It seems like every season there is at least a couple teams in the Pac 12 that should have got in to the tournament, but for one reason or another they were not chosen. For instance, Washington went 12-4-2 and didn't get in. SDSU also put together another 10 win season, but didn't make it. I guess when you're competing against teams like UCLA, Stanford, and UCSB it gets a little more difficult. I wouldn't argue that the level of competition & play in the Pac 12 is superior to the rest. I would argue that the level of competition is more spread out making it more difficult to qualify. The Huskies and Aztec's would maybe have a much better shot at qualifying in another conference.
I was going to call out LK on his comments in this article as SDSU did IMHO an abysmal job in scheduling last season. Scheduling the likes of low RPI teams in Manhatten, Houston Baptist, Long Island and Oral Roberts doesn't do much for building a compelling case for an invite. I also noticed that the Aztecs have two new coaches and have beefed up their 2012 schedule so maybe they realized the error of their ways.
I def agree that scheduling had a lot to do with it. Apparently SDSU is aware this, which is why they are playing ND, Indiana, Clemson, & Ohio State next season. Pac-12 coaches focused on impressing committee
I agree about their schedule last year, but iirc, the previous two years they had a good case for a bid and weren't invited.
Same about the Huskies schedule. The teams they beat had less than a .500 winning percentage. Their OOC schedule was a joke.
They scheduled 9 non-conference games 3 in-region (Portland, Gonzaga, Seattle), which they play for obvious reasons 3 against NCAA qualifiers (beat #11 seed UAB, tied FGCU, had #6 SMU cancel due to weather) 1 against traditionally strong Tulsa 2 against weak teams in Loyola, IL and Houston Baptist If you consider that a joke, I can only imagine what you'd say about some of the other OOC schedules around. And obviously, most of Washington's schedule was played against other Pac-12 teams, which are always tough.
To say that Pac-12 teams are always tough wasn't true this past year. Other than UCLA and Washington the RPI's were low and deservedly so. Oregon State is rarely "tough". Cal was poor last year as was Stanford. San Diego State's schedule was abysmal and made it so that they couldn't make the dance unless they won conference. All of this conspired against Washington and made them a bubble team, and you know you don't want to be a bubble team in the west cause you will lose out to a bubble team in the east (ask UC Riverside) just about every time.
Tough is a relative term, I guess. They were certainly tough enough to travel cross-country and get a tie at Wake Forest, which made the tournament ahead of Washington. Yes, their schedule was abysmal, but this is irrelevant to the question of whether they were a tough opponent to beat (I'd say they were). As long as the Pac-12 is the runaway leader in producing pro talent, it'll be hard to deny that it's a tough league.
The issue isn't about other teams OOC schedules. It's about washington's and it left alot to be desired.
I was just pointing out that it was a down year for the conference. It will be tougher this year. You have got to figure that Stanford in particular will be much better. I am not sold on Cal but they should be better than last year. San Diego State is a good competitive side and I think Washington is on the rise. I still would pick UCLA as the champ but I doubt they will go undefeated again in conference and will have to replace a lot of offense that graduated or went pro.
I can buy most of that, although it may be more a case of improved balance rather than strength. UCLA and Washington both lose a lot of talent. Also, with the Big West due to come back down after being spectacular last year, the Pac-12 will surely look better by comparison.
