Pac-12 Notes

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Pac-12 Notes

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January 2nd

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Utah hires its new offensive coordinator – promises an “attacking style of offense” 

From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah has moved quickly to fill its offensive coordinator job in the new year, hiring Eastern Washington’s Troy Taylor.

Taylor comes after one year at the FCS program, and will also coach quarterbacks in addition to calling plays. Offensive line coach Jim Harding won’t be one of Utah’s co-coordinators next year — a position he served the last two years along with Aaron Roderick — but has added “assistant head coach” among his job titles.

Taylor brings a reputation for mentoring quarterbacks: He was the high school coach of Washington’s Jake Browning, and was the play caller and position coach for Gage Gubrud, who set an FCS record with 5,160 yards passing last year.

Eastern Washington was No. 1 in passing yards (401 ypg), No. 2 in total yards (529 ypg) and No. 3 in scoring offense (42.4 ppg) in the FCS. EWU went 12-2 this past season.

“I have watched Troy Taylor closely over the years when he was coaching innovative high school offenses in California and was eager to see how that translated to college coaching,” Coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. “He achieved the same results at Eastern Washington and we are fortunate that Troy was interested in bringing that style of offense here to Utah.”

Taylor served as an assistant at Cal and Colorado (a graduate assistant coaching wide receivers in 1995) founding The Passing Academy and developing his passing offense at Folsom High in California. Sam Whittingham, the son of tight ends coach Fred Whittingham, played for Taylor at Folsom.

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From the Press Release … “I am thrilled to be a part of the University of Utah football program,” said Taylor. “I have admired Coach Whittingham and his program for a long time. The opportunity to come on board and help win a Pac-12 championship is a dream come true.

“We will have an attacking style of offense that stretches the field and the defense in every way,” Taylor continued. “Creating success for the quarterback will be our utmost priority. If your QB plays well, you have a great chance of winning. Therefore, the development of his fundamentals and skill set are vital. However, it is just as imperative to have an offensive system that is both dynamic and user friendly. That has been the driving force in my offensive philosophy and I am excited to bring this to the University of Utah.”

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January 1st

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Bowl Payouts for Power Five conferences 

From Forbes … When Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington took the field for the College Football Playoff semifinals they were already be winners financially. Each team earns $6 million for its conference simply by virtue of playing in the games. And it doesn’t matter who wins – at least financially; there is no additional compensation for competing in the title game on January 9.

It’s important to note that any revenue earned by a team for a berth in a bowl game goes directly to the conference and is then distributed according to each conference’s own rules. After covering a specified amount of travel expenses, most conferences divide all bowl revenue equally between full members (with an equal share calculated in for the conference office), with the SEC being the notable exception, as noted below.

Here’s a conference-by-conference breakdown for the payouts this year from the bowls associated with the College Football Playoff:

ACC (14 teams) – $88.5 million

Big 12 (ten teams) – $95 million

Big Ten (14 teams) – $132.5 million

Pac-12

$55 million base payout (which includes $300,000 for each team which meets the NCAA’s APR for participation in a post-season football game)

$6 million for Washington’s berth in the Peach Bowl

$40 million for USC’s berth in the Rose Bowl (pursuant to a contract between the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl)

Total (12 teams): $101 million

SEC (14 teams) – $101 million

Group of Five (62 teams) – $83.5 million

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December 31st

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Oregon hires away Charles Clark

From Duck Territory …. Sources confirm Oregon has made another hire. This time on the defensive side of the ball.

Multiple sources confirm Charles Clark has accepted a position at Oregon. Clark was an assistant coach/cornerbacks coach at Colorado for the last four seasons. He has coached corners for the last two seasons according to his bio on the CUBuffs.com website.

It’s important to note, Clark will coach corners specifically for Jim Leavitt and Willie Taggart.

From our sources, the deal is in place for Clark to join the Oregon staff this week.

Charles Clark bio, from CUBuffs.com … Charles Clark is in his fourth year at the University of Colorado, his second coaching the cornerbacks, as he joined Coach Mike MacIntyre’s staff on January 1, 2013.   He coached the safeties in his first two seasons, and now also coaches the nickel backs with Joe Tumpkin.

