Versus Conference Numbers
Here's the Pacific-10 Conference breakdown on returning starters for next season, which plays into the theory the conference could not possibly be worse next year.
Arizona 13 6 offense, 7 defense
Arizona State 13 7 offense, 6 defense
Cal 15 7 offense, 8 defense
Oregon 10 5 offense, 5 defense
Oregon State 9 6 offense, 3 defense
Stanford 16 8 offense, 8 defense
UCLA 16 9 offense, 7 defense
USC 12 9 offense, 3 defense
Washington 18 8 offense, 10 defense
Washington State 13 8 offense, 5 defense
I hope the conference isn't as bad as their 5-0 record in bowls last year.
Thank you davidallen760! The clueless Wolfie strikes again!
Let's see...Cal will be better. ASU will be better. Stanford will be better. UCLA will be better. Washington & Washington State, while still bringing up the bottom will be better.
USC will be...USC...simply damn good and, dare I say it, possibly better.
Arizona will be very strong defensively and on paper should not be as good, but will be respectable.
Oregon State has strong qb play and the Rodgers bro's. They are replacing a lot on defense, so, no, they should not be as good, but will be respectable.
That leaves Oregon. Oregon has to replace a lot of linemen on both sides, but, has a strong qb & a stud rb and lots of athletes. I think Oregon will not be as good but will certainly be a good team.
I don't see it your way, Wolfie...could it be that you are just being snarky all the time about USC, the Pac 10, anything to do with what you cover; the only thing you like is the Oregon cheerleaders because you wish you could get your hand up one of those short skirts...loser with a capital "L."
Your act is now repetitive and tedious, without merit. Occasionally, the old Wolfie slips in with some much needed criticism here and there, but,most of the time, it's just ranting from someone who needs a change of venue.
firescottwolf.com
It's because of morons like Wolf that a Team like UF can loose AT HOME to a team that will end up 9-3, and still be viewed as superior to a team that lost one game AWAY to a team that will also finish 9-3.
The "Pac-10 sucks" argument has kept USC out of the title game at least two of the last three seasons. Thanks Woflie. Go look at the stats. You should be fighting for the reputation of the Pac-10. You should be screaming on the roof tops that the Pac-10 is the only conference that has the GUTS to do a round robin format. Much tougher than whatever crap they have in the SEC. Would love seeing USC play 3 patsies a year including the citadel, etc.
Pathetic.
Now this is why I am more interested in the comments than the Wolf posts.
That was some good stuff, gentlemen.
It is true that a returning starter will have more experience than someone making his first start. However, that does not always translate to having a better team. The starter may be returning because there is no one better. Moreover, as noted by the numbers cited by Scott, teams are always breaking at least a few new starters. Often, a team is only as strong as its worst player. Thus, the number of returning starters, while an interesting fact, does not always translate to the team's W-L record. Talent, however, does.
I recall a few years back (Brady Quinn era), that Notre Dame was returning 9-10 starters on defense. I viewed that as a positive, as USC smoked the Irish for 40+ points the prior year. Sure enough, USC again torched the 9-10 returning starters for ND. ND's secondary was just....so....slow. It was good to have them back for another year.
USC does so well because at seemingly every position there is a quality second string player to challenge and motivate the starter. That is Carroll's secret to success in my view....always comPETE.
Fight On!