You didn't think I was gonna ignore this, did you? In terms of current MLS players, the ACC, which has 9 soccer playing members, has 61 players on rosters as of today. The Pac-12, with 6 soccer playing members, has 50 players on MLS rosters, again, as of today. (29 of those 50 did not go to UCLA.) Obviously, 61 is greater than 50. Also, obviously, the average per school in the Pac-12 is much higher. As you'll see in the info below, the bottom of the ACC drags down their per-school average. Both conferences numbers are impacted by having several players abroad, from Brad Friedel, Carlos Bocanegra, Robbie Findley and Joe Corona, to Oguchi Onyewu, Maurice Edu, Bakary Soumare, Charlie Davies and Ale Bedoya. It's a slight edge to the ACC in terms of players abroad, but it's close. Code: Eddie Ababio D Colorado North Carolina Korede Aiyegbusi D Kansas City NC State Chris Albright D Philadelphia Virginia (2) Jalil Anibaba D Chicago North Carolina Cody Arnoux F Salt Lake Wake Forest (3) Corey Ashe D Houston North Carolina Darrius Barnes D New England Duke Joe Bendik GK Portland Clemson Corben Bone M Chicago Wake Forest (3) Marc Burch D Seattle Maryland Danny Califf D Philadelphia Maryland (2) Brian Carroll M Philadelphia Wake Forest (3) Adam Cristman F Los Angeles Virginia Sam Cronin M San Jose Wake Forest A.J. DeLaGarza D Los Angeles Maryland Tyler Deric GK Houston North Carolina (1) Alex Dixon M Houston North Carolina (3) Michael Farfan M Philadelphia North Carolina Hunter Freeman D Colorado Virginia (3) Omar Gonzalez D Los Angeles Maryland (3) Cole Grossman M Columbus Duke Jeremy Hall M Toronto Maryland (3) Michael Harrington D/M Kansas City North Carolina Chase Harrison GK Philadelphia Virginia Tech Will Hesmer GK Columbus Wake Forest Matt Hedges D Dallas North Carolina Hunter Jumper D Chicago Virginia Stephen Keel D New York Wake Forest Stephen King M DC Maryland Ross LaBauex M Colorado Virginia Michael Lahoud M Chivas USA Wake Forest Alex Lee D Dallas Maryland Zach Loyd D Dallas North Carolina Zac MacMath GK Philadelphia Maryland (3) Enzo Martinez M Salt Lake North Carolina (3) Pablo Mastroeni M Colorado NC State Stephen McCarthy D New England North Carolina Dax McCarty M New York North Carolina (2) Patrick Nyarko M Chicago Virginia Tech (3) Ike Opara D San Jose Wake Forest (3) Brian Ownby M Houston Virginia Logan Pause M Chicago North Carolina (3) Dane Richards M New York Clemson James Riley D Chivas USA Wake Forest Robbie Russell D DC Duke Scott Sealy F Dallas Wake Forest Chris Seitz GK Dallas Maryland (2) Ben Speas M Columbus North Carolina (3) Nathan Sturgis M Houston Clemson (2) Tony Tchani M Columbus Virginia (2) Wells Thompson M Colorado Wake Forest Chris Tierney D New England Virginia Casey Townsend F Chivas USA Maryland Kirk Urso M Columbus North Carolina Michael Videira M Chicago Duke Rodney Wallace D Portland Maryland (2) Andrew Wenger ? Montreal Duke (3) Ethan White D DC Maryland (2) Jeremiah White M New England Wake Forest Sheanon Williams D Philadelphia North Carolina (1) Graham Zusi M Kansas City Maryland NORTH CAROLINA – 16 (Ababio, Anibaba, Ashe, Deric, Dixon, Farfan, Harrington, Hedges, Loyd, Martinez, McCarthy, McCarty, Pause, Speas, Urso, Williams) MARYLAND – 13 (Burch, Califf, DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Hall, King, Lee, MacMath, Seitz, Townsend, Wallace, E. White, Zusi) WAKE FOREST – 12 (Arnoux, Bone, Carroll, Cronin, Hesmer, Keel, Lahoud, Opara, Riley, Sealy, Thompson, J. White) VIRGINIA – 8 (Albright, Cristman, Freeman, Jumper, LaBauex, Tierney, Ownby, Tchani) DUKE – 5 (Barnes, Grossman, Russell, Videira, Wenger) CLEMSON – 3 (Bendik, Richards, Sturgis) NC STATE – 2 (Aiyegbusi, Mastroeni) VIRGINIA TECH – 2 (Harrison, Nyarko) BOSTON COLLEGE - 0 Code: ABROAD Ryan Adeleye