In his first two years at Colorado, he’s coached mostly underclassmen but has led through the Pac-12 waters; freshman and sophomores combined to play 2,110 snaps out of a possible 3,538 at the two safety positions.  By his third year, he was overseeing a much more veteran group, with the corners intercepting five passes (compared to zero the previous year) and deflecting 34 passes.  Overall, the Buffs rose to second in the Pac-12 in passing defense, allowing just 218.2 yards per game (59th in the nation).

Clark, 32, came to CU from San Jose State, where he coached the defensive backs under MacIntyre for three seasons there after following him to San Jose from Duke.  Two of his top players for the Spartans included three-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference performer, Duke Ihenacho, who signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos and made their roster, and Peyton Thompson, who was a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons.

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Utah fires offensive coordinator … running backs coach Dennis Erickson retires

From the Salt Lake Tribune … Utah football’s inability to finish in the red zone this season has led to yet another offensive staff shake-up: Offensive co-coordinator Aaron Roderick has been fired, the athletics department announced Friday, and running backs coach Dennis Erickson will retire.

The move sends Utah’s longest-tenured assistant, Roderick, packing after two stints as offensive coordinator. Roderick has been with the program for more than a decade, serving as the quarterbacks coach, the receivers coach and the passing game coordinator since joining the program in 2005.

Twice, Roderick accepted other jobs elsewhere — at BYU and Washington — but then opted to stay at Utah.

As the play-caller in the booth the past two years, Roderick took the heat when Utah (9-4) struggled to convert near the end zone. The team was No. 106 in FBS red zone offense, converting points on 77.8 percent of red zone possessions. The Utes also had the No. 8 scoring offense (29.8 ppg) in the Pac-12, and the No. 9 passing offense (216.7 ypg). Whittingham cited the red zone struggles as the biggest reason for a 1-3 ending to the season.

Also a prominent influence in Utah’s offense, Erickson ends a four-year run in which he started as an offensive coordinator in 2013 but was demoted to running backs coach after one year. In an interview with The Tribune on Friday, Erickson said he had been considering retirement for the past year.

It may be Erickson’s last college stop in a career that includes head coaching tenures at Miami (where he won two national championships), Oregon State and Arizona State.

… Continue reading story here …

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December 30th

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Stanford defeats North Carolina without McCaffrey in the lineup

From ESPN … Stanford got its usual dual-threat, standout performance from its running back Friday, but this time it wasn’t Christian McCaffrey.

Bryce Love took over for the absent McCaffrey in the backfield, running for 119 yards and catching a 49-yard touchdown pass to help No. 16 Stanford beat North Carolina 25-23 in the Sun Bowl.

“I always feel like my next game will be my best one,” said Love, channeling his inner Tom Brady when asked if this was his biggest game or best win. He then added, “But it’s always good to win.”

Stanford (10-3) held on after North Carolina (8-5) pulled within two with 25 seconds left on Mitch Trubisky’s 2-yard pass to Bug Howard, sacking Trubisky on the 2-point conversion try.

“When the game was on the line and we had to make a big play, we did,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “It was an outstanding football game. Two really tough, talented football teams played all the way to the end. Thankfully, our guys made enough plays at the end to seal the victory.”

McCaffrey skipped the bowl game to focus on his NFL career. Still, in the postgame press conference, Shaw made sure his contributions to the team weren’t overlooked.

“You heard my comments (in the postgame ceremony) thanking Christian,” he said. “When we weren’t playing well, he was playing great. At the end of the year, he played so well. He played so hard until the rest of us on offense started picking it up around him. So this six-game run that we finished the season on is a large part to him.”

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December 29th

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Utah escapes upset by 6-6 Indiana with a late field goal

From ESPN … Whenever it seems Joe Williams won’t be available to Utah, he comes back and delivers.

Williams returned from a four-week retirement early in the season to help solidify a broken-down running back position. Then in the bowl game, he overcame an illness that forced him to miss a team meeting the night before and capped his career in style.

Williams ran for 222 yards and a touchdown, Andy Phillips kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:24 to play and Utah beat Indiana 26-24 on Wednesday night in the Foster Farms Bowl for its 14th victory in its past 15 bowl games.

