ESPN College Football

The Party is not interested in the overt act; the thought is all we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.

• New Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez knows he needs to prove himself (again).
• This Arkansas transfer is hoping to play immediately at LB for Arizona State.
• This stinks: Former Colorado RB Rodney Stewart blows out his knee 15 minutes into his first practice of rookie mini camp with the Cincinnati Bengals.
• Oregon State CB Jordan Poyer is the latest Beaver to get in trouble at this night spot. Fellas: Find a new hangout.
• A kickoff time is set for USC's road opener at Syracuse.
• Utah is again hitting the Islands in recruiting.
• Opening up Washington's playbook. Huskies, and I think I speak for everyone here, to this I simply say, "No."
• Some thoughts on former Washington State coach Paul Wulff opening up.
• Some interesting analysis of the NFL draft by conference.

It has to start somewhere
It has to start sometime
What better place than here
What better time than now.

• Has Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez found his QB of the future?
• It may be an uphill battle for both Arizona schools this season.
• Is Colorado going to tangle with Purdue as part of the Pac-12-Big Ten series?
• Might Stanford's next athletic director come from the NFL.
• Jim Mora is giving UCLA a recruiting bounce.
• What are the over-unders for USC QB Matt Barkley?
• Things are better at QB for Utah.
• Who is Washington's second most important player?
• Former Washington State coach Paul Wulff talks about what he's been doing.
• What do the Pac-12 Networks mean for you? It means big money for the conference.

Sometimes football players come from unexpected places.

Washington State's Andrei Lintz grew up frolicking outside his mom's office: The Catherine Palace, the Rococo summer residence of the tsars just outside of St. Petersburg -- yes, the Russian one, not the one in Florida.

"I remember walking around there. That was my place to hang out," Lintz said. "It was a cool backyard compared to Pullman, where you've got hills and five minutes out of town and you're in the middle of nowhere."

Lintz moved to the U.S. when he was 6. He grew up playing soccer and didn't play football until his freshman year of high school. But he did enough at Meridian High in Bellingham, Wash., to earn a scholarship to Washington State, where he was part of former coach Paul Wulff's first recruiting class.

The next four years weren't much fun. Though the Cougars steadily, if slowly, improved, Wulff was fired last winter after going 9-40 overall and 4-32 in conference play.

"It was heartbreaking from a personal standpoint -- these were the coaches who believed in you, trusted in you," Lintz said. "It is a business and that's the ultimate reality. If you don't win at the Division I level, you're going to get fired."

Then athletic director Bill Moos tapped former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach as Wulff's replacement, which generated plenty of positive buzz in Pullman.

Unless you played tight end, as Lintz did. His initial thought was he might disappear as a fifth-year senior in a spread offense. Heck, Leach didn't even have a tight ends coach.

"I had no idea what was in store for me," Lintz said. "I was pretty worried. I watched [Texas Tech] highlights and they very rarely had a tight end on the field. It was all four-wides and the receivers were small, quick guys."

Ah, but sometimes football players come from unexpected places. Or 6-foot-5, 252-pound tight ends become inside receivers.

Some might see the move as a gimmick. Clearly talented sophomore tight end Aaron Dunn wasn't impressed with his prospects. He quickly transferred after Leach's hire.

But Lintz was a revelation this spring, arguably the Cougs' most consistent receiver. In the final two scrimmages, he caught 12 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Leach's "Air Raid" offense neglect a guy with a tight end's body? Well, last year as the No. 1 tight end, Lintz made just seven catches for 96 yards and one touchdown -- all season.

If you are looking for a breakout player next fall, a guy who could give opposing defenses fits and make them think they are trying to cover the second-coming of former Stanford tight end -- and potential first-round NFL draft pick -- Coby Fleener, look no further than Lintz. He's not as fast as Fleener -- not nearly so -- but he's plenty athletic. And he's capable of playing a jack-of-all-trades role -- receiver, tight end and H-back.

In other words, he's another guy who can help force a defense to do what Leach wants to force it to do: account for the entire field.

But will that be enough to get the Cougs to the postseason for the first time since 2003? Lintz said what has distinguished Leach's first spring, which ends with Saturday's spring game, was a sense of urgency.

