Tag: PAC-12

Are PAC 12 Mens’ Basketball Programs Bringing in Hired Guns to Win?

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In Division 1 men’s basketball, a premium is placed on winning because it is a revenue generating sport. A key to success is recruiting players who have “A” talent.

Are the universities in the PAC-12 bringing in “hired guns” to make their basketball programs successful? If so are they bringing in players from out-of-state or from other countries? Do PAC-12 players come from all over the U.S. or are they primarily from the Western United States? Are teams more successful if they have a higher percentage of in-state players?

This brief analysis evaluated rosters of men’s PAC-12 basketball teams published on their athletic websites in March 2014. Players were included in the sample if their average playing time per game for the season was greater than 15 minutes.

The states with the leading number of players were California (30), Texas (5), Arizona (4), Oregon (4), and Washington (4). About 55% of the players indicated their residence was in these 5 states.

Of the 86 players listed in the sample, 20 players, or 23.3%, were in-state players. Only Cal had more than half its players from in-state. Two schools didn’t have any in-state players, OSU and Washington.

There were 53 out-of-state players from the U.S., 61.6%, and 13 foreign players, 15.1%. Overall, 76.7% of the players were out-of-state. Six of the foreign players come from Canada, more than any state except California.

Are men's PAC-12 basketball programs bringing in hired guns to win?
Residence of players in men’s PAC-12 basketball programs.

Five schools didn’t have any foreign players (Arizona, Cal, Washington, UCLA, and Colorado).

Individually, the top 7 teams in the conference had winning records. Collectively, they won 61% of their games. As a group the residence of their players follows:

  • 31% in-state.
  • 55% out-of-state U.S.
  • 14% out-of-state foreign.

The bottom 5 teams had losing records. As a group they won 35% of their games. Collectively, the residence of their players follows:

  • 14% in-state.
  • 70% out-of-state U.S.
  • 16% out-of-state foreign.

Clearly, most men’s programs (at least in the PAC 12) look outside their state to find players to construct winning teams. This limited sample size shows that recruitment of out-of-state players may not guarantee a winning season. In addition it may be a questionable tactic for programs that need to build their fan base or generate alumni support.

For more details see the report Residence of Top Players 2013-2014 PAC 12 Basketball Teams. This report identifies the home state or country of the top PAC 12 basketball players and compares differences between the men and women teams.

 

Big Ten Dominates NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships

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On December 5th, 64 teams kicked off regional play for the 33rd NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. Teams represented 31 conferences; however, the tournament was essentially a competition between the Big Ten and the Pac 12.

There were 4 Big 10 teams and 3 Pac-12 teams in the quarterfinals. Although Penn State defeated Wisconsin in the finals, the match of the tournament saw Penn State defeat Stanford after being down 9-6 in game 5.

Michigan was the only Big Ten team that did not win a match. All other teams had winning records and conference teams won a total of 23 matches while losing 7.

Big Ten

Won

 Lost
Penn State 6 0
Wisconsin  5 1
Purdue  3 1
Nebraska  3  1
Illinois  2  1
Michigan State  2  1
Minnesota  2  1
Michigan  0  1
Conference Total  23  7

 

The Pac 12 was also well represented by 9 teams. Only ASU didn’t win a round and 5 teams won a match before bowing out. Conferences teams were 15-9 in championships.

 

PAC 12

Won

Lost
Washington

4

1
Southern California

3

1
Stanford

3

1
Arizona

1

1
California

1

1
Colorado

1

1
Oregon

1

1
Utah

1

1
Arizona St.

0

1
Conference Total

15

9

 

The Big Ten and Pac-12 teams won 38 of the 63 matches played in the championships. That is dominance!

Five of the 8 teams representing the SEC won their first round match, but lost in the second round. Overall the conference had a modest performance.

SEC

Won

Lost
Florida

1

1
Kentucky

1

1
LSU

1

1
Missouri

1

1
Texas A&M

1

1
Alabama

0

1
Arkansas

0

1
Georgia

0

1
Conference Total

5

8

 

Of the 4 ACC teams, only Florida State posted a winning record.

 

ACC

Won

Lost
Florida St.

2

1
Duke

1

1
Miami (FL)

0

1
North Carolina

0

1
Conference Total

3

4

 

The Big 12 was represented by 4 quality teams.

 

Big 12

Won

Lost
Texas

4

1
Kansas

2

1
Oklahoma

1

1
Iowa St.

0

1
Conference Total

7

4

 

There were 4 conferences that had a total of 8 teams. Each of these had representatives in either the round of 16 or 32.

School

 Conference

Won

Lost
Hawaii Big West

1

1
Cal St. Northridge Big West

1

1
UC Santa Barbara Big West

0

1
San Diego West Coast

2

1
BYU West Coast

2

1
Marquette Big East

1

1
Creighton Big East

1

1
American Univ. Patriot

2

1
Total

10

8

 

In total, the 41 teams that represented these 9 conferences had a combined record of 63-40.