“We weren’t positive we’d have him tonight. He showed a lot of toughness,” coach Kyle Whittingham said. “I couldn’t be more proud of Joe to end his career as a Ute on this note.”

Williams had to check out of the game several times but shook off his own costly fumble to run for 64 yards on the final drive, setting up Phillips’ fourth field goal of the night.

… Continue reading story here …

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December 27th

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Minnesota claims 17-12 Holiday Bowl victory over Washington State

… Related … Uninspired bowl game puts topping on what may be Cougars’ worst best season … From Spokane Spokesman-Review

From ESPN … After a few days of turmoil and perhaps more to come, the Minnesota Golden Gophers played lights-out in shutting down Luke Falk and the Washington State Cougars to win the Holiday Bowl.

Shannon Brooks caught a tipped pass from Mitch Leidner for a 13-yard, go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter and Minnesota, mired in controversy after 10 players were suspended after a sexual assault investigation, won 17-12 on Tuesday night.

The Golden Gophers (9-4) were looking to regroup after backing down from a threat to skip this game if their teammates suspended after the investigation weren’t reinstated. Their boycott lasted less than 36 hours, with university leadership never blinking. The players backed down amid pressure from many who read details of the allegations.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of anybody not wanting to be here. It’s just a matter of wishing our brothers could be here with us as well,” Leidner said. “I love this team, these coaches. You couldn’t ask for a better way to go out. I’m just really proud of these guys.”

Brooks’ TD catch was one of the few exciting plays in an otherwise pedestrian edition of what traditionally has been one of the country’s most exciting bowl games.

… Continue reading story here …

December 26th

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Washington State star quarterback Luke Falk to return for senior season

From ESPN … Washington State junior quarterback Luke Falk will not enter the NFL draft early, Cougars coach Mike Leach said Monday.

The decision to return for his senior year was expected, but Falk, the No. 4-ranked draft-eligible quarterback in the country according to ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., was viewed as a possible early-entry candidate.

“It won’t be his last game,” Leach said of the National Funding Holiday Bowl, which is Tuesday against Minnesota. “We’ll see what his last game does mean to the program and all the milestone stuff.”

Over the past two seasons, Falk ranks second in FBS with 8,770 yards passing and has thrown 75 touchdown passes to just 18 interceptions. A former walk-on, Falk ranked second in the country this season with a 71 percent completion percentage and threw for 4,204 yards.

Before last season, Falk’s first full year as the starter, the Cougars had not finished with a winning record since 2003. The Cougars finished 9-4 in 2015 and are 8-4 in 2016 entering the game against the Golden Gophers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN).

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December 25th

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This just in … Bowl games do matter!

From ESPN … Last week, as the first flight of college bowl games were played and the clicks were still coming on the “McCaffrey, Fournette to skip bowl for NFL draft prep” headlines, there was a word being thrown around on TV, radio and in columns that increasingly bothered me whenever it was used.

“These bowl games are … meaningless!”

I am told that the College Football Playoff has rendered the other 39 FBS postseason games meaningless. They have been neutered. There’s no reason for them to be played. What a waste of time. No one cares!

“I know a whole lot of people who care,” Bob Davie says. You remember Davie, right? As head coach at Notre Dame, he coached against the likes of USC, Stanford and Michigan and walked the sidelines of the Fiesta Bowl. As an assistant coach at Arizona, Pitt and Texas A&M, he spent plenty of time in lots of big games. But in 43 years of college football he’d never been carried off the field. Not until last weekend, when his New Mexico Lobos outlasted Texas-San Antonio to earn their first bowl victory in 55 years. “I realize that where we are and what we do might not be a blip on the radar of the playoff end of the spectrum. But you look in the eyes of my seniors, who have worked so hard. You look in the eyes of New Mexico alumni who love football and have kept supporting this program through a lot of losing. You see the looks on their faces and tell me this is meaningless.”

… There was Idaho, being dropped by the Sun Belt in 2017, entering Thursday night’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl a double-digit underdog to Colorado State and holding off a furious fourth quarter comeback by the Rams to win 61-50. “No matter what was said to begin the year,” senior QB and game MVP Matt Linehan said after the game, holding back tears (and calling out the school’s president), “we spent so much time dealing with adversity and tough losses. I think we were just tired of losing.”

