Ohio State bails on UW, The Pac-12 Football schedule gives it a chance at the CFP l Pac-12 Podcast

well a v Ohio State Buckeyes just showed everything that's wrong with college football scheduling let's go locked on your daily cast on the Pac-12 Conference it's the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] thank you [Applause] welcome everybody to another episode of Locked on Pac-12 I'm your host Spencer McLaughlin thank you so much for making this your first listen or your first view of the day part of the lockdown podcast Network your number one sources stay up to date with our beloved Conference of Champions please continue to like comment subscribe wherever you listen to or watch this show which today is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook official Sportsbook of locked on make every make every moment more visit fanduel.com locked on today to get started Spencer why are you talking about a Big Ten team on a Pac-12 show great question random listener Ohio State just canceled their future home and Home Series which I believe was set to begin in 2024 with the Washington Huskies this is an objection I have raised about our beloved sport of college football for quite some time and I'm going to raise it again because this is the epitome of what I am talking about in the college football non-conference scheduling world individual schools are given way too much power and way too much leeway to do whatever they want and this is not the first time that schools have bailed on the Pac-12 there could be a Litany of reasons as to why this actually took place a couple of which I'll discuss but Ohio state was going to play a home and home with Washington who doesn't want to see that who doesn't want to see that I do you do Big Ten does Washington fans do or at least they should have been a great game could have been a really really fun game but I guess Ohio State just played Oregon at home once missed him another time because of the cover deer and decided oh boy we can't play those Pacific Northwest teams that doesn't go well why don't we just jump ship so the primary reason here that I've come to understand why this happened or at least what they're saying is that in 2024 they're scheduled to play Texas who will be in the SEC and so Ohio State didn't want to play both Texas and Washington yeah they didn't want the smoke they did not want the Pac-12 smoke again they'd have enough they'd have enough that they've I'm gonna try to remember how to talk they've had enough of that apparently um yeah it's a shame it is a real real shame it's a bummer for Washington first of all because now they're going to have to go try and find a non-conference opponent that can bolster their resume that can give them equality non-conference win no guarantee who that's going to be because the Big Ten just did this to the Pac-12 Michigan was supposed to play a home and home series with UCLA or at least they were supposed to play at least one game with UCLA but I think it was supposed to be two regardless they bailed so Michigan as a result in their non-conference got to play Yukon joke Hawaii joke and I think an FCS program and UCLA was left to play was it Alabama State South Alabama and I can't even remember the other one because Michigan probably looked at what happened to LSU in 2000 and was that 19 or 21 in 2021 said well we don't want to do that we don't want to go out west we don't want to go out west and lose and this is an issue for the Pac-12 I don't know how you solve it frankly I don't know that you can solve it it's a long way for some of those teams to come all the way out west but because of the perception about the Pac-12 being so weak and so terrible and so bad and bloody blah blah that I think those schools are looking at the upside and saying it is less from an absolute zero standpoint than the downside losing hurts you more than winning gains for you then winning provides for you but I saw this and just thought man that's a bummer I wanted to see that game a lot of other people probably wanted to see that game and it's not as if everything is just absolutely terrible on the non-conference front for the Pac-12 football slate especially this year as I'm about to talk about but yeah I'm not uh not a fan not gonna sit here and defend Ohio State and say well you can't ask I'm gonna do this that and the other thing really you the Ohio State University you're you're worried about playing a school up in the Pacific Northwest in the lowly Pac-12 that's what you're worried about You're Gonna Play Texas instead maybe Ohio State took a look at the Alamo Bowl this year and said we'll take Texas more Brand Power could have more viewership on the game they'll be in a better and bigger conference by then and they might not be as good as Washington at that point in time anyway now it's hard to project what the Huskies will be in 2024 and Beyond and such without Michael penix but I'm just saying that might have been a factor in there no no I don't like it Ohio state is scared of the smoke of playing two power five programs Utah is not Utah is playing Florida and Baylor this year sign me up for it this is why you need a central governing body surrounding scheduling so that you can avoid things like this it's completely at the disposal from a control standpoint of the individual schools it doesn't have fans best interests in mind it doesn't have the sports best interest in mind it doesn't have conference's best interest in mind it's just what the schools want to do and Ohio State would rather play a guarantee game against I don't know Middle Tennessee State Technical Institute at home drubham 63-7 rather than try to prove their medal and build a really quality resume in 2024 to get to the college football playoff for the national championship game but even on that front even on that front it doesn't make as much sense to me because the playoff is going to be at 12 teams one loss is not keeping you out of the playoff not if you're Ohio State if anything I think there was more upside here than downside for Ohio State because if they win the game and they beat Texas well boom they're going to be a lock if they keep rolling through the Big Ten the way that they have to get into the top four of a 12-team playoff which it will have expanded to by then but if they lose the game they're not out of the playoffs discussion but this is just a bummer for Washington because now you look I haven't seen another 2024 