-WSU trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half,
before trailing by 10 at the half and the game was tied with 7 seconds left.
-For the second-straight game, junior Ahmed Ali tied his
career high with 6 assists…he added 7 points.
-Sophomore Marvin Cannon added 8 points, 6 rebounds and a
career-high 3 assists.
-For the second-straight game, WSU shot .875 from the field
(14-for-16), tying its season high.
-The Cougars were without senior starting guard, Viont’e
Daniels for the fourth-straight game due to a concussion.
-The Cougars have a few days off for the holiday before
hosting Santa Clara at Spokane Arena, Saturday, Dec. 29 at 11 a.m.
Fireworks erupt after WSU Cougs, New Mexico State Aggies
wage men’s basketball Las Vegas nailbiter
ByDYLAN HAUGH
Cougfan.com
Cougfan.com
LAS VEGAS - The fireworks didn't stop once the game ended.
After Washington State fell to New Mexico State 75-72 in a hard-fought,
physical game in the Las Vegas Classic, tempers flared in the Orleans Arena
locker room hallway. An animated dustup between Cougar point guard Ahmed Ali
and a New Mexico Aggie quickly brought players from both teams racing toward the
confrontation.
Cougar assistant coaches Ed Haskins and Bennie Seltzer
quickly jumped in, squashing the verbal altercation quickly that otherwise
might have escalated.
I didn’t see what started the brouhaha. More than hour after the game ended, three
New Mexico players at the Orleans Casino told me their view: According to the
three Aggies, both players were walking towards one another when Ali and the
unnamed NMSU player bumped into each other. The volume quickly turned up from
there.
At the tail end of a video, Ali can be heard saying, “I want
all the smoke,” in reply to the Aggie player wanting to take things outside.
As for the game, it featured a roaring 16-point comeback
from Washington State, a neck-and-neck battle in the second half which saw both
teams grab the lead in the final two minutes, and the eventual NMSU
game-winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left on the clock.
This was the second time the teams have met this season,
which may have heightened tensions postgame — especially after the first 10
minutes of the game that saw a lot of physical play (unlike Saturday’s game vs.
San Diego, where the game was called tight and touch fouls drew a whistle).
True freshman C.J. Elleby led the Cougars’ charge in the
final minutes, scoring two game-tying buckets. One was a game-tying 3-pointer
with 14.2 seconds left to tie up at 72-72, just before the Aggies’ 3-point
dagger.
“I think we can take a lot from this weekend we just had, we
know what we need to do … Everybody’s just upset about the loss, but it’s not
negative at all … We are just going to take this loss and go to Spokane on the
29th and look forward to that game,” Elleby said.
The Seattle native was held to just two points the first
half. He busted out for 18 on 5-of-7 shooting in the second half, finishing
with a team-high 20 points.
In the first half, WSU looked lackadaisical – just like a
team that had played four games in the past seven days. There were careless
turnovers, WSU got pounded on the offensive glass as WSU trailed by as many as
16 points.
Jeff Pollard helped will the Cougars back, closing the
deficit to 10 points at the half and helping WSU forge a couple of late
second-half leads.
Indeed, the junior out of Utah played perhaps his best game
ever as a Cougar. He was as tough as nails on the block, corralling rebounds
and altering shots in the paint. Pollard even canned his first career
3-pointer. He finished with nine points, five rebounds and one steal.
“When we got in there at halftime, we just kind of looked at
ourselves and said we’ve been in this position before, we’ve just got to dig
down and play our game … come out in the second half and hit them first,” said
Pollard.
Carter Skaggs meanwhile had his best game of the season. The
junior was perfect from deep (4-of-4) and the free-throw line (2-of-2) for a
season-high 14 points.
Senior star Robert Franks played a season-low 19 minutes.
Franks took two hard falls in the first half, though he did start the second
half. The second half grouping of Marvin Cannon, Elleby, Skaggs, Pollard and
Ali pushed the Cougars back into the game, and Ernie Kent stuck with that
rotation for the final 10 minutes.
Elleby spoke on the difficulties of playing four games in
seven days.
“it’s been tough mentally more than physically, just having
to refocus every game and have a new game plan for the next team. I think we’ve
been doing a good job managing it as a team,” Elleby said.
INJURY NOTE: The Cougars were without senior starting guard
Viont’e Daniels for the fourth-straight game due to a concussion. Kent hopes to
have him back against Santa Clara.