… Continue reading story here …

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December 24th

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Pac-12 taking financial hit with only six teams in bowl games (ten last season)

From The Spokane Spokesman-Review … Money has been an issue for Pac-12 schools ever since the Pac-12 Networks and other TV deals turned out to be less golden goose than lemonade stand.

The supplemental income helps, sure, but many Pac-12 schools spent as if they were going to win the lottery when in fact their payouts more resemble $25 off the bar tab at trivia.

The Pac-12 made about $439 million in 2015, which sounds like a lot until one considers the $25 million distributed to each school was about $7 million less than the SEC and Big Ten. Those conferences also have much more lucrative TV contracts and their in-house networks are making a lot more money than the Pac-12 Networks.

Bowl season cannot come close to making up the difference, even with Washington earning the conference an extra $4 million by making a semifinal game. But the Pac-12 does make up a little ground with the bowl games.

Even though the Rose Bowl is generally considered to be the best bowl game, the Pac-12’s usual bowl slate has a fairly bad rap. The conference tie-ins to bowl games are mostly determined by geography, and west coast fans like to grumble about never playing any SEC teams.

The Pac-12 currently has contracts to seven bowl games, three of which are also partnered with the Big Ten. The Big 12, Mountain West, and ACC each partner with one Pac-12 bowl.

Excluding the College Football Playoffs Championship Game and the New Years Six bowl games that all contribute to the playoff revenue pool, the Pac-12 partners with two of the six highest-paying bowl games, and four of the top 11.

The Alamo Bowl, which paid out $3.8 million last year, and Holiday Bowl ($2.8 million) are particularly important, since the lesser bowl games often barely cover the expenses of the attending team, or fail to do so.

The conference does especially well when it can send teams to at-large bowl games, taking the spot, and revenue, of a conference that failed to have enough teams qualify for bowl games to fill its obligations. Of course, that’s the Pac-12 this year, which will only send six teams to bowl games.

The Pac-12’s losses are the American Athletic Conference and Mountain West Conference’s gains, since Houston and Boise State will replace the Pac-12 teams in the Las Vegas Bowl and Cactus Bowl, respectively.

Fewer bowl teams also directly correlate with less charitable giving, merchandise sales and even applications to attend universities, studies have shown. So the Pac-12 has good bowl games, it just needs its member teams to qualify for them.

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December 22nd

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CSU scores 36 points in the fourth quarter … to lose by only 11, 61-50 in Famous Potato Bowl

… Related … “Analysis: CSU has no excuse for Potato Bowl flop” … From the Coloradoan

… Related … “CSU not getting its money’s worth from Mike Bobo” … From the Coloradoan

From ESPN … Matt Linehan threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a another score to help Idaho beat Colorado State 61-50 on Thursday night in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in the third-highest scoring game in bowl history.

Idaho (9-4) matched its highest victory total since moving to FBS in 1996, but the victory will do nothing to quell the debate over the school’s decision to move back down to FCS play. In April, the Sun Belt informed the school it was dropping Idaho after the 2017 season.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our players,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “They were focused on winning the football game and that helped them come out and play well early. They were told there were a bunch of things they weren’t supposed to be able to do, but they did it anyway.”

Colorado State (7-6) finished with a bowl loss for the second straight year.

… Continue reading story here …

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December 21st

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Oregon running back Royce Freeman will return for his senior season

From ESPN … Oregon running back Royce Freeman will return to play his final season of eligibility in Eugene.

Freeman exploded for the Ducks in his freshman and sophomore seasons, rushing for a combined for 35 rushing touchdowns and 3,201 rushing yards. However, he finished the 2016 season with just 945 yards and nine touchdowns after suffering injuries in both the Nebraska game (lower leg) and Washington game (sternum).

Freeman decided it was best to return to Eugene for both on- and off-the-field reasons, but also said part of it was to play for new Ducks coach Willie Taggart.

“The prospect of playing for Coach Taggart my final year here was certainly a factor in my return,” Freeman said in a press release. “His enthusiasm and vision for this program are contagious. I am excited to be coached by him and to enhance my development.”