D Be’er Sheva (Israel) North Carolina Reuben Ayarna M GAIS (Sweden) Boston College (3) Shawn Barry D LASK Llinz (Austria) Virginia (2) Alejandro Bedoya M Rangers (Scotland) Boston College Charlie Davies F Sochaux (France) Boston College Maurice Edu M Rangers (Scotland) Maryland (3) Clarence Goodson D Brondby (Denmark) Maryland (3) Stuart Holden M Bolton (England) Clemson (2) Oguchi Onyewu D Sporting (Portugal) Clemson (2) Michael Parkhurst D Nordsjaelland (Denmark) Wake Forest (3) Robbie Rogers M Leeds (England) Maryland (1) Billy Schuler F Hammarby (Sweden) North Carolina (3) Bakary Soumare D Karlsruhe (Germany) Virginia (1) Brian Span M Djurgardens (Sweden) Virginia (2) Paul Stalteri D Mochengladbach (Germany) Clemson (1) Code: PAC 12 Chad Barrett F Los Angeles UCLA (2) Steven Beitashor D San Jose San Diego State Tony Beltran D Salt Lake UCLA (3) David Bingham GK San Jose California (3) Calen Carr F Houston California Servando Carrasco M Seattle California Mike Chabala D Portland Washington Todd Dunivant D Los Angeles Stanford David Estrada F Seattle UCLA Benny Feilhaber M New England UCLA (2) Stefan Frei GK Toronto California (3) Alan Gordon F San Jose Oregon State Tally Hall GK Houston San Diego State Ty Harden D Toronto Washington Kevin Hartman GK Dallas UCLA Jordan Harvey D Vancouver UCLA Chandler Hoffman F Philadelphia UCLA (3) Jacob Husted M San Jose Washington Patrick Ianni D Seattle UCLA (3) Andrew Jacobson M Dallas California Hector Jimenez M Los Angeles California George John D Dallas Washington Ryan Johnson F Toronto Oregon State Bryan Jordan M Los Angeles Oregon State Eric Kronberg GK Kansas City California Roger Levesque F Seattle Stanford Chad Marshall D Columbus Stanford (2) Ellis McLoughlin F San Jose Washington (1) Danny Mwanga F Philadelphia Oregon State (2) Chance Myers D Kansas City UCLA (2) Kyle Nakazawa M Los Angeles UCLA Amobi Okugo M Philadelphia UCLA (1) Brian Perk GK Los Angeles UCLA Steve Purdy D Portland California Matt Reis GK New England UCLA Brent Richards F Portland Washington Nick Rimando GK Salt Lake UCLA (3) Andy Rose M Seattle UCLA Kelyn Rowe M New England UCLA (2) Luke Sassano M Kansas City California Josh Saunders GK Los Angeles California Shawn Singh D Kansas City UCLA Michael Stephens M Los Angeles UCLA A.J. Soares D New England California Pete Vagenas M Chivas USA UCLA Tyson Wahl D Montreal California Bobby Warshaw M Dallas Stanford Andrew Wiedman F Dallas California (3) Marvell Wynne D Colorado UCLA (2) Sal Zizzo M Portland UCLA (2) UCLA – 21 (Barrett, Beltran, Estrada, Feilhaber, Hartman, Harvey, Hoffman, Ianni, Myers, Nakazawa, Okugo, Perk, Reis, Rimando, Rose, Rowe, Singh, Stephens, Vagenas, Wynne, Zizzo) CALIFORNIA - 13 (Bingham, Carr, Carrasco, Frei, Jacobson, Jimenez, Kronberg, Purdy, Sassano, Saunders, Soares, Wahl, Wiedman) WASHINGTON - 6 (Chabala, Harden, Husted, John, McLoughlin, Richards) OREGON STATE - 4 (Gordan, Johnson, Jordan, Mwanga) STANFORD – 4 (Dunivant, Levesque, Marshall, Warshaw) SAN DIEGO STATE – 2 (Beitashor, Hall) Code: ABROAD Carlos Bocanegra D Rangers (Scotland) UCLA (3) Jonathan Bornstein D UANL Tigers (Mexico) UCLA Joe Corona M Tijuana Xolos San Diego State (1) Robbie Findley F Nottingham (England) Oregon State Brad Friedel GK Tottenham (England) UCLA (3) Lep Krupnik D Mac. Netanya (Israel) California Brad Rusin D Koge (Denmark) UCLA Matt Taylor F Paderborn (Germany) UCLA
Of the schools Sandon listed, I'm most surprised to see California up there with the big boys with 13 MLSers. Apparently they're quietly producing a lot of pros. I knew they were doing well in that category recently, but didn't realize how well. Will be interested to see how they fare this year in the PAC with their whole squad returning and so much turnover at UCLA and others.