UP NEXT: Santa Clara (Spokane) on Saturday, Dec. 29. TV: 11 a.m., Pac-12 Networks.
:::::::::::::::::::::
WSU FOOTBALL
The good, bad and ugly: A look back at Washington State’s
history against the Big 12 Conference
UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 24, 2018, 6:23 p.m.
By Theo Lawson of Spokane’s S-R
WSU against the Big 12
Baylor – 2-4 (31-7 loss in 1952, 20-14 loss in 1966, 10-7
loss in 1967, 10-3 win in 1994, 17-15 win in 2006, 45-17 loss in 2008)
Iowa State – Never played
Kansas – 2-7 (13-0 loss in 1955, 48-31 loss in 1970, 34-0
loss in 1971, 18-17 win in 1972, 29-8 loss in 1973, 14-7 loss in 1974, 18-14
win in 1975, 35-17 loss in 1976, 14-12 loss in 1977)
Kansas State – Never played
Oklahoma – 0-3 (28-0 loss in 1938, 21-0 loss in 1967, 34-14
loss in 2002)
Oklahoma State – 1-2 (27-13 win in 1951, 39-13 loss in 2008,
65-17 loss in 2010)
TCU – 1-1 (21-7 loss in 1953, 21-13 win in 1990)
Texas – 1-2 (40-14 loss in 1954, 41-8 loss in 1961, 28-20
win in 2003)
Texas Tech – 0-2 (16-7 loss in 1963, 28-10 loss in 1964)
West Virginia – Never played
Overall: 7-20
SAN ANTONIO – Historically speaking, the Big 12 has meant
big trouble for Washington State’s football team.
Although Washington State and Iowa State don’t have any
apparent history, Friday’s Alamo Bowl (6 p.m., ESPN) will mark the 28th time
the Cougars have gone toe-to-toe with a member of the current Big 12
Conference.
It’s been 80 years since WSU’s first meeting with the Big 12
– a 21-0 loss to Oklahoma to open the 1938 season – and eight since its last
meeting – a 65-17 loss to Oklahoma State in the 2010 opener. The Cougars have
seven wins and 20 losses in games against the conference, having played every
Big 12 member but West Virginia, Kansas State and Iowa State.
As the Cougars (10-2, 7-2) gear up to play the Cyclones
(8-4, 6-3) in the Alamo Bowl, we take a look at five memorable WSU games – for
good or for bad – against the Big 12.
Starting with the good …
==1. 2003, 28-20 win vs. Texas (Holiday Bowl)
Washington State played two bowl games against Big 12 teams
in the same calendar year. The Cougars were pummeled in one of those (keep
reading), but got their mulligan 363 days later when a Holiday Bowl pairing
with Texas was announced.
Mack Brown’s young quarterback, Vince Young, had yet to
capture the nation’s attention with his historic end-zone plunge versus USC.
After struggling early in the game, Young was replaced for by backup Chance
Mock. But the Cougars mostly bottled up UT’s second-stringer, too, holding him
to 20-of-49 passing for 196 yards.
Trailing 10-7 at halftime, WSU’s comeback was spurred by a
massive third quarter that saw the Cougars outscore the Longhorns 19-0. The
fireworks opened with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Matt Kegel to Sammy Moore
and continued when the Cougars pulled off an improbable trick play.
Kegel lined up behind center, but the QB ran in motion to
the right sideline, leaving only running back Jonathan Smith in the backfield.
Smith mishandled the snap, but scooped it up and sped into the end zone for a
12-yard touchdown. With a 21-point second half, the Cougars stormed to their
third 10-win season in as many years.
==2. 2003, 34-14 loss vs. Oklahoma (Rose Bowl)
The Cougars never played Mike Leach head-to-head, but in the
program’s fourth and most recent appearance in the Rose Bowl, they ran into a
quarterback who, for one season, was groomed by the former Oklahoma offensive
coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Three years after working with Leach in Norman, Nate Hybl
put on a passing show in Norman in front of more than 86,000 fans in Pasadena.
The game’s most valuable player completed 19 of 29 passes for 240 yards and
threw a pair of touchdowns. Supplemented by running back Antonio Perkins’ 144
rushing yards, Hybl and the Sooners had 20 points on the board before Jason
Gesser’s Cougars could get on the board.
