Arizona U football

FD Cyclone · 01-20-2008, 10:27 AM

I recall a thread here many moons ago that likened AU the most to ISU....sharing a state with another DI school, and generally being the worse of the 2 schools on the football field.

This leads me to wonder though, why has AU been in the bottom half of the pac-10 for just over a decade? With weather and the locale of being between texas/cali it puzzles me. Is there room in Arizona for only 1 school.

Furthermore it seems that the many Pac-10 teams dont sustain winning as the top 3-4 teams seem to cycle about every 3 years(besides USC's run of late).

So what gives?

LindenCy · 01-20-2008, 10:45 AM

I don't know, but I remember the "Desert Swarm" defense that was holding teams to like 6 yards rushing a game for a while. They had some good teams 10-15 years ago at least.

jumbopackage · 01-20-2008, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by FD Cyclone

I recall a thread here many moons ago that likened AU the most to ISU....sharing a state with another DI school, and generally being the worse of the 2 schools on the football field.

This leads me to wonder though, why has AU been in the bottom half of the pac-10 for just over a decade? With weather and the locale of being between texas/cali it puzzles me. Is there room in Arizona for only 1 school.

Furthermore it seems that the many Pac-10 teams dont sustain winning as the top 3-4 teams seem to cycle about every 3 years(besides USC's run of late).

So what gives?

Tuscon isn't the greatest town in the world, which might be part of it (even though the climate there is better than Phoenix, IMO). Locale doesn't make a program great. SDSU is in possibly the best city in the nation climate-wise, and they are hit and miss.

It might be between Texas and California, but it's between WEST Texas and California, and it's probably nearly as far from the major population centers in Texas and Ames as it is between the major population centers in Texas and Tuscon, and the drive is a whole lot less exciting.

CloneFan65 · 01-20-2008, 12:40 PM

I live in Arizona, and the U of A is a tough place to recruit. ASU gets most of the top in-state recruits. Then the kids U or A gets from Texas and So. Cal are the ones that weren't recruited by USC, UCLA, or the big Texas Universities. I thought the hiring of Stoops was great at the time, but he hasn't been a able to win consistently. I don't think he has the temperment to be a Head Coach.

Wesley · 01-20-2008, 12:51 PM

Tuscon is definitely the reason. It is like Manhattan versus Lawrence. I have been to Tuscon and I like Phoenix much better.

EggMcClone · 01-20-2008, 10:35 PM

They hired the dumb Stoops.

Mike had a reputation of not being the smarter of the two whenever they were coaching together.

BD4CY · 01-20-2008, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley

Tuscon is definitely the reason. It is like Manhattan versus Lawrence. I have been to Tuscon and I like Phoenix much better.

Yeah I've been to Tucson also and It really seemed kind of dull and boring compared to the Phoenix area