schedule is going to include I hope they can find a quality opponent to fill the void the Buckeyes are leaving here but this is why I think the biggest issue in college football is scheduling you just give too much power at the schools you got no requirements I would put one simple rule on scheduling going forward I'll tell you what that is after I tell you about a fan duel which at the Midway point of the NBA season is the perfect time to download the app for America's number one sports book because new customers get a no sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars the bonus bets that come back to you if your first bet doesn't win yeah you gotta go do it right now download the FanDuel Sportsbook app it's safe secure super easy to use don't miss the chance to get your no sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com locked on that's fanduel.com locked on to learn more make every moment more with FanDuel official sports betting partner of the NBA here's the rule I would Implement whether you got a 14 playoff 12 team playoff I don't really care the non-conference match-ups in the early part of the college football season are fantastic I think to have a resume that allows you to qualify for the playoff unless you go undefeated in conference play you should be required to play at least one team you don't necessarily even have to beat him I think you should just have to play them one team that the previous season finished in the top half of a power five conference because I don't want to continue to see incentivizations for things like what Michigan did this year bail on the UCLA game schedule a bunch of cupcakes and then run through the conference slate that's not as fun for us as college football fans but the people who unfortunately are organizing the sport on a broad level don't always have fans best interests at heart and frankly don't always have the sports best interests at heart if you're college football and you're comparing yourself in any way in any way to the NFL you're trying to create the highest number of quality matchups as possible but you're not doing that when you give individual schools of power because their interests are not going to be in line with the broader picture of the sport and that in turn harms teams like Washington who are playing in the Pac-12 compared to teams that are in the Big Ten because that would have been a huge opportunity for Washington massive to play Ohio State at home to bring them to Husky Stadium but then also to go to the Horseshoe and try and do what Oregon did in 2021 that win in 2021 was huge for the Ducks absolutely massive in more ways than one I mean I could I give you 10 minutes on that don't need to do it right now that is the problem here that schools are determining the stuff that you set the non-conference that far out in advance anyway it should be done on a year-by-year basis and you should have these sorts of requirements I think in order to make the college football playoffs so that everyone's not just scheduling cupcakes I'm not against buy games at all those need to continue they're the lifeblood for a lot of programs at the FCS and lower levels but you just you just hate to see this sort of stuff I really do I really do I'm curious to see what sort of game they can find hopefully they could go pick up another quality power five opponent at that point in time but I think Ohio State at least partially seriously I I think they partially looked at what Michigan State went through going to Seattle this year thought about what Oregon did to him in 2021 and said you know what we don't need this so let's take that away I think it stinks I think it absolutely stinks speaking of the uh non-conference slate this question from Caleb flake on Twitter which is one of the three ways you can reach me at Smalls underscore 55 or at hello underscore Pac-12 hop in the YouTube comments ask me a question get an answer here on the show you guys have had some fantastic questions recently not just expansion candidates which we're going to do later as well Caleb asks what are your thoughts on the Pac-12 non-conference games for 2023 do you think the new playoff format will help or hurt non-conference play in the future for all of college football well on the surface Caleb I would have said well in theory it should help because now you can go play these games and there's more upside than downside but Ohio state is now showing us at least in this particular instance that that's not the case now one example is not representative of the entire sample and how everything is actually going to work but I don't think we quite know the answer yet because this is one team and one program that decided to go soft here but that doesn't mean everybody else is going to and I think with a 12-team playoff your Calculus changes a little bit maybe slightly I think you could see a willingness from some programs to play other power five schools more consistently because of the auto bids for the conference championships which is just the epitome of why I can't stand a 12 team playoff but I don't know how many schools are going to have that mindset that I would like them to have versus Ohio States which is uh we don't really need it so we're not going to do it I'm I think I think it's too early to tell what what the future could could hold on that particular front but a lot of these non-conference games and this is the other reason scheduling in this beloved sport of ours is so broken why do I know who anyone's playing in 2028 why and this is especially true for teams in Pac-12 if you are going to build a resume that is good enough to get into the college football playoff outside of an auto bid say you are for instance Washington in 2022 that resume at 10 and 2 with a game against Michigan State could have been good enough to get inside the top 12. in fact probably was if you'd had a 12-team playoff they might have had an opportunity to do that so with schools pondering that going forward you can't just rely on your conference slate because you can seriously bolster how your season looks in the eyes of a committee if you are willing at the very least to play these sorts of opponents and I think it's great that Pac-12 teams have been willing like Oregon playing Georgia Oregon playing Ohio State Utah playing Florida and Baylor Washington a home and home with Michigan State wanted to do it with Ohio State and they bailed on them UCLA wanted to play just keep