"It's almost cutthroat," he said. "It's all go, go, go, now, now, now. We can't be the welcome mat of the Pac-12 anymore."

Lintz likely meant "doormat," but his point is clear. He might hail from Russia, but he's fully aware that the Cougars head into 2012 with an eight-year bowl drought, longest in the Pac-12.

The firing of Paul Wulff at Washington State didn't make many Cougars feel good. Wulff was a former Coug himself, and there was no doubt he fought hard to rebuild a program that was about as low as an AQ team can be in 2008.

Further, there was no question the program had made progress under Wulff. The Cougars went 4-8 and 2-7 in conference play in 2011 after going 5-32 and 2-25 over the previous three seasons. Attendance went up from a dismal 24,532 in 2010 to 28,791 this past fall.

And Wulff, though a stand-up guy, didn't hide his disappointment and disagreement with the decision.

"I believe the innocence of WSU has been lost today," Wulff said during a news conference after his termination.

But Wulff's firing was about more than wins and losses. It was about malaise. Athletic director Bill Moos saw it and felt it among the fanbase and he didn't feel he could continue to be patient and hope that 2012 proved to be a turnaround season, even if there were plenty of reasons to foresee one. Moos, who finally had money to spend due to the new Pac-12 TV contract, believed that making a change was also about creating buzz and energizing his beleaguered fanbase.

And he knew a guy like Mike Leach wouldn't be available for long.

This puts Moos' thinking into dollars and sense (yes, sense): The Cougar Athletic Fund (CAF), the fundraising arm of the athletic department, added nearly 1,200 new members in 2012 while moving the Cougars up the list of donor rankings among Pac-12 schools.

WSU Athletics ended 2011 with 4,084 CAF members (minimum $50 annual donation to the CAF). That number placed the Cougars 10th among Pac-12 schools in number of donors making an annual scholarship gift. Oregon leads the conference with 8,800 donors at the end of 2011. Following February's highly successful Night With Cougar Football events in Spokane, Tri-Cities and Seattle, the CAF sits with more than 5,200 members, which under last year's totals would pass Utah (5,000) for ninth place and be just behind USC, which ended last year with 5,400 total donors.

Here are some further thoughts on this.

And, of course, you probably remember this: In December, the Cougars received $3 million from a booster -- Greg Rankich ’94 of Kirkland, Wash. -- the largest gift to the program in school history.

It's hard to measure how much credit Leach actually deserves for the fundraising boost, but it's fair to say it's not insubstantial.

Oregon coach Chip Kelly was baffled in a phone interview before the Rose Bowl. How the heck could little-old-him be important to a reporter?

"The big story," he said conspiratorially,"is all these new coaches."

Well, it's the big story now as the Pac-12 turns its attention away from the 2011 season and toward 2012 spring practices. And, of course, Kelly is part of a reason there are four new coaches in the conference. Mike Stoops, Dennis Erickson, Rick Neuheisel and Paul Wulff -- fired at Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Washington State, respectively -- never beat Kelly and, in fact, came within double digits of his Ducks only once (Arizona, with a 44-41 loss in 2009).

But the story isn't just four new coaches. It's four new coaches whom folks have heard of, each of whom is getting a big-boy salary that would fit in among the SEC or Big Ten. Big salaries are the new normal in the Pac-12 after the conference signed a $3 billion TV deal with ESPN and Fox.

So out goes Stoops and his $1,456,000 salary, and in comes Rich Rodriguez and his $1,910,000 paycheck. Out goes Erickson and his $1,503,000 salary, and in comes Todd Graham and his $2 million tab. Out goes Neuheisel and his $1,285,000 salary, and in comes Jim Mora and his $2.4 million annual take. Out goes Wulff and his $600,000 salary, and in comes Mike Leach and his $2,250,000 price tag.

The chief idea is obvious: Pac-12 schools are paying for an upgrade in coaching talent, and there are high expectations for getting their money's worth. And, by the way, there's an added bonus for each hire: Each new coach has a chip on his shoulder and something to prove.

