—
Pac-12 Preseason Preview / Outlook for Each Team / Any Preseason Love for CU?
—
While the Buff Nation may not know right now what conference CU will be playing in come 2024, they do know the Buffs will be playing a Pac-12 conference schedule in 2022. In this episode, I am joined by Brad Geiger and Neil Langland as we break down the Pac-12, before turning our attention to how the preseason magazines are treating Colorado.
The Transfer Portal, together with new coaches at the conference’s top programs, has created new uncertainties as to how the 2022 season will unfold:
- Will the addition of former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, together with a herd of transfers, be enough to take USC from a 4-8 team to a playoff contender? Or will Utah defend its title?;
- Has Arizona State turned the corner under head coach Herm Edwards, or is the program a “dumpster fire” ready to implode?;
- Why all the love for Arizona, a program which has lost 23 of its last 24 games?;
- Is Oregon the runaway choice in the North? And do the Ducks have a chance of taking down Georgia in the season opener?;
- What has become of the Bay area schools? You think Justin Wilcox is regretting turning down the Oregon job? Have the Transfer Portal and a refusal to participate in the new world of NIL rendered Stanford a program condemned to future mediocrity?; and
- Was there any positive press for Colorado in the preseason magazines?
… Let’s find out …
—
The CU at the Game NIL Interview series is complete, but that doesn’t mean you missed your chance to listen to your favorite Buffs talk about the upcoming season. Here is the roster of interviews conducted this spring, with links to each interview …
CU at the Game 2022 NIL Interviews … Football
- Quarterback … Brendon Lewis
- Running Back … Deion Smith
- Wide Receivers … Montana Lemonious-Craig, Jaylon Jackson and Daniel Arias
- Tight end … Brady Russell and Caleb Fauria
- Offensive Linemen … Tommy Brown and Jake Wiley
- Defensive Linemen … Terrance Lang and Jalen Sami
- Linebackers … Robert Barnes and Devin Grant
- Defensive Backs … Isaiah Lewis and Nikko Reed
- Kicker … Cole Becker
CU at the Game 2022 NIL Interviews … Other Sports
- Men’s Basketball … Evan Battey and KJ Simpson
- Women’s Basketball … Kindyll Wetta
- Track and Field … Reese Renz
Latest episode …
Below is Episode 27 of Season 3 for the CU at the Game Podcast. You can listen to the podcast simply by clicking on the play button below, or listen it to it here at Buzzsprout, or at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, IHeartRadio … or wherever you find your podcasts!
4 Replies to “CUATG Podcast: Pac-12 Preveiw”
You guys need to invite someone with some positivity. Let me take a shot at convincing you of some hope.
Football is decided in the trenches with one exception which is quarterback. Our offensive line has not shown it as a group yet but Roddick and Fillip showed they could take Pac-12 d lineman to school when they are healthy. Expect the, to return to form. Wiley will have a year under his belt and got better as the year went on. Brown if healthy will do well. We have the best o line coach we have had since coach Kap’s 1 year here (and I think we saw the results of that in 2020). There is definitely reason for optimism in the o line dramatically improving. In addition, we KNOW that Sanford has a running scheme that works. Yes Minn had some dawgs but the scheme worked the year before that as well. He knows how to call plays. The concern will be health. Can this line stay healthy and when injuries occur are the backups ready to play. On the d line, we have nearly everyone returning a year older and another year under Turley. I also REALLY like the change to a 4-3. A one gap system is easier to implement and the rules are simpler. Lang could finally really shine. Sami, Rodman and Jordan will create a string rotation internally. At QB, go watch the last 2 drives of the 2020 Tennesse Florida game where Shrout comes in. This is the bar. It is so much better than Lewis last year. Miles and miles.
What has happened with the praise of Shannon Turley. I think this is the first year we see progress . I like the Buffs O-Line to be considerably better and subsequently the entire offense to vastly improve. The Buffs non-conference is difficult, but they are all winnable games…. There isn’t a game that you look at would be willing to bet the house that Buffs will lose. Hopefully, Camp confirms coaching and conditioning is paying spades.
Negativity? Realism? Who knows right now. Each year I seem to have my hopes up, but steeled to have them crushed. There was something before the 2016 season though… I know because I was so confident, I did something I had never done before nor ever since: I bet $ on the buffs. And I pretty much killed it. But as with all gambling, I kept going until it was gone. I’m not going to be putting any $ on the buffs going into this season – but I have what I fear is ill-placed hope that the year could be magical.
In other news, the podcast shed some light for me on a thought I’ve had:
With NIL and FIRST transfers not being penalized, it seems idiotic to focus solely on high schoolers, when they can all leave at any point. Focus on the transfers, as they can’t leave any time they want.
I get that for culture it’s best to have a core of 4-5 year kids, but I bet there are quite a few kids who will be transecting early in their college careers after realizing they’re no longer the big fish. Transfers with 3-4 years of eligibility left will be readily available, and unable to easily leave again.
So the fact that CU admissions makes it particularly difficult for transfers was revelatory to hear. Perhaps CU / George should see if modifying the requirements in a way that would benefit the U in its entirety, and also happen to allow CU to be able to recruit transfers effectively. Would it be easy? Nope.
There’s an old saying after all:
if there’s a will, there’s a way.
If only CU still had the will.
Negativity reigns supreme. Sheesh.