WSU put up 14 points in the fourth quarter, but the
offensive spurt was too late and OU finished off the 89th Rose Bowl with style
points when Sammy Moore caught a kickoff with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter
and weaved through the field for an 89-yard touchdown.
==3. 1972, 18-17 win vs. Kansas
When the Pac-12 was the Pac-8 and the Big 12 was the Big 8,
Jim Sweeney’s Cougars met up with Don Fambrough’s Jayhawks in the 1972 season
opener. It was the third game in as many years between those two – the Jayhawks
won each of the first two – and the third of eight straight Wazzu-KU meetings.
The Cougars only won two of those eight, but they scored 18 in both victories.
In ’72, they were led by quarterback Ty Paine and a pair of
running backs – Ken Grandberry and Steve Hamilton – that would combine to rush
for 1,550 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season. Former WSU athletic director
Bill Moos was playing on the offensive line when the Cougars dialed up a
comeback for the ages after facing a 17-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
==4. 2006, 17-15 win vs. Baylor
At Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, then known as Qwest Field,
Washington State quarterback Alex Brink misfired much of the second half,
completing just 8 of 16 passes while throwing an interception to give the
Baylor Bears a 9-7 halftime lead. Home fans showered the junior signal-caller
and chanted for his backup, Gary Rogers, but Brink showed the ultimate resolve
in the second half, finding success with his arm and his hands.
The QB completed 13 of 16 passes after halftime and caught a
4-yard touchdown from running back Dwight Tardy in the third quarter to put the
Cougars in front 14-9. Baylor’s offense accumulated just 68 yards in the second
half, but the defense picked up the slack and scored on a 40-yard fumble
recovery.
Brink led the WSU offense back the other way in the final
minute to set up a chip-shot field goal for kicker Loren Langley, who drove the
winner through the uprights from 17 yards out.
==5. 2010, 65-17 loss vs. Oklahoma State
In the midst of their two-win 2010 season, the Cougars
traveled to Stillwater to face Mike Gundy’s Cowboys, who’d finish the season
11-2 with a win over Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. It was an ideal way to start
the season for first-year OSU offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, a Leach
disciple who’s now the head coach at West Virginia.
The Cowboys scored 17 points in the first quarter and had 38
by halftime, eventually totaling 544 yards of offense. The game’s MVP was OSU
running back Kendall Hunter, who was a constant headache for WSU’s defense as he
rushed 21 times for 257 yards and four touchdowns, while Brandon Weeden
completed 22 of 30 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns.
Two games later, the Cowboys would hang 65 points on Tulsa.
:::::
Washington State appears focused inward upon Alamo Bowl
arrival
ByALEX HALSTED Cougfan.com
Dec 23, 2018 6:10 PM
SAN ANTONIO — Washington State arrived at its San Antonio hotel
across from The Alamo on Sunday evening and the focus five days from its
matchup with Iowa State in Friday’s Alamo Bowl was mostly internal.
Cougars coach Mike Leach dished out some compliments about
Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, head coach Matt Campbell and the Cyclones’
defense when prompted, but it was already clear Sunday that he’s pushing his
team to focus inward.
“The most important thing is for us is to just focus on
ourselves and be the best team that we can be and worry about playing the best
we can play,” Leach said.
Washington State enters this week’s Alamo Bowl preparation
coming off a loss to rival Washington in its regular season finale but still on
the heels of program history. The Cougars’ 10 wins are tied for a program best.
Iowa State isn’t so different in that regard. The Cyclones will enter the Alamo
Bowl with hopes to win a program-record nine games by the time they depart for
Iowa.
In that way, Leach sees similarities.
“Good team. Similar to us in some ways I think,” Leach said.
“A team that I think is a team of achievers. They’re very good on defense and
they play real hard.”
Iowa State’s defense continues to be the talking point when
Washington State speaks on this week’s Alamo Bowl matchup. The Cyclones face
another stiff test against a Cougars offense that ranks No. 1 nationally in
passing offense (380 yards per game), No. 15 in scoring offense (38.3 points
per game) and No. 21 in total offense (461.8 yards per game).
Washington State will be a test unlike any other Air Raid
that Iowa State has faced this season. The Cougars ranked second-to-last in
rushing offense and will at times nearly completely abandon it in favor of the
short passing game. But entering this week, Iowa State has already faced the
No. 3 (West Virginia), No. 4 (Texas Tech), No. 8 (Oklahoma) and No. 11
(Oklahoma State) passing offenses.