• In 2010, Rodriguez was ingloriously dispatched at Michigan after three tumultuous and unsuccessful years. Athletic director Greg Byrne is betting that Rodriguez is far closer to the highly successful coach he was at West Virginia than the one who got run out of Ann Arbor, and Rodriguez surely wants that impression to be his legacy. It helps that he got his man, Jeff Casteel, to run the Wildcats' defense, which he failed to do at Michigan.
• Graham took a lot of heat from a pandering, sanctimonious media and a whiny Pittsburgh fan base for how he left the Panthers. "He didn't even say goodbye," they collectively sobbed. "Waaah." Of course, Graham does have an unfortunate habit of describing every job as his "dream job." All that stuff is mostly hogwash, though. What matters is winning, and if Graham does that, the media will all come down en masse to Tempe pretending they didn't trash Graham's character for taking a better job, in a better conference, in a better place to live while making his family happy in the process.
• Mora was fired in 2009 after only one season with the Seattle Seahawks, and he's bided his time looking for another head-coaching job. Seeing that he was two or three names down UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero's coaching list -- Chris Petersen! Kevin Sumlin! -- some Bruins fans reacted with disappointed smirks to Mora's hiring. Then Mora hired an outstanding staff. Then he reeled in an outstanding recruiting class. Some of those frowns are turning upside down.
• Leach was fired at Texas Tech in 2009. He's one of the best offensive minds in the nation, and the almost universal reaction is athletic director Bill Moos hit a home run with this big-name hire. The Pirate Captain looks like the perfect match for Pullman and the Cougs, and he'll be plenty motivated to prove his critics wrong and erase the bad ending in Lubbock.

It's fair to say these four hirings have generated positive momentum for these programs, though, of course, to varying degrees. There's a hope among the fan bases that these four can create quick turnarounds.

And that also leads into another major coaching story entering the spring: The Pac-12's most senior coaches, California's Jeff Tedford and Oregon State's Mike Riley, sit on the hottest seats.

Tedford enters his 11th season in Berkeley having followed up his first losing campaign -- 5-7 in 2010 -- with a middling 7-6 finish in 2011. Riley, the man deserving the most credit for making one of the worst programs in college football respectable, enters his 12th year in Corvallis -- two tenures wrapped around an ill-fated stint with the San Diego Chargers -- burdened by consecutive losing seasons, including a 3-9 finish that felt so 1987.

Spring practices for Tedford and Riley will be about setting up turnaround season that give their frustrated fan bases hope -- and keep their athletic directors from issuing dreaded votes of confidence while checking their coaching Rolodexes.

Meanwhile, Kelly and USC's Lane Kiffin, still relative coaching newbies in the conference, enter spring likely trying to tone down the positive hype. Both will begin the 2012 season ranked in the top 10. USC could be preseason No. 1. Both are overwhelming favorites in the North and South Divisions. And their meeting on Nov. 3 in L.A. could have national title implications.

But that's looking ahead.

The big story this spring in the Pac-12 is newness and rebirth. One-third of the conference's teams hope that newness at the top of their programs will create a rebirth in the Pac-12 standings.

ESPN.com Insider Ryan Magee looks at five promising rebuilding jobs for 2012 , and he rates Washington State as a team "finally turning the proverbial corner."

Here's what he writes as he predicts the Cougars will be heading to their first bowl game since 2003 -- you might recall the Cougs' upset victory over Texas and Vince Young in the Holiday Bowl:

Now, let's not go crazy here. After 14 wins in five years, Wazzu isn't going to suddenly win 11 games and go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in nearly a decade. But as poor as ousted head coach Paul Wulff's four-year record was, last year's team showed remarkable improvement, the kind of improvement that new boss Mike Leach should be able to capitalize on.

They started three different quarterbacks in 2011, but still ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in passing, thanks in no small part to All-Pac-12 second team receiver Marquess Wilson. The Cougars improved their points per game output from 20 to 30, and increased total offense by nearly 90 yards per game. The defense allowed 57 fewer total yards, 63 fewer rushing yards, and four fewer points per game than the season before.

I also see Washington State taking a strong step forward in 2012. Even with a new head coach in Mike Leach and an entirely new staff, the Cougars set up well for becoming bowl eligible. My one quibble with Magee's take is he list quarterback as a question mark. Leach has two strong options in Jeff Tuel, the 2010 starter who was hurt most of last year, and Connor Halliday, a freshman who performed extremely well late last season before getting hurt himself.

While Tuel is the favorite to win the job, it certainly will be a competition worth watching this spring and during fall camp. Whoever prevails will have a strong crew of receivers to spread the field, as Leach loves to do.

