Opinion: Arizona Athletics and the Pac-12 are no longer Power Five
It has been a rather unique year, and with there still being no sports for Arizona Athletics and the Pac-12, I feel we are no longer a Power Five Conference.
As we all saw this weekend, it is that virtually every Major Conference is playing besides the Pac-12 and Big 10, which unfortunately leaves Arizona Athletics continued to be sidelined as well.
I know maybe for some reading this, they feel this move is still the right one, especially with the football season still being early in the year, and Covid spikes could reasonably go up. Look no further than Arizona’s campus currently.
Arizona Wildcats
However, you can’t deny the optics of it being a bad look for the Pac-12.
As it stands, this is a conference that chose to be the innovators and the proverbial leaders on the Covid issue, but my opinion still holds that they made the decision a bit too quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the schools should be playing purely at the expense of the players and without their consent, however, I do think that the University of Arizona was proving that with proper testing and protocols, you could feasibly have a football season.
And already in the midst of football season, that certainly looks like the case as well for a lot of other schools and conferences.
To me, I was already a bit indifferent on the season anyways, as Arizona Football was anticipated to struggle. Even worse, the Pac-12 was likely to not be competitive on the national level. I mean, this is the same conference that hasn’t won a National Title in Football since 2004.
It has become growlingly evident that this conference is no longer among the best, and their lack of National success in the two-major money making sports should be a clear indication of that. It makes it seem like there are really only four power conferences and not five.
More. On Arizona Athletics. light
The years of poor leadership and poor decision making have buried this conference, and them not playing football makes it worse. As always, Bear Down!