“A little bit like our bowl game last year, we played
Michigan State. They’re a big team, a big defense and they’re going to come at
us with everything they’ve got, but we’re prepared for it,” receiver Kyle Sweet
said. “They’re a big team, they’ve got some big dudes over there. I think they
play together really well. They fly around, fly to the ball and that can create
problems for offenses.”
But after dropping bowl games the past two seasons to
Minnesota and Michigan State, Leach’s internal focus appears to be well
received here in San Antonio.
“The biggest thing is to make sure you stay focused when you
get out to these places because at the end of the day our goal is to win a bowl
game,” defensive back Darrien Molton said. “I think just staying focused
throughout the week
::::::::
U of Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens is still confident
in the Pac-12′s direction under embattled commissioner Larry Scott
By Ryan Thorburn, DuckSports.com
Posted Dec 23, 2018 at 4:59 PM
Updated Dec 24, 2018 at 7:49 AM
A week after Oregon plays Michigan State in the Redbox Bowl
on Dec. 31 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the national championship
game will be contested in the same venue.
The Pac-12 won’t be represented.
For the second consecutive season, and the third time in the
five-year history of the format, the “Conference of Champions” did not have a
team selected for the College Football Playoff.
Pac-12 champion Washington was ninth in the selection
committee’s final rankings, one spot behind Group of Five program UCF, three
spots behind Big Ten champion Ohio State and four spots behind SEC runner-up
Georgia.
Washington State, which finished 10-2, was ranked 13th and
excluded from a lucrative New Year’s Six Bowl. Mike Leach and the Cougars will
settle for a matchup with 8-4 Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl.
The Pac-12 finished 1-8 in bowl games last season, the worst
postseason on record for a Power Five conference, and the conference is off to
an 0-1 start this bowl season with Arizona State’s loss to Fresno State in the
Las Vegas Bowl.
The Pac-12 isn’t performing any better in men’s basketball,
the other critical revenue sport for athletic departments.
No. 18 Arizona State is the lone Pac-12 team in the
Associated Press poll. The Sun Devils have also provided the only marquee
nonconference win — Saturday’s upset of No. 1 Kansas.
In the NCAA’s “NET” computer rankings Sunday, only Arizona
State (43) and Colorado (46) were inside the top 50. Oregon (93) and Oregon
State (97) were barely inside the top 100, with Stanford (103), USC (131), Utah
(137), Washington State (160) and California (174) all outside the top 100.
The Pac-12, which did not advance a team to the round of 32
in last year’s NCAA Tournament, could be a one-bid league this March, if
Arizona State wins the conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, who is also the
chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee, said the Pac-12
shouldn’t be judged purely on its exclusion from the four-team football playoff
or its recent issues in men’s basketball both on the court and in federal
court.
“I think the Pac-12 has a great league, and sometimes the
focus only gets on football and men’s basketball results,” Mullens said during
a recent interview with The Register-Guard. “Stanford just won a volleyball
championship, which sometimes deserves some more amplification. But I
understand that football and men’s basketball haven’t produced what we all want
it to produce. Sometimes those things are cyclical.
“I think we have great institutions, we have outstanding
coaches, and we all need to be working collectively to do everything we can to
give our teams the best chance to succeed. The playoff is so important and gets
so much attention; it’s not the only measure of success.”
To Mullens’ point, this year:
— Five Pac-12 women’s basketball teams are currently ranked
in the AP poll, led by No. 7 Oregon. Four unranked teams from the conference —
Arizona, Colorado, USC and Utah — are a combined 41-3 in nonconference play.
— Stanford won its eighth NCAA volleyball championship,
giving the Pac-12 its 16th title in the sport, the most for any conference. The
Cardinal have won an NCAA title in at least one sport for the 43rd consecutive
year.
— Oregon State won the College World Series for the third
time.
But the bottom line: Television contracts for football and
men’s basketball pay the bills for athletic departments.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is facing mounting criticism
as the conference continues to lag behind its peers in distributing revenue to
member institutions.
For the last reported tax year in 2016, SEC schools received
$41 million each in conference distribution, Big Ten schools received $37
million and Pac-12 schools received $31 million.
When the Pac-10 expanded in 2011, Scott was lauded for the
conference’s 12-year, $3 billion television contract with ESPN and Fox.