Washington State coach Mike Leach has his first disciplinary issue, as starting sophomore linebacker C.J. Mizell was arrested after being involved in a weekend fight at a fraternity house party.

Mizell, a native of Tallahassee, Fla., was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault and trespassing.

From the Spokesman Review:

Pullman Police Sergeant Dan Dornes said police were called at approximately 12:24 a.m. Sunday after Mizell allegedly tried to enter a party at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house. When Mizell was denied entry, he allegedly “punched one of the guys several times,” Dornes said.

Mizell fled the scene but was arrested Sunday, cited, booked and released. Fourth-degree assault and second-degree criminal trespassing are both misdemeanors. A WSU spokesman said coaches are aware of the arrest and are still gathering facts.

First off: I hope it's not going to be one of those offseasons,with Stanford LB Shayne Skov getting arrested for DUI this past weekend and now Mizell.

Leach, while known for a quirky personality, isn't slack on discipline. A portion of his book "Swing Your Sword" includes his reaction to a fight involving multiple Texas Tech players as well as his list of team rules, which included "no fighting":

There's a different standard for you. I don't care if it's fair. I don't care what he said. I don't care what kind of names he called you or what he might have said about your family. It doesn't matter. You leave ... I warned them about fighting. It was one of the first things I'd talk about every year when I first addressed the team.

Of course, Mizell should have left. But fights at fraternity houses often have two sides to the story. Mizell has struggled at times with his discipline, and fell afoul of former coach Paul Wulff's staff several times, but he took some steps up the maturity ladder this past season. Leach has said players will get a clean slate with him, but this also gives Leach a chance to send a message to his team.

Also from his book: Leach is creative with punishments. He had the players involved in the brawl at Texas Tech go through a rigorous boxing conditioning session — "Fight Club" he called it.

Mizell should expect to invest some sweat equity for this one.

The 2011 season is over. That means report cards are due.

Last up: Washington State

Offense: The Cougars started three different quarterbacks in 2011, but nonetheless ranked ninth in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in passing offense with 322.3 yards per game, with 30 TD passes and 12 interceptions. That was the best news. The Cougars ranked sixth in the conference in total offense (422.4 ypg) and seventh in scoring (29.8 ppg). The didn't run the ball well, finishing 10th in the conference in rushing offense. As for the passing offense, it only ranked sixth in efficiency. The worst news was yielding 3.33 sacks per game, which ranked 116th in the nation. That was a product of offering little running threat, as well as shuffling quarterbacks who do things differently in the pocket and aren't in rhythm with the offense. Still, the Cougs' offensive numbers were dramatically better in 2011 than in 2010 (19.6 ppg, 330.2 ypg), despite the quarterback issues. Sophomore Marquess Wilson became one of the elite young receivers in country, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors.

Grade: C+

Defense: The Cougars ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in total defense (409.6 ypg) and ninth in scoring defense (31.8 ppg). They were 11th in the conference -- and 111th in the nation -- in pass efficiency defense, as foes completed 64 percent of their passes with 24 TDs. They only forced 17 turnovers, which tied for 10th in the conference. Still, just like the offense, the numbers were significantly better than 2010 (35.8 ppg, 467 ypg), when the Cougs ranked last in the conference in scoring and total defense. The biggest sign of a step forward? Rushing defense. In 2010, the Cougs yielded a conference-worst 220.2 ypg. In 2011, that number was down to 157.2 ypg, which ranked eighth in the conference. That shows increased toughest and physical maturity.

Grade: C-

Overall: A 4-8 finish that gets coach Paul Wulff fired isn't going to get a high grade. But the Cougs took a significant step forward in 2011, and that bodes well for another step forward under first-year coach Mike Leach. A team that three years ago looked -- and played -- like a mid-level FCS team was highly competitive in 2011, recording its only quality conference win -- against Arizona State -- during the Wulff Era. The Cougars were still outmanned against most Pac-12 foes, but they fought back all season. The fact is, the general mood in Pullman at present is as high as it has been in years, perhaps since Mike Price was on the sidelines.

Grade: C.