going down the list I really like that they have that mindset and I think it's beneficial for your school if you can get your program to that sort of level I think the upside is greater than uh the downside there but I think with the auto bids you could see teams saying hey if we win that game you know against X power five school that could also beat us it'll raise our profile on the one hand but on the other hand if we lose we can still get into the playoff if we win our conference so hopefully it goes more in that direction than what Ohio State's doing here um what are your thoughts though uh this is the other part of Caleb's question on the non-conference games for 2023 I I like a lot of them I I really do I think they're first of all Cal and Auburn is the most rant that is the most random college football game ever designed an institution that is prioritizing academics over everything arguably to a fault for its Athletics program versus one down at Auburn that feels like it does the opposite in the SEC Auburn's got a new head coach Justin Wilcox is trying to prove he should still be the head coach at Cal he wins that game he could go 5-7 this year and he would stay the Cal head coach easily easily if you win that game against an SEC school I think it buys you a lot of time but around the Pac-12 there are some good games I don't expect Arizona State to compete with Oklahoma State but speaking of the Arizona schools Arizona going to Starkville play Mississippi State I wonder tragically Mike Leach is no longer the head coach so he's not the play caller he's not there that could be a Monumental game for Arizona if they can go and get the win and I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility is it easy no of course not but they played that team tight at home for about three and a half or so quarters and then the Bulldogs pulled away late if Arizona takes a step forward specifically on the defensive side of the ball Mississippi state is not a great defensive team they could score games they could score points there they they really could I am I'm most I don't know about most but I'm intrigued by that matchup there are a lot of other good ones Oregon playing Texas Tech is interesting the Red Raiders were a good team last year eight wins won a bowl game against Ole Miss out of the SEC that is that is going to be a tough place to play down there in Lubbock early in the season I'm curious about Michigan State and Washington because Michigan State came into last year's game in Seattle ranked number 11 but they were an underdog because Vegas knew they weren't actually that good like still a respectable team but not a good one they missed a bowl game they were five and seven last year are they going to be closer to that or are they going to be closer to 11 and 2 like they were in 2021 I don't know but early season game in East Lansing I like that one too Oregon State plays a couple Mountain West teams again that's kind of you know par for the course there I again I'm just going down the list of all the non-conference games and heck I even won't count USC and uclas I don't think UCLA's got a great non-conference game if I remember correctly and then USC of course has got Notre Dame so there's not that intriguing anyway Utah plays Florida and Baylor yeah you talk about not being afraid of the smoke Utah is not afraid of the smoke Colorado has got TCU and Nebraska as its first two games with Coach Prime Washington State beat Wisconsin in Madison last year and now Luke fickle's there and his first non-conference road game is going to be in Pullman place should be rocking not an easy place to play I say all this to to sum up I love the non-conference Slate this year it gives them the quality of opponents in terms of depth and variety that could allow a team to build a college football playoff resume very easily I think the the good team that's got a schedule that's questionable on that front for the non-conference is Oregon State because you don't have a power five non-conference game in there but if you you know go 8-1 in non-conference play win the Pac-12 then that probably won't matter as much as long as you've gone 3-0 but I I love those games I really really do time to hear from uh somebody else on the show about a couple other teams although before we get to Mr McLaughlin Esquire there are a couple teams that he will be evaluating today on the show those schools are UTEP and New Mexico a third question came in and I had a couple of you Damien K and Emmanuel huertaro uh asked about New Mexico Damien also asked about UTEP and UTSA I'm not going to have Mr McLaughlin come in here and evaluate UTSA because though teams have done it before it seems really really unlikely that a team that is already committed to going to the American Conference which I think is a great get would be a candidate for the Pac-12 right now but I do want to say this about the roadrunners give them seven to ten years in the American and if they are a high level winner there with the Pac-12 reportedly like we haven't heard anything official in the SMU front if they do go into the state of Texas and they want to continue to grow their footprint there you could look at UTSA that that would that would be an option down the line though but what about those other two Council for the plaintiffs your honor Spencer C McLaughlin Esquire representing the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of New Mexico the one the only the Lobos located in the City of Albuquerque Now ladies and gentlemen of the jury your honor members of the Court those listening or watching right now I need to remind you of one very important factor as you consider my clients to join the Pac-12 the reports have been abundant about the pac-12's desire to get into the state of Texas commissioner cleofkov has already met with SMU seeming to indicate the league has a desire to continue to move East to continue to tap into new markets new places new recruiting hubs all of the above and perhaps so much more now to do this is it is it logical to move East and to just jump over everything that's in between when examining the map of the Pac-12 geography now and in the future with any potential expansion teams they may add here in the coming weeks formally in what world does it make sense does it make sense to any of you to look at the map and to say that state is just an empty puzzle piece or is it untapped potential the Lobos and the miners have had their