Freeman will lead a deep running back group that includes players like Tony Brooks-James and Kani Benoit, who stepped in for Freeman during his injuries. This, coupled the expected growth from freshman quarterback Justin Herbert, gives the Oregon offense a good chance to take major steps forward in 2017.

Left tackle Tyrell Crosby will also return for the 2017 season, a source told ESPN.com, leading an offensive line that returns four redshirt freshman starters of the 2016 team.

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Oregon State head coach Gary Andersen receives a contract extension

From the Oregonian … Oregon State football coach Gary Andersen has signed a one-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2021 season, OSU officials announced on Tuesday.

Andersen just finished his second season with the Beavers, going 4-8 and guiding OSU to its first Civil War victory over the Oregon Ducks since 2007.

“We are excited about the direction of our program and the way our young men work to represent Beaver Nation the right way,” Andersen said in a statement. “We expect to continue to be much improved off and on the field, and I look forward to successful seasons ahead. Go Beavs!”

Andersen signed a six-year contract when he became the Beavers’ coach in December 2014, so Tuesday’s extension adds one season to his deal. Terms of the extension were not disclosed, nor did the university say whether the terms of his original deal were changed. Andersen’s original contract paid him a base salary of $2.45 million, with an annual raise of $100,000 after the first year. That gave him a salary of $2.95 million in the sixth and final year.

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December 20th

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From the “you have to love it” category

… Tweet from Mike Brohard, sports editor for the Loveland Reporter-Herald: “Colorado State reporting ticket sales for Potato Bowl at 445; 391 general tickets, 54 student tickets”

… Next stop: Power-Five conference offer! …

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Utah star cornerback not likely to participate in Foster Farms Bowl

From the Salt Lake Tribune …The bowl game status of one of Utah’s captains and senior defensive backs: “To be determined.”

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham repeated the phrase a number of times when asked about Dominique Hatfield. On Saturday, the senior tweeted that he had a “99 percent chance” of not playing in the Foster Farms Bowl against Indiana on Dec. 28. On Monday after practice, Whittingham, at the very least, kept that one percent in play.

Hatfield deleted the tweet later in the day. He was not seen after practice on Monday afternoon.

The Los Angeles native played in nine games at cornerback this year for Utah, recording 30 tackles, an interception and four pass breakups. He’s one of three seniors at his position who will be graduating this year.

… Hatfield has had off-field issues before: He had a troubled offseason in 2015, once arrested on aggravated robbery charges that were dropped, and then on assault charges to which he entered a guilty plea in abeyance. When he was voted a team captain this year, Whittingham held up Hatfield as an example of a player “doing all the things we’ve asked him to do.”

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December 19th

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Oregon State looking to “emulate” Colorado

… Nice to be on the positive side of this type of story … 

From ESPN … Colorado demonstrated that worst-to-first is possible in the Pac-12’s South Division, and Washington showed that a team can go from 7-6 to the College Football Playoff. While the concentration of power in college football seems like it is contracting among a handful of elite teams, there are certainly examples a coach can show his struggling program that indicate a cracked door.

And so we raise an eyebrow at Oregon State. Are the Beavers the Pac-12’s next breakthrough team? They closed their second season under Gary Andersen with two consecutive conference wins, performances that hinted at a team ready to graduate from scrappy to something more advanced.

Andersen seemed mostly amused by the suggestion, but he knows better than anyone that the Beavers at the end of 2016 were exponentially better than the crew that was more than doubled-up in scoring margin while going 0-9 in conference play in 2015.

Just as Colorado’s chief transformation came on defense — the Buffaloes surrendered 39 points per game in 2014 but just 20.5 in 2016 — so it appears that the Beavers can advance. They yielded 30.5 points per game this season, nearly a touchdown better than last year, and turned in their best work over the second half of the season, despite some injury issues.

… Continue reading story here …

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Stanford running back to skip Sun Bowl to prepare for NFL draft

From ESPN … Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey will sit out the Hyundai Sun Bowl to focus on his NFL draft preparation, he announced Monday on Twitter.

“Very tough decision, but I have decided not to play in the Sun Bowl so I can begin my draft prep immediately,” McCaffrey wrote on Twitter. “Thx to all my teammates for their 100% support — It means a lot to me. Go Cardinal!”