Then there were the other 23 teams from 22 conferences. Generally speaking, these teams were admitted to the tournament because they were conference champions. While these teams and conferences all have solid programs, they are not competitive with the top teams or conferences.

None of the teams from these conferences won a match. In fact they only won 6 sets while losing 69 sets. Only Colorado State played a “close” match, losing 3-2 to Cal State Northridge.

 

School Conference Sets Won Sets Lost
Louisville AAC

0

3
New Hampshire America East

0

3
Duquesne Atlantic 10

0

3
Jacksonville Atlantic Sun

0

3
Idaho St. Big Sky

1

3
Charleston So. Big South

1

3
Radford Big South

0

3
UTSA Conference USA

0

3
Milwaukee Horizon

0

3
Yale Ivy

1

3
Fairfield Metro Atlantic

0

3
Ohio Mid-American

0

3
Hampton Mid-Eastern

0

3
Wichita St. Missouri Valley

1

3
Colorado St. Mountain West

2

3
LIU Brooklyn Northeast

0

3
Morehead St. OVC

0

3
Ga. Southern Southern

0

3
Central Ark. Southland

0

3
Alabama St. Southwestern

0

3
IUPUI Summit

0

3
Texas St. Sun Belt

0

3
New Mexico St. Western Athletic

0

3
Total

6

69

 

It is clear from the results that there are two if not three or four tiers of play within the NCAA Division I teams. The good news is that these 64 programs offer athletic opportunities for 600-700 of the country’s top women volleyball players.

Congratulations to Penn State on their championship season!

 

 

Buffs Volleyball Attendance on the Rise

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The University of Colorado became a member of the PAC 12 Conference in 2010 and began competition in 2011. In most sports, the Buffs demonstrated they were not ready for prime time. Volleyball was no exception.

The Lady Buffs won only 1 of 22 matches in their first season. The home court was marginally more friendly to the Buffs than the road. They lost eight matches by a score of 3-0 and won a total of 5 sets in the friendly confines of the Coors Event Center. On a positive note, they won their only conference match at home.

Only once during the season were more than 1,000 people in attendance at the matches in 2011.

 

Date Opponent Score Attendance
Sep-13 Utah

0-3

508
Sep-23 Oregon

0-3

507
Sep-24 Oregon State

0-3

483
Sep-30 USC

0-3

923
Oct-2 UCLA

0-3

710
Oct-14 Arizona

0-3

923
Oct-15 Arizona State

0-3

643
Nov-3 Stanford

1-3

686
Nov-5 California

1-3

2,060
Nov-18 Washington State

3-2

635
Nov-19 Washington

0-3

876
Home Conference Record

1-10
Conference Record

1-21
Average Attendance

814

The 2012 season was marginally better. The Lady Buffs lost all their road matches, but won 4 home matches. Through increased promotional efforts and greater interest in the team, attendance surpassed 1,000 on four occasions.

Date Opponent Score Attendance
Sep-19 Utah

3-0

415
Sep-22 California

2-3

704
Oct-5 Washington State

3-0

757
Oct-7 Washington

0-3

712
Oct-12 Arizona State

3-2

3,117
Oct-14 Arizona

1-3

2,851
Oct-26 Oregon

0-3

701
Oct-28 Oregon State

3-1

607
Nov-9 UCLA

0-3

1,257
Nov-10 USC

0-3

1,140
Home Conference Record

4-6
Conference Record

4-16
Average Attendance

1,226

On the court, the 2013 season was a breakthrough year as the Lady Buffs posted a winning home record.

Date Opponent Score Attendance
Sep-27 UCLA 3-2

2,777
Oct-4 Washington 3-1

873
Oct-6 Washington State 3-1

851
Oct-25 Arizona 3-0

784
Oct-27 Arizona State 3-1

618
Nov-8 Stanford 0-3

1,562
Nov-9 California 1-3

1,127
Nov-22 Oregon State 3-0

863
Nov-24 Oregon 1-3

1,270
Nov-27 Utah 3-2

967
Home Conference Record

7-3
Conference Record

9-11
Average Attendance

1,169

The Lady Buffs have made progress; both on the courts and in the promotion of the program; however, the University of Washington has set a benchmark for CU and other conference members.

In addition to winning the 2013 PAC-12 title, the Huskies average attendance was over 3,800. Only twice was their home attendance less than 2,000.

Date Opponent Score Attendance
Oct-11 Arizona 3-1

4,589
Oct-13 Arizona State 3-0

2,188
Oct-16 California 3-0

1,525
Oct-20 Stanford 3-2

4,914
Nov-1 Utah 3-1

2,115
Nov-3 Colorado 3-0

2,880
Nov-13 UCLA 3-0

1,734
Nov