This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Hollywood, Calif.
The Pac-12 Football Media Days began with a celebration of Washington's championship. Conference commissioner Larry Scott introduced the Huskies' coach, who told some good stories about how the team overcame injuries and lineup changes to win the title.
The moment was memorable, as detailed by Yasmin Farooq, the Washington women's rowing coach.
That's a snapshot of life in the Conference of Champions, with broad-based athletic programs known for bringing home national titles. Football? Another story, entirely.
The Huskies were commended for earning Pac-12 schools' 500th NCAA title, which came during a school year when the league won 13 championships, including one by Utah's skiers. The issue of competing on football's biggest stages remains a challenge, as Washington's football players discovered in a 24-7 loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
"We got a firsthand experience of that," Huskies quarterback Jake Browning said.
That defeat followed a 2015 season when the Pac-12 lacked a playoff contestant. So after an initial splash in the CFP when Oregon reached the title game before losing 42-20 to Ohio State — with star receiver Darren Carrington II, now playing for Utah, suspended after failing an NCAA-administered drug test — the Pac-12 has faded nationally. The conference's most recent football championship came in 2004, and USC's title later was taken away by NCAA sanctions.
The league's depth has remained intact and intra-conference competition is difficult, but no true title contender has emerged. The picture could change in 2017 for two main reasons: Chris Petersen is doing his Boise State thing with Washington's program and USC apparently has stopped kidding around.
The Huskies have to prove they can remain consistent in the Pac-12, but complacency won't be a problem as they defend their conference title. The Alabama episode was "pretty motivating," Browning said. "I'm not happy with last season. … I mean, we ended with a loss."
Washington's rise came in Petersen's third season in Seattle. Montana State coach Jeff Choate, who worked with him in the early years at Boise State and rejoined him for the first season at Washington, believes the Huskies are here to stay, now that Petersen has established himself.
"He has definitely evolved, and I think that's part of his success — his ability to understand that Washington is not Boise State and there is no cookie-cutter approach in this industry," Choate said during the recent Big Sky Football Kickoff in Park City. "You've got to examine each place and say, 'OK, this is what we need to do here.' And that's probably the most impressive thing. I don't think his core values have changed at all, but I think that he's been able to adapt to the Pac-12 level."
The Huskies lost three defensive backs who were among the top 45 picks in the NFL draft, but Petersen has recruited well and he knows what it takes to remain consistently great. "That's a whole different skill set than getting there," Petersen said.
USC still has work to do to reach the Pac-12 championship level, even after a season when the Trojans won their last nine games and filled Washington's vacancy in the Rose Bowl. After being mismanaged in the Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian eras and having dealt with NCAA scholarship reductions, USC may dominate the Pac-12 South indefinitely.
The Trojans have talent, and they seem to lack entitlement in coach Clay Helton's operation. That's a bad combination for their opponents. USC is hungry and eager to live up to the program's tradition.
"Every day, that's why I wear this bracelet, [showing] 11 national championships and 25 Rose Bowls," Helton said. "I know it's our opportunity and our obligation to be able to change those numbers, and it reminds me each and every day we've got to work toward that."
If the bracelet is not a sufficient reminder of USC's standards, there's always the beach volleyball program, with back-to-back national titles.
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