Washington State athletic director Bill Moos aimed high -- and paid big -- to get Mike Leach to Pullman, and he's not tightening the purse strings with Leach's staff, according to a report from Howie Stalwick. At least in terms of what the Cougars paid coaches in the past.

Leach will make $2.25 million this season. His predecessor, Paul Wulff, made a Pac-12-low $600,000 in 2011. Former defensive coordinator Chris Ball was Wulff's highest-paid assistant at $170,050. His replacement, Mike Breske, takes over the top spot on the Cougars staff at $325,000.

So, yes, Leach will make 3.75 times what Wulff made and Breske will nearly double Ball.

In fact, six of Leach's nine assistants will make more than Ball did.

The total for the staff is $1.8 million, an increase of nearly $600,000 from last year's staff. And the total for Leach and his staff -- $4.05 million -- dwarfs that of Wulff and his staff ($1.825 million).

And it doesn't stop there. Stalwick also reported that Leach's chief of staff, Dave Emerick, will pocket $150,000.

Says Moos: Thank you Larry Scott for all that TV money.

All the contracts are for one year, which does go against a recent trend of offering assistants multi-year deals. That means if Leach wants to make changes in 2013, the school won't be on the hook.

Here are the figures:

Mike Leach, head coach, $2.25 million
Mike Breske, defensive coordinator/DBs, $325,000
Eric Russell, assistant head coach/special teams, $225,000
Jeff Choate, linebackers, $210,000
Clay McGuire, offensive line, $200,000
Jim Mastro, running backs, $200,000
Joe Salave'a, defensive line, $175,000
Dennis Simmons, outside receivers, $160,000
Paul Volero, outside linebackers, $165,000
Eric Morris, inside receivers, $150,000

Happy Friday.

• Arizona's stadium renovation project shows the program is moving forward.
• A former Arizona State player is standing up for veterans.
• A Q&A with new California receivers coach Wes Chandler. Jon Wilner has some reactions to the news of the day, including Cal's loss of assistant coaches to Washington.
• Taking a look at Colorado's offensive line interior.
• Bryan Bennett takes the lead role at QB for Oregon. Doc Saturday has some concerns about former QB Darron Thomas' draft prospects.
• Oregon State has a big recruiting weekend planned, but the weather isn't cooperating. Just FYI: High will be 72 today in Scottsdale.
• Stanford's most improved player wasn't a rebel -- he was a Yankey! Thank you... yes, thank you... I'll be at the Fox Theater on Sunday.
• UCLA's strong turn in recruiting continues. And it may continue to get better.
• Has USC found the next Stanley Havili?
• Utah DT Star Lotulelei picks up his hardware.
• But of course Bob Condotta is still blogging about Washington football even though he is snowed in and without power. I did mention it's going to be 72 here today, right? Four letters: Brrr.
• Washington State has the money to pay new coach Mike Leach and pay off former coach Paul Wulff.
• You might be interested in this.

It's never too early to look ahead, and even if it is, it's not against the law or anything.

And so we have our way-too-early 2012 power rankings.

By the way, schedule does not factor into these. This is a projected pecking order based on where a team stands right now -- Jan. 10, 2012.

And, by the way No. 2, if you don't like where your team is in the way-too-early power rankings, then I'd suggest whining about it until you get to play better.

By the way No. 3, Nos. 1 & 2 were easy. The rest is pretty darn murky, not in small part due to four new coaches.

1. USC: The Trojans welcome back 19 starters from a top-five team, including quarterback Matt Barkley. They beat Oregon in Autzen Stadium on Nov. 19. USC might be the preseason No. 2. Or No. 3.

2. Oregon: The Ducks have a strong mix of talent coming back from a team that won the Rose Bowl, but it's not just about 16 returning starters. If you want a reason to favor the Ducks over the Trojans, it's depth. Oregon welcomes back most of its two-deep. By the way, old Ducks fans probably grin about the idea of their team having better depth than USC.

3. Utah: The Utes welcome back 18 starters, though replacing both offensive tackles will be a huge task this spring. The defense has a chance to be beastly. The key? Utah proved it can win eight games with poor-to-middling quarterback play. But does a healthy Jordan Wynn -- back to late 2009, early 2010 form -- mean 10 wins?

4. Stanford: Many will count out the Cardinal, post-Andrew Luck. The Pac-12 blog will not. The over-under with this team is eight wins. Two gigantic holes on the offensive line and at both safeties are major issues, as is quarterback.