In summer of 2017, the Big Ten announced a six-year deal
with ESPN and Fox Sports worth $2.64 billion. The contract is expected to net
each of the conference’s 14 members more than $50 million annually.
“There is this big resource gap between, particularly the
SEC and the Big Ten, and that always creates some tension,” Mullens said. “We
closed the gap significantly when the new TV deal was done, and sometimes that
gets lost in this. We’ve got much, much greater exposure in football and men’s
basketball than we had prior. And we closed the resource gap at the time the
deal was done.
“Unfortunately, it’s grown. We took a road less traveled in
that we decided we would retain 100 percent ownership of the networks and that
we would do seven networks, we’d do 850 live events to elevate our Olympic
sports.”
The Pac-12 Network is still not available on DirecTV,
another source of frustration for many fans. Scott maintains that owning the
network will ultimately pay off for the conference when it’s time to negotiate
a new media deal in 2024.
Mullens admits the long-term strategy is a gamble.
“That’s a different model. I think it’s still up in the air
as to whether that turns out to be the right move,” Mullens said. “If the media
landscape shifts and it goes our way, we could be sitting in a great position.
But that is to be determined.”
Over the next five years, Mullens and his peers must figure
out how to compete against the other five Power Five conferences with fewer
financial resources.
During a recent series examining Scott’s leadership and the
issues facing the Pac-12, The Oregonian revealed the conference spends about
$6.9 million per year in annual rent for its headquarters in downtown San
Francisco, which includes the Pac-12 Network studios.
The SEC spends $318,000 in annual rent for its headquarters
in Birmingham, Ala., and the Big Ten spends $1.5 million in annual rent for its
headquarters in suburban Chicago.
“I know we’re challenging to follow because we’re unique as
a conference,” Scott told a scrum of media at the Pac-12 championship game
between Washington and Utah at Levi’s Stadium. “Certainly when it comes to
financial results and headcount. We’re actually a media company, and the way
that all gets reported is all together and that’s very hard to parse.”
Scott’s annual salary of $4.8 million is twice the salary of
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany ($2.4 million) and also dwarfs the salary of
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey ($1.9 million).
Scott insists the Pac-12 is “very, very efficient” with its
operational expenses. Mullens was asked if the conference needs to be even more
financially efficient to keep up with the Joneses.
“That’s a tough question,” Mullens said. “Obviously I don’t
know the ins and outs of how they spend every dollar. I certainly think that
all of us need to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to be as
efficient as possible, so as much of that net revenue can get returned to the
campuses that allows us to compete at the highest level. I think it’s in
everybody’s best interest.”
In addition to the revenue gap with the television
contracts, the Pac-12 football programs also take in less money at the gate.
During the 2017 season, the 14 SEC teams averaged 75,074 in
attendance per home game. The Big Ten (66,227) and Big 12 (56,852) also ranked
ahead of the Pac-12 (49,601) in average home attendance.
USC was the only Pac-12 team that ranked in the top 20 nationally
in average attendance in 2017 (72,683), but the struggling Trojans only
averaged 55,449 fans during their six games at the L.A. Coliseum in 2018.
Three Big Ten programs (Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State)
and SEC powerhouse Alabama averaged over 100,000 in attendance in 2017. Four
other SEC teams averaged over 92,000 for home games.
“We have to have two home games sold out to get to what they
average on a game-by-game basis,” Mullens noted. “Our deal has always been
innovation, brand, and student-athlete experience creates a bit of a
competitive advantage for us.
“We have to do things a little differently. We have to be
more efficient. We just can’t run into the marketplace and money-whip people.
We have to find where our place fits and make it work.”
In addition to the financial issues the Pac-12 is facing,
the integrity of the conference’s officiating and several of its marquee men’s
basketball programs has also been called in to question.
During a USC-Washington State game on Sept. 21, Woodie
Dixon, the Pac-12′s general counsel and head of football, called into the the
conference’s centralized instant-replay command center and overruled the replay
officials on a controversial targeting call.
The in-stadium replay officials determined that Washington
State linebacker Logan Tago was guilty of targeting for a helmet-to-helmet hit
on USC quarterback JT Daniels. Dixon over-ruled the decision, which Scott
admitted was a mistake.
“I’ve been told it’s an isolated incident,” Scott said
during an interview at halftime of Oregon’s loss to Washington State in
Pullman.
The Cougars were in position to win at the L.A. Coliseum,
which would have bolstered their position in the College Football Playoff
standings later in the season.