McCaffrey announced Dec. 7 that he would forgo his senior season to enter the draft. He has said he plans to return to Stanford to earn his degree in communication.

He joins LSU running back Leonard Fournette as another high-profile name to sit out the bowl season. Fournette announced Friday that he would not play in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 against Louisville.

McCaffrey became a college football star in 2015, when he racked up 3,864 yards, shattering Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yardage. He won the Associated Press National Player of the Year award and finished second in that season’s Heisman Trophy voting behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry. McCaffrey led Stanford to a 45-16 walloping of Iowa in the Rose Bowl, racking up a record 368 all-purpose yards in the process.

He is ranked No. 28 on Todd McShay’s latest Top 32 prospects list and is the fourth-ranked running back in Mel Kiper’s positional rankings.

Stanford faces North Carolina in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30.

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December 17th

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Minnesota players end boycott, will play Washington State in Holiday Bowl

From ESPN … Minnesota’s football team has ended its boycott and will resume preparations to play in the National Funding Holiday Bowl.

The Gophers had been protesting the suspension of 10 players connected to a sexual assault allegation, demanding that the players be reinstated immediately.

The team released a statement, which was read Saturday morning by wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky.

“As a team, we understand that what has occurred these past few days, and playing football for the University of Minnesota, is larger than just us,” the team said in its statement. “So many before us have given so much to this University and this football team … we will not … and we recognize that we must not, let these people down.

“We now ask that you, the members of the media, our fans, and the general public hold all of us accountable for ensuring that our teammates are treated fairly, along with any and all victims of sexual assault. We also ask that the public dialogue related to the apparent lack of due process in a university system is openly discussed and evaluated.”

The announcement came after a late-night meeting Friday between Gophers players and university president Eric Kaler and other campus leaders. The statement revealed that the 10 players remain suspended, but also said that the players will have a “fair hearing” in front of a “diverse review panel.”

“After many hours of discussion within our team, and after speaking with President Kaler, it became clear that our original request of having the 10 suspensions overturned was not going to happen,” the statement said. “Our senior group had a meeting with President Kaler and AD Mark Coyle last night, Friday the 16th, where they agreed to the following requests: That all ten of these players have a fair hearing — which includes a diverse review panel. Number two, a showing of support for our team and the character shown by the great majority of our players. Finally, that we as a team will use our status as public figures to bring more exposure to the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women.”

The Gophers will face Washington State in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27. They were scheduled to leave for San Diego on Dec. 23.

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December 16th

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Minnesota may be replaced in Holiday Bowl by Northern Illinois … or Arizona State … or Cal

… Related … “Gov. Dayton calls Gophers football boycott and U incident ‘a bad black eye’ for Minnesota” … from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

… Related … “What you need to know about the Gophers football controversy” … from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

From CBS Sports … There are significant logistical issues as to whether the Holiday Bowl could even be played if Minnesota follows through with its planned boycott, sources told CBS Sports.

Northern Illinois, which is next in line in the bowl pecking order to play Washington State on Dec. 27 in San Diego if the Gophers’ boycott continues through the bowl game — hasn’t played in three weeks. One official associated with the process pointed out that school at NIU has been out since early December and holiday plans have been made by players.

Minnesota players announced Thursday they would boycott all team activities until 10 suspended players are reinstated.

Any team replacing Minnesota would probably have to begin practicing by early next week. That’s assuming that is not too late given student-athlete welfare concerns.

Northern Illinois, for example, concluded its season Nov. 26. Any team replacing the Gophers would likely be in the same situation.

“[The Holiday Bowl] has tickets to be sold, rooms to be sold, airline tickets to be sold,” said Bob Bowlsby, chairman of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. “They have lots of events to stage. Northern Illinois or anybody could say, ‘We can’t get ready.’ Then what do you do?”

Northern Illinois officials aren’t commenting, but school sources have made it clear that it would be difficult for the Huskies to play. The last day of exams was Dec. 9.

The Huskies finished 5-7. Thanks to their high Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 970, they are first line to play in place of Minnesota. Cal and Arizona State are next up, tied with APR scores of 960. That means it’s a possible a tiebreaker may slot one of those programs in the Holiday Bowl.

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This post, about the Postseason game, from the 2016 Season, is filed under Article.
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