February 25, 2007
ESPN’s Schlabach: UCLA Won’t Finish In Top 2 In Pac-10 In ‘07
The two worlds of college football are at odds again concerning UCLA football and Karl Dorrell. There is the MSM reporters and columnists love affair with Karl Dorrell no matter how awful his numbers are and then there are the analysts that don’t give Dorrell any respect. We saw it last year with the MSM hyping Dorrell to challenge USC for the conference title while analysts had us finishing no higher than 4th. We know how last season turned out, 7-6 and 4th in the conference during an average conference year. The analysts, including DD, were right and the MSM were left with only the win over SC to fuel the Dorrell hype.
Now, analysts have our ‘07 pre-season national ranking all over the map with 4 ranking us top 20 and 2 not ranking us at all, but one analyst, ESPN’s Greg Schlabach, doesn’t even have us finishing in the top 2 of our conference next season. You may recall that Schlabach is the only analyst saying that Dorrell is on the hot seat in ‘07. But it may be even more significant to point out that even though we have a perfect storm of 20 returning starters, 17 of them seniors, and all our tough games at home, except SC, that Schlabach doesn’t even have us beating out SC or Cal. He has SC winning the BCS title game over W. Virginia and Cal playing Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. That means we can’t finish higher than 3rd in his view. He also says that we won’t even ‘test’ SC:
2. The Trojans will finish on top: Southern California will be tested only twice — at Nebraska on Sept. 15 and at California on Nov. 10 — before finishing the season undefeated. The Trojans will play West Virginia for the national championship Jan. 7 in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, three weeks after the Trojans receive a formal notice of investigation from the NCAA for alleged violations involving 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.
Not a lot of confidence in Dorrell’s coaching abilities here. On a positive note, Schlabach has us beating BYU (no surprise there since they’re are losing a boatload of starters) and Notre Dame (again no surprise). But even with SC going to the BCS title game Schlabach thinks Dorrell won’t get us to the Rose Bowl:
20. TCU will crash the BCS party: West Virginia and USC will play in the BCS title game. California will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Florida State will play TCU in the Orange Bowl. LSU will play Louisville in the Sugar Bowl. Texas will play Georgia in the Fiesta Bowl.
Now Schlabach is just one analyst and this is just his view. But we are slighted this way because of our coaching and the direction of our football program. One thing should be a solid lock: if Dorrell has us finishing 3rd or worse in the conference next season he will be gone! It is then that we will need to rely on the MSM and their collective stupidity to continue to fuel the Dorrell hype and help him get a job elsewhere. That would tie it all together nicely.
5 Comments on ESPN’s Schlabach: UCLA Won’t Finish In Top 2 In Pac-10 In ‘07
February 27, 2007
Fox 71 @ 9:13 pm:
Do you think Guerrero would have fired Coach Dorrell if the score had been different on 12-2? I don’t. I think Guerrero lives in absolute terror of the Black Coaches Association, and fears that anything negative he might say about KD will get him fired or sued or put up against a wall and shot at sunrise.
Come on, Dan, do your job.
DumpDorrell @ 10:06 pm:
Fox … hard to say, but we will respectfully disagree. had the score been different, had Booty completed that pass that McNeal deflected, Guerrero would have fired Dorrell. as you know it was reported that we contacted Mooch. we believe it would have happened. in any case, Guerrero will be on the hot seat if Dorrell doesn’t win something this coming season. we will help with that.
February 28, 2007
BillSouthBay @ 12:12 pm:
My secret thought, not so secret now, is that KD was thrust on DG, and DG is trying his best to manage his way out of the situation, since there are so many non-job related issues here… silly, but that is our world today. I am sure, I am nearly positive, that DG would love nothing more than to fill that HC job with a Mariucci, or whoever, who really does have experience, success, and someone who feels responsibility for results as our HC in BB. Then DG can go worry about other aspects of the athletic department other than football.
Bill
DumpDorrell @ 3:35 pm:
Bill, that is what we’d secretly like to believe too. DG doesn’t strike us a guy who wants to sit around making excuses for someone like Dorrell. The problem is Howland, his big hire, came to him. Had he gone after Howland or even someone like him we would feel a whole lost better about his determination to bring our football program back. Still, we are choosing at this point to believe the Mooch story and so give DG the benefit of the doubt that he is willing to go get proven winners. After this season, he needs to take care of business one way or another or he will become the target.
March 1, 2007
BillSouthBay @ 11:18 am:
Well DG did OK for baseball, with all the facility issues UCLA has there, although to be fair that was DG’s sport. At least DG doesn’t have the background of Intramural Towel Manager, a moniker that Pete Dalis had at one time….