5. Washington: The Huskies welcome back seven starters on both sides of the ball, including up-and-coming quarterback Keith Price. The question is how quickly the defense can improve under Justin Wilcox.

6. California: While Cal only welcomes back 11 starters, there's plenty of intriguing talent on the roster, particularly on defense. Will quarterback Zach Maynard take a step forward? And what about his receivers after Keenan Allen? The pressure is on Jeff Tedford to win inside a renovated Memorial Stadium in 2012. If things come together, he just might do that.

7. Arizona: The Wildcats have more potential than most realize, starting with five returning starters on the offensive line and three defensive starters returning from injury, as well as an experienced quarterback in Matt Scott, who looks like a nice fit for Rich Rodriguez's spread-option offense.

8. Washington State: With 18 starters back, I'll go ahead and type it: New coach Mike Leach will lead the Cougars to a bowl game. And, hopefully, someone tips their cap to former coach Paul Wulff for collecting some solid talent, including two quarterbacks, Jeff Tuel and Connor Halliday, who appear capable of flinging the rock as Leach likes to, as well as a potential All-American receiver in Marquess Wilson.

9. Oregon State: The Beavers could be a surprise team if all the young players who were inconsistent in 2011 grow up in 2012, starting with true freshman quarterback Sean Mannion. With 17 starters back, experience won't be an issue. But those returning players went 3-9, so it's difficult to project a top-half finish. At least, not at this point.

10. UCLA: New coach Jim Mora doesn't start with an empty cupboard -- 16 starters are back. But the overall talent is dubious and, even more challenging, Mora needs to rebuild a culture. Further, taking the Bruins back to a pro-style offense, if that's the ultimate plan, might be a struggle in Year 1. First question: Is Kevin Prince the quarterback, or does Mora go with talented redshirt freshman Brett Hundley?

11. Arizona State: The Sun Devils tumbled in these rankings when quarterback Brock Osweiler, curiously, opted to enter the NFL draft. With just 10 starters back, a quarterback with no real game experience -- whoever wins the job -- and a challenging locker room, new coach Todd Graham might find the going rough in Year 1.

12. Colorado: The Buffs welcome back 13 starters from a team that went 3-10 and ranked last in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The rebuilding job on offense, in particular, will be significant with the loss of quarterback Tyler Hansen, running back Rodney Stewart and receiver Toney Clemons. The rebuilding job in Boulder won't happen overnight-- or over two seasons -- for second-year coach Jon Embree.

These are final power rankings of 2011-12. They look back and measure the totality of the season.

We're looking ahead with the next power rankings later Tuesday.

And, by the way, if you don't like where you ended up in the power rankings ... you should have played better.

Here are the Week 1 power rankings. And here are the pre-bowl power rankings.

1. Oregon: Chip Kelly and Oregon just can't win the big one. Oh, wait! They did. A thrilling Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin capped another great season in Eugene and left the Ducks, again, atop the Pac-12 at season's end. So, in the history of the program, which is the all-time best season: 2001, 2010 or 2011? Or should we hold off judgment on that until after the 2012 campaign?

2. USC: The win over Oregon, the stomping of UCLA and the final top-five ranking were cool, but the return of quarterback Matt Barkley created major momentum heading into the offseason. And if the Trojans had been eligible for the postseason, the Pac-12 bowl record would have been better.

3. Stanford: I'm sure Stanford fans were annoyed by the stunning ignorance among pundits discussing the Cardinal before the Fiesta Bowl. It seemed like many thought Oklahoma State was going to blow Stanford out -- calling the Cardinal "overrated" in the process. You and I knew that was an absurd position. If Stanford and the Cowboys played 10 times, the series would have gone 5-5. And that's being very generous to Oklahoma State. One last thing: Goodbye and good luck Andrew Luck. You were great for Stanford and great for college football.

4. Utah: Yep, the grind of a Pac-12 schedule really wore down the Utes. Yep, the Utes just couldn't handle it. But, with all due humility, how many other conference teams won four of their final five games and a bowl game? If you're looking for a sneaky-good team in the South Division next season, you might want to cast your gaze to Salt Lake City.