But when quarterback Gardner Minshew absorbed a
helmet-to-helmet hit by USC linebacker Porter Austin on the final drive, no
targeting call was made. Instead of having a first-and-goal with a chance to go
ahead, Washington State missed a potential game-tying field goal.
Yahoo Sports obtained a trove of heated texts exchanged
between Leach and Dixon after the costly no-call.
“Why can’t I help wondering, if you’re trying to manipulate
wins and losses?” Leach texted Dixon.
Mullens is satisfied with Scott’s handling of the incident.
“I am concerned about the perception,” Mullens said. “But I
have confidence in the league on all that stuff. I was really pleased with how
the commissioner brought that issue before the ADs, how he had done his review,
how he shared it with us, asked for our input. That’s how it’s supposed to
work.
“I think it’s unfortunate that it happened. I don’t think
anyone in the league office is trying to influence games in any way. Again, I
think they’ve got a tough job, but I do have confidence in them.”
Arizona and USC were named in the original complaints filed
by the U.S. Attorney’s Office after an FBI investigation into corruption in
men’s basketball.
Oregon was mentioned in court during Adidas executive Jim
Gatto’s federal corruption trial in New York this fall. His attorney, Casey
Donnelly, stated that her client agreed to send $100,000 to the family of
recruit Brian Bowen in exchange for him attending Louisville instead of
accepting offers from Oregon and other schools.
“Oregon, a Nike school, offered (Bowen) an astronomical
amount of money if he’d go to Oregon,” Donnelly testified, according to Yahoo
Sports.
Oregon released a statement saying it was aware of the claim
but had not been contacted by the federal government during the investigation.
Mullens doesn’t believe the ongoing trials will be an issue for Dana Altman and
his program.
“I don’t,” Mullens said. “I think we’ve been very diligent
with our general counsel’s office and being on top of this from the beginning
in how we’ve looked at it, how we’ve reviewed it. First with our own compliance
office, then with our general counsel’s office.”
Two years ago, Altman and the Ducks won a share of the
Pac-12 title and then made a run to the Final Four, where they lost to eventual
national champion North Carolina.
Four years ago, Marcus Mariota led Oregon to the national
championship game, where it lost to Ohio State. The Ducks’ win over Florida
State in a national semifinal at the Rose Bowl remains the Pac-12′s only
victory in the College Football Playoff.
Despite the issues the Pac-12 is now facing, Mullens is
confident Oregon can get back on the national stage in football and men’s
basketball in the near future.
“We are not going to back off of our goals, our
expectations,” Mullens said. “We just have to find out where we fit and what
creative, innovative ways can we compete with the folks that have more
resources than we do.”
::::
Jim Walden: 45 miles is all that separates WSU and Iowa
State
By PAUL SORENSEN Cougfan.com
IF SPOKANE WAS 30 miles from Pullman, like Des Moines is 30
miles from Ames, Washington State would have a 60,000-plus seat football
stadium like Iowa State and sell it out every Saturday just like the Cyclones,
says a guy who knows more about both WSU and ISU football than anyone on the
planet.
The fans of the two teams that will square off Friday at 6
p.m. in the Alamo Bowl are remarkably similar, according to Jim Walden, the
Cougars’ head coach from 1978-86 and the Cyclones head man from 1987-94.
“Both fan bases love their teams and are patient in letting
coaches build up the program,” Walden, my old coach in Cougarville, told me
recently. “They both love to tailgate, they travel well, support their school
and sell out the stadium. Neither group gets spoiled by success, either.”
The 75 miles Spokane residents must travel to see
major-college football — 45 more than Des Moinesians must traverse to get to
Ames— is the major difference between the two football programs and accounts
for the size disparity between Clarence D. Martin and Jack Trice stadiums.
A look at population statistics suggests he’s on to
something. The greater metro areas of Spokane and Des Moines are both around
600,000, and the two states, Washington and Iowa, are roughly the same size.
A discrepancy in fans in the stands also is shaping up for
Friday’s game. WSU at last check had sold 5,200 of its allotment of 6,000 Alamo
Bowl tickets while ISU had eclipsed its 12,000-ticket allocation and was
pushing toward 14,000. For the record, the distance to San Antonio from Ames
and Pullman is roughly 1,000 and 2,000 miles respectively.