successes at the group of five level the Lobos present a men's basketball team that is currently 19-6 in the very prominent Mountain West competitiveness in that sport would not be an issue now imposing councils May point to the fact that both of my clients have had their struggles on the football field this is not a fact I'm going to choose to overlook but rather address and provide context for schools that have been operating at the group of five level the miners in Conference USA the Lobos in the Mountain West have been operating just that way at the group of five level anyone who would cast dispersions on either of these institutions because of what they have failed to accomplish rather than thinking about what they could one day accomplish is missing the point these are two schools that are more than capable should the money start to flow in should the excitement start to flow in of existing in places that can acquire enough talent to be relevant and competitive you tip right on the border between Texas and New Mexico University of New Mexico of course located in the great City of Albuquerque those are two places that sit in a proximity to the Lone Star State one of the three most important recruiting states in the entire country along with Florida and California they would not have to travel far to find quality players they would not have to travel far to attract quality players last I remind you that anytime a program makes a jump from the group five to the power five level the caliber of recruit and the reach of said recruits increase dramatically because they are now playing at a higher more competitive level I can assure you that both of my clients are making the commitment to want to be prominent in athletics because they are as they say the front porch of your University in New Mexico and UTEP both present geographical seemingly perfect puzzle pieces for the Pac-12 and should they be added together might I say they would have a built-in travel partner now the state of New Mexico is not one that may be very high on the priority list of many fans members of the media Commissioners or anyone else considering conference realignment and right now that appears to be true but at one point in time the stock of Apple was lower we'll just say considerably than it is today the potential for growth the potential to fill the geographical puzzle piece and the potential of either program to bring in the necessary caliber of players that admittedly have been lacking for several years at the group of five level are perhaps the strongest case for either of these teams and as you consider other group of five brands now New Mexico on the football front hasn't done anything of note yet might I add not a place where it's impossible to win not a place where it's impossible to win at all the right find the right hire the right coach the right ingredients just haven't materialized yet but don't confuse hasn't happened yet with can not happen the miners meanwhile have made bold appearances on a regular basis in Conference USA one of the stronger group of five conferences in the country and they will be an attractive candidate as the city of El Paso continues to become a place where great things can be possible UTEP and New Mexico do not Overlook either program for those reasons thank you and I yield my time so you might have noticed that that particular appearance from my lawyer Alter Ego was a little bit shorter than the others that is because the case for those institutions not particularly strong they don't have major media Market appeal UTEP is basically in New Mexico so there there is the geographical element but I think a little bit like I was saying with UTSA those are programs that have appeal maybe in the long run but they've got to show more than they have to this point now New Mexico is essentially UNLV without Las Vegas which is what makes the case for the Lobos particularly difficult and unlikely they're located in a state that doesn't have a huge population New Mexico lacks the TV market and potential there that Las Vegas has the the geographical proximity to good recruiting States like Arizona which frankly Mr McLaughlin forgot to mention like Arizona and Texas does give them a case but I think before they could make the power five jump I just think it's too early for them I don't think that either program if you're telling me you know the Pack's still around in 15 to 20 years if they really start to go on the up and up like if you tap were to become what UTSA is right now like I think UTSA is ahead just speaking athletically here of UTEP but I I am not kidding about UTSA being a potential team down the line if they can start to be really competitive in the American Conference I could totally see that because the Pac-12 is making the case here right if they do end up adding SMU that they have a desire to expand East and they want to go into valuable areas now the problem for UTEP and New Mexico is that Albuquerque and El Paso are not big media draws and neither is a Big Brand the way that like Boise state is for instance to where the viewership has that sort of potential because of how strong of a G5 brand there are they are neither of them and this is another way that New Mexico is just like UNLV neither of them have been really competitive in football they don't have signature moments they don't have big wins but they could be pretty good at basketball New Mexico that is because we've seen that this year and I think any team that can compete in the Mountain West and in basketball can do so in the Pac-12 like I think the Mountain West is going to send as many maybe even more teams to the big dance this year than the Pac-12 Pac-12 basketball is a mess right now but football is of course more important when you're talking about Athletics and neither of those programs have shown they're ready for that yet doesn't mean they couldn't one day I don't think their programs to completely ignore but I do think that at this point in time while I understand your guys's interest in in places like that because of where they are located which is right in the middle if SMU gets added literally smack dab in the middle of Pac-12 country then the appeal is very real but right now I think it's a bit too soon appreciate the questions though keep them coming as always YouTube Twitter however I'll answer them right here appreciate all of you see you next time hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day