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Why hasn't Utah 'won' the South?

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    • 10/29/2017 at 4:59 PM #46462
      7
      shakeitsugaree
      Participant

      Spoiler: you won’t like the answer

      With all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth regarding the current state of Utah football, I started wondering: do we have a ‘good’ program, or should we ‘nuke ’em all’ into orbit?

      I took a look at the win totals/Pac12 South champions since the inception of the league; here’s what I came up with:

      Zona: 4 (2011), 8 (2012), 8 (2013), 10 (2014), 7 (2015), 3 (2016) average 6.6
      Devils: 6 (2011), 8 (2012), 10 (2013), 10 (2014), 6 (2015), 5 (2016) average 7.5
      Buffs: 3 (2011), 1 (2012), 4 (2013), 2 (2014), 4 (2015), 10 (2016) average 4
      UCLA: 6 (2011), 9 (2012), 10 (2013), 10 (2014), 8 (2015), 4 (2016) average 7.8
      USC: 10 (2011), 7 (2012), 10 (2013), 9 (2014), 8 (2015), 10 (2016) average 9
      Utah: 8 (2011), 5 (2012), 5 (2013), 9 (2014), 10 (2015), 9 (2016) average 7.6

      Highest win average:
      USC 9
      UCLA 7.8
      Utah 7.6
      Devils 7.5
      Zona 6.6
      Buffs 4

      South champions:
      2011 UCLA
      2012 UCLA
      2013 ASU
      2014 Zona
      2015 SC/Utah – SC by tiebreaker
      2016 Colorado

      It’s no surprise that number of total wins are less important for winning the south than number of conference wins. So, how does a team increase number of conference wins? Depth is a good answer, but if that were the only factor, SC would have won every year.

      Truth is, in order to win our division, a team has to have a combination of the right coaches, healthy players, and favorable schedule. In short – luck. It takes a combination of being good, and being lucky. Just sayin.

      Go Utes

    • 10/29/2017 at 5:09 PM #46463
      3
      ladyinred
      Participant

      It’s so sad that last year was really ours for the taking up until November. We were all so disappointed, bitched and moaned about the offense, Kyle recognized the problems and staffing changes were made. Yet now, last year looks sooo good. *sniff* 

      As for this team, this year, I just want to see them play a single game to their potential. 
    • 10/29/2017 at 5:46 PM #46465
      6
      THEeyepatch
      Participant

      Last year, the Utes were both good and lucky but still managed to lose @ Cal and home against Oregon. By the last game, Colorado wanted it more over a Ute team that were playing for scraps. Good analysis but Utah is cursed to forever lose to teams it shouldn’t… At least under Whittingham. 

      • 10/29/2017 at 7:41 PM #46472
        14
        shakeitsugaree
        Participant

        Last year, the Utes were both good and lucky

        So, which part of the year was lucky? The part where we lost so many OLinemen that we were down to our 5th string walk on center? The part where all four RBs went down, and we had to beg Joe Williams to come out of retirement?

        With all due respect, you’re letting your disappointment cloud your judgement. What reasonable expectations have we not met? A nine win average? You’re only getting that if you have the endowment and history of USC – and even then, you would only have one (shared) south crown.

        I get that you’re p**sed off, and you want to find a scape goat, and Whitt is the most obvious whipping boy – but take a step back and look at the entire body of work – and then give me some factual, non-emotional evidence that Whittingham’s performance warrants dismissal.

        Thanks for the kind words about my post – I didn’t ‘thumbs down’ you BTW.

        Cheers

    • 10/30/2017 at 8:01 PM #46522
      UtesRock
      Participant

      QB position, play calling and execution in the red zone.

      • 10/30/2017 at 9:42 PM #46534
        shakeitsugaree
        Participant

        I agree those are things that Utah can improve on – will it translate to a South championship? No way to know. Can’t hurt

    • 10/30/2017 at 9:30 PM #46531
      TexanUte
      Participant

      Will the rebuilt Ute team be expected to win the South next year?

      • 10/30/2017 at 9:39 PM #46533
        shakeitsugaree
        Participant

        Not sure I understand your question – when did I say anything about a rebuilt team?

        What I said is that Utah is third in total wins since the beginning of the league. The team that is first, USC, has a single (shared) Pac12 South crown. The team that is last, Colorado, has a single Pac12 South crown. UCLA has two, despite the fact that they average only 0.2 wins more per season than Utah. So the second best team in the division has the most Pac12 crowns.

        Is there a pattern? No, there is not. As much as humans don’t like to admit it, much of this is left to chance. We like to have cut and dry, clear and simple reasons for everything, but it is simply not the case for most phenomena. The element of luck is as much a factor as coaching and recruiting.

        Or, can you present data to the contrary?

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