The whole squad from a 4 win season. They will be improved but I am picking them 5th in the PAC-12. 1) UCLA 2) Washington 3) Stanford 4) SDSU 5) Cal 6) Oregon State Anybody else?
I may be proven a fool, but it seems like the easiest prediction is OSU as 6th, I think the rest is really up in the air with so many moving parts from last year. I think the Pac-12 teams will be very competitive with one another this year (don't know how they'll stack up on the national stage). Also, I will say I saw Cal play on several occasions last year and they looked far better than there record. If they get it together, they'll be able to compete with anybody in the league. So, here goes my prediction (I have almost no confidence in my picks of 2-5 order): 1) UCLA 2) SDSU 3) Cal 4) Stanford 5) UW 6) OSU
So far, all the picks have UCLA first and Oregon St. last. Here are my two predictions 1. Oregon State won't finish last 2. UCLA won't finish first This will be Steve Simmons' fourth year at Oregon State, so it's time for his program to step forward. He now has a full set of his own players, many of them very experienced, and he should also have one of the most talented players in the conference as long as Khiry Shelton gets healthy. I'm not saying they'll make the post-season, but they should be competitive. As for UCLA, I know they're never short on talent, but Andy Rose, Kelyn Rowe, and Chandler Hoffman were special college players and won't be easy to replace. Here's what each team is due to bring back from last year's all-conference. At least on the surface, Cal looks to be in good shape to rebound. Cal - 1st team: Steve Birnbaum D Jr. California 2nd team: Tony Salciccia MF Jr. California Hon Men: Seth Casiple (CAL, Fr., MF), John Fitzpatrick (CAL, Jr., F), Connor Hallisey (CAL, Fr., MF) Oregon St - 1st team: Emery Welshman F Jr. Oregon State 2nd team: Roberto Farfan MF Jr. Oregon State Hon Men: Chris Harms (OSU, RS Jr., D), Colin Mitchell (OSU, RS Jr., MF/F) San Diego St 1st team: none 2nd team: Jose Altamirano MF Jr. San Diego State, Miles Byass F So. San Diego State (or will he transfer?), Abraham Villon MF Jr. San Diego State Hon Men: Blake Hylen (SDSU, RS So., GK) UCLA - 1st team: none 2nd team: Ryan Hollingshead MF/F Jr. UCLA, Matt Wiet D Jr. UCLA Hon Men: Victor Munoz (UCLA, So., MF), Evan Raynr (UCLA, Jr., F/MF), Joe Sofia (UCLA, So., D), Victor Chavez (UCLA, So., F) Stanford - 1st team: none 2nd team: Adam Jahn F Jr. Stanford Hon Men: JJ Koval (STAN, So., MF) Washington - 1st team: none 2nd team: Spencer Richey GK So. Washington, Dylan Tucker-Gangnes MF Jr. Washington Hon Men: Ben Fisk (WASH, Jr., MF)
Great information. Would you happen to have information on tournament bids and seedings over the past 10 years as well? It would be interesting to see how all those professional players in each league translated into tournament bids.
