We are 3 weeks away from non conference play! Gonna be a great season in the Pac-12 and it starts off with a bang. Week 2 has 2 double headers as USC and UCLA face Florida and FSU! Thursday Aug 28th has UCLA V FSU followed by USC V Florida at Banc of California Stadium. Gonna be a packed house! Then Sunday USC V FSU followed by UCLA V Florida on campus at UCLA ALL 4 games televised on the PAC-12 network. Bring it on!
Pac12 coaches poll 1 Stanford 2 UCLA 3 USC Chris Henderson projection 1 UCLA 2 USC 3 Stanford Who you got
I like Chris's projection. I think the coaches are a little distracted by their own preseason when they do these polls, and mostly just go by last season. UCLA is STACKED with talent this year. I think, as a bonus, everyone on their roster this season is actually a soccer player!
I like Chris's projections, too. However, last year, when comparing the pre-season projections for where all teams would fit within their conferences to where teams actually ended up, the coaches' projections were slightly better than Chris's. The coaches' projections, on average, were within 2.03 positions of actual finishes. Chris's were within 2.20 positions. Chris was significantly better, however, at projecting the conference Automatic Qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament (AQs being the 28 teams that win their conference tournaments, plus the regular season champs for the 3 conferences that don't have conference tournaments), getting 16 correct as compared to 11 for the coaches. On the other hand, the coaches were slightly better at picking the conference regular season champs with 11 as compared to Chris's 10. So, the coaches actually did reasonably well, and better than I expected.
Oh the joy of opening the season vs Hawaii with no streaming then follow on Saturday again with no streaming. It should be mandatory at the D1 level. #nothathard
No surprises in week 1. LBSU gave UCLA a great game and Stanford with Macario made PENN St look silly and controlled West Virginia This week sees 4 great games in LA as USC and UCLA trade matches with Florida and Florida State in double headers. The first 2 at Banc of California Stadium on Thursday (LAFCs home). The Sunday games at UCLA Should be a telling weekend for all 4 squads
Great night of Pac-12 soccer last night Colorado got it started with a 2-1 victory over Kent State Washington gave North Carolina all it could handle but fell late 3-2 Then there was the “Battle at the Banc” double header at the beautiful LAFC Stadium (attendance was listed around 4000 but would have been much higher had they played on Friday) UCLA and FSU kicked it off in a very entertaining game that saw Jesse Fleming scoring 2 on the way to a 2-1 victory. Interesting sidelight was of the 34 rostered players on UCLA they used exactly 1 sub in this game. That’s bodes for a long season for those down the bench USC v Florida followed in another fun to watch match that saw the Trojans get a solid 3-1 victory Those 4 teams flip it up and play Sunday in another double header at UCLA
I think I'm a little rusty with the first college matches of the season. For some reason I thought Battle of the Banc was going to be on a weekend rather than a Thursday and when my phone reminded me the match would start in 30 minutes, it was already too late. I love that stadium and would have been fun to see the teams play there live.
Thursday might be better for the players but certainly not for the fans. Attendance for Colorado - Kent State was listed at 0 although it did appear to be slightly better than that. Not having lights doesn't help either.
Is Tara doing all that damage from left back? I like her game, so good for her. Imagine all the damage she can do if she plays up top
Nope. They moved her up top into the spot vacated by Leah Pruitt. She along side Hocking are killing it Great week for the Pac-12 with the conference going 21-1-2. The only loss coming from Washington vs UNC where UNC came from behind llate
The absolute domination of this conference continues. Cumulative record of 52-7-4. This has to be a record in the making. 7 of 12 teams yet to be beaten. Conference play is going to be great this year!
There are plenty of quality teams that went down to the top 5 of the Pac-12. Colorado beat TAMU and Baylor. The Socal teams with the victory’s v Florida’s. Stanford v PSU. Cal hasn’t had much. Oregon a few decent. The cumulative RPI for the Pac-12 will enable potentially 7-8 teams in the tournament
I inquired because last season Colorado I believe were unbeaten heading to the Pac. Then the bottom fell out. Turns out their record came from feasting on patsies. Maybe this time it will be different for the Pac teams
Colorado was still unbeaten after 7 Pac-12 games, then came Stanford, USC and UCLA. Oops. But yes, the pre-conference schedule turned out to be a lot softer than expected. Corrected this year with Texas, Baylor and Florida State. I won't mention the game stolen from them last night at Florida State, even the FSU people say the two penalty kicks were bogus. From a distance, Stanford looks frighteningly good this year.
And down goes Stanford. Loses to Pepperdine despite outshooting them 3 million to 3. Pep got on the board early and hung on for Dear life. Pep defense and keeper look like they could join tingling brothers. Crazy game
Okay now I don't feel so bad with UCLA losing a match. It seems like it could happen to any top team this season.
I feel Stanford's pain. We (FSU) lost the last regular season game last year to Miami in OT. We had a 25 to 1 shot advantage over them. Fortunately in soccer, the better teams will all have a chance to prove themselves come the post season. Who is the best team now? UNC, UVA, USC, UCLA, Stanford? Who will be the best team in November? The answers to those 2 questions are likely not going to be the same IMO. Enjoy the season!