5. Washington: The Alamo Bowl loss to Baylor was, at least, an offensive spectacle. Quarterback Keith Price certainly introduced himself to a national audience by outplaying the Heisman Trophy winner. But, wow, that defense. After the Huskies lost four of their final five games, it's fair to say the best thing going their way at year's end was the hiring of A-list defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox.

6. California: Cal, Cal, Cal. The Holiday Bowl was winnable against a middling Texas squad, but not with a 5-0 turnover disadvantage -- 5-zip! As Charles Barkley might say: "Turrable." If the Bears had won, they would been a candidate for "potentially sneaky-good team in the North Division in 2012." Now we're holding off judgment. On the plus side, recruiting is rolling along nicely.

7. UCLA: Another season of inconsistency in Westwood earned coach Rick Neuheisel his walking papers, and the graceful way Neuheisel handled himself after getting fired made it seem all the more sad that he couldn't get the job done at his alma mater. Jim Mora takes over a program that needs an injection of discipline and a cultural shift.

8. Arizona: Sure, the Wildcats fired their coach and finished 4-8. But they won their last two games, including a win over Arizona State, and head into the offseason with positive momentum after the hiring of Rich Rodriguez.

9. Arizona State: The Sun Devils completely collapsed, losing their final five games. They fired their coach. Their coaching search was a meandering mess, and the hiring of Todd Graham away from Pittsburgh didn't exactly inspire much celebration. Then their best player and leader, quarterback Brock Osweiler, made a fairly surprising decision to enter the NFL draft. The good news is there has to be some good news ahead, right?

10. Oregon State: A second consecutive losing season, a 3-9 one at that, has Beavers fans understandably frustrated, particularly with what's going on in Eugene. Just two years ago, coach Mike Riley seemed certain to retire as the Beavers coach. So much for certainty. The good news -- or is it an excuse? -- is Oregon State was extremely young in 2011 and should be better in 2012. The surprising late-season win over Washington also provided some consolation.

11. Washington State: The Cougars started 3-1 and looked like a bowl team that would save coach Paul Wulff's job. They then lost seven of their final eight games and Wulff got canned. The late-season win over Arizona State was nice, but the Sun Devils were in the process of waving a white flag over their season. Yes, it was another bad season, but there are more smiles today in Pullman than in years after AD Bill Moos pulled coach Mike Leach out of his hat.

12. Colorado: Colorado isn't buried in the basement here. You could, in fact, make an argument for the Buffs promotion a couple of notches: They, after all, won two of their final three games, beating both Arizona and Utah. Still, 3-10 is 3-10 and 2-7 in conference play is 2-7 in conference play. As is finishing last in scoring defense and scoring offense among Pac-12 teams. The Buffs also have some big holes to fill in their starting lineup. Further, they don't have the "New Coach Is Here to Save Us!" storyline heading into year two with Jon Embree.

Is Arizona State trying to poach a fellow Pac-12 coach -- as in Utah's Kyle Whittingham? Maybe. The Sun Devils certainly could do worse. Whittingham, in our mind, is a top-20 coach without question.

Whittingham's contract pays him about $1.7 million a year. That's great money. But it's not top-20 coaching money. In fact, at present, it's only eighth in the Pac-12 money (we're assuming USC's Lane Kiffin makes between $3 and $4 million, based on various news reports on his undisclosed salary).

Here's the latest tally (chart at right), with now-ex-coaches included.

It appears Whittingham is due a raise and is headed to the $2 million per club.

Further, Kelly's number on top is a bit misleading. Last year, he signed a six-year, $20.5 million contract, which means his average salary is $3.4 million over the course of the contract.

The larger point is the new TV contract continues to impact coaching salaries in the Pac-12. Arizona State is trying to find a coach, and Whittingham -- whatever conference he coaches in -- offers potentially good value if he can be lured to town.

Utah is likely to take steps to prevent that, and Whittingham hasn't seemed terribly eager to bolt Salt Lake, considering he's been pursued by the likes of Washington and Tennessee in past years.

What's becoming clear though is there is money to spend and schools are having to spend it to lure top coaches.

Things got nutty yesterday with the Arizona State coaching search as the Sun Devils left SMU coach June Jones at the altar.

When you toss in UCLA, it appears we have two Pac-12 coaching searches that are picking up a sense of urgency -- amid apparently feckless navel gazing -- as the fan bases show signs of justifiable frustration.