Of note: It's not too late to donate Alamo tickets to
military members; click here:
https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS%3AWASHST%3AFB18%3AAB%3A&linkID=washst&shopperContext=&pc=&caller=&appCode=&groupCode=18ALAMO&cgc=
WALDEN, WHO TURNED 80 OVER THE SUMMER, said he will watch
the Alamo Bowl from the comfort of his home and pull hard for whichever team
has the football. “I appreciated both schools and will always have deep feeling
for both programs,” he said.
Walden took over both programs in cloudy times. At WSU, the
head coaching position had become a turnstile — Jim was the fourth head man in
four years — and brought much-needed stability (as well as the school’s first
bowl game in 50 years) in his nine seasons. When he arrived at ISU in 1987, the
Cyclones had just 57 scholarship players on the roster. In his third season the
Cyclones won six games and finished fourth in the conference.
His only regret about either coaching stop is that he didn’t
produce a championship.
As for an Alamo Bowl prediction, he thinks the defenses will
set the tone and he sees the Cougs prevailing 27-24 to post the first 11-win
season in school history. He cautions Cougar fans to be ready for a donnybrook
given ISU's stellar work this season against other Air Raid attacks.
NOTABLE:
While at WSU, Walden beat every team in the Pac-10 at least
once and while at Iowa State he beat every team in the Big Eight (now 12)
except Bill McCartney’s Colorado Buffaloes. Jim did have a victory over
Colorado on his record, though, as our outstanding 1981 Cougar team downed the
Buffs in Boulder on a dramatic blocked punt by Jeff Keller that Yours Truly was
fortunate enough to take to the house.
Former WSU wide receivers coach Otto Stowe — the man who
turned Mike Levenseller from a backup on the verge of transferring into a WSU
receiving (and later assistant coaching) legend — played wideout at Iowa State.
His bigger claim to fame is that he was a member of the legendary 1972 Miami
Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to go undefeated through the regular-
and post season.
The Alamo Bowl will mark the first time these two prominent
Land Grant schools have met on the gridiron. The 10-2 Cougars (ranked No. 12)
are favored by 3 over the 8-4 Cyclones (ranked No. 25). Kickoff is Friday at 6
p.m. and will be televised by ESPN with the broadcast crew of Dave Pasch, Greg
McElroy and Tom Luginbill.
This is WSU’s second trip to the Alamo Bowl, after defeating
Baylor 10-3 in a Palouse Posse classic in 1994. This is Mike Leach’s third time
in the Alamo Bowl following trips in 2001 and 2009 with Texas Tech.
SIZING UP THE CYCLONES:
Head man Matt Campbell is the Big 12 co-Coach of the Year
after leading the Cyclones to an 8-4 record. They operate a run-first,
physical-at-the-point-of-attack offense that will spread you out and throw it
when needed. They strive for a 50/50 run vs. pass split. ISU’s defense is tough
and Campell is more than happy to play for field position and let the D make
plays to win.
The Cyclones played four Air Raid teams this season and went
3-1: losing by 10 to Oklahoma; beating Oklahoma State by 8, Texas Tech by 9 and
West Virginia by 16. They will be ready to defend Gardner Minshew & The
Gang so think along the lines of WSU’s games with Washington and Cal when it
comes to scoring.
WSU AND ISU QUICK FACTS:
Main campus undergraduate enrollment:
ISU — 29,000
WSU — 17,000
Endowment:
ISU — $1.1 billion
WSU — $940 million
Famous alums:
ISU — George Washington Carver (peanut guru and father of
crop rotation), Henry Wallace (vice president of the U.S. from 1941-45) Carrie
Chapman Catt (suffragist)
WSU — Paul Allen, Steve Gleason, Edward R. Murrow, Keith
Jackson, Phillip Abelson, Gary Larson
Prominent football alums:
ISU — Troy Davis, Seneca Wallace, Keith Sims, Mike Stensrud
WSU — Drew Bledsoe, Mark Rypien, Mel Hein, Turk Edwards,
Jason Hanson, Rueben Mayes
Number of players on current NFL rosters/practice squads/IR
lists:
ISU — 6
WSU — 8
All-time bowl record:
ISU — 4-9
WSU — 7-7
Most famous basketball alums:
ISU — Jeff Hornacek
WSU — Klay Thompson
Number of Olympic medalists:
ISU — 11, including legendary wrestler Dan Gable
WSU — 9, including heavyweight boxing champ Pete Rademacher
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