Before we go on, here's some perspective: Both fan bases should save their outrage. Hey, it's the season to be joyful! The endgame, not the process, ultimately matters. Save your ultimate reaction -- positive or negative -- for after your new coach introduces himself for the first time.

Of course, premature reaction is part of why Arizona State is here, uncomfortably in the news over process not results. There was a considerable amount of spin coming out of the Jones debacle Wednesday, but what is clear is that Jones wanted the job, thought he had the job but Arizona State backed away extremely late in the process, with money -- Jones' hefty buyout at SMU -- and negative booster and fan reaction certainly playing significant roles.

It seems there's a lot of push-pull within the Sun Devils coaching search. Lots of voices speaking but not one clearly above all others.

It's time to pause for a lesson, one that I've learned from watching scores of coaching searches.

No. 1: Search firms are useless. They are a waste of money. And they often have agendas.

No. 2: A search committee should be comprised of one person making the decision. Typically, that's a strong athletic director.

Collaboration is overrated. A one-person search committee arrives at a coaching search already with a good idea of what it is looking for. It talks to other smart people -- in some cases lots of them -- but only in order to get information that informs its conception of what it wants in a coach.

Let me give you two examples, apologies if Sun Devils fans who won't like hearing this: Arizona's Greg Byrne and Washington State's Bill Moos.

Byrne made a decisive decision to fire Mike Stoops on Oct. 9, but he already had a plan and a list of coaches he liked. He then talked to a lot of folks. He made a couple of runs at people. He got his man, Rich Rodriguez, at a discount. Now everybody is telling him how smart he is, which I gather he's enjoying.

Moos had a plan before he needed it. He visited Mike Leach in Key West before he was certain he was going to fire Paul Wulff. And, a day after firing Wulff, which did indeed feel like a sad day for the Cougars, he transformed the spirits of a fan base with a great hire. Optimism in Pullman is just short of those Jason Gesser years.

Folks: Search committee of one. End of story.

The key thing for every school, of course, is having someone who can successfully execute as a search committee of one.

WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS

Record: 4-8, 2-7 Pac-12

After winning three of their first four to start the season, there was cautious optimism that Paul Wulff might have actually turned things around in Pullman. Then came the UCLA debacle -- coughing up an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. That opened up the flood gates, and the Cougars went on to lose six of their final seven and eventually Wulff, who was fired after a 38-21 loss to Washington in the season finale.

It wasn't all doom and gloom. Back-up-turned-starter-turned-backup-turned-starter Marshall Lobbestael looked pretty good at times, throwing five touchdowns in Week 2 against UNLV and 15 touchdowns in his first five games. Sophomore Marquess Wilson and senior Jared Karstetter teamed up for 142 catches, 18 receiving touchdowns and more than 2,000 yards while the Cougars as a whole finished with the country's ninth-best passing offense, averaging 322.3 yards per game.

There was also a gutty, four-touchdown passing performance by freshman Connor Halliday in a shocking 37-27 win over Arizona State -- which ultimately cost the Sun Devils the Pac-12 South and a spot in the conference title game.

Offensive MVP: A top-10 receiver nationally, it didn't matter who was under center for Washington State, Marquess Wilson caught what was thrown his way. With 82 grabs on the year, 1,388 yards and 12 touchdowns, the sophomore averaged 115.7 yards per game. He came up huge in the victory over Arizona State with three touchdowns and 223 receiving yards. He found the end zone in eight of 12 games.

Defensive MVP: Tough call between linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis and sophomore defensive back Deone Bucannon, who both stood out. But Hoffman-Ellis lead the team with 88 total stops -- 64 of them unassisted -- and had 11 tackles for a loss, two sacks and an interception.

Turning point: Has to be the UCLA game. Bowl eligibility would have seemed a lot more likely with four wins going into a stretch that had Stanford and Oregon in two of three weeks. And even though UCLA was down this year, it still would have been a victory over a brand-name conference opponent. Who knows what could have happened if the Cougars had held that lead in the fourth quarter.

Up next: Let the Mike Leach era begin. We know he has quarterbacks and receivers to work with. He'll excite the fan base and his offensive scheme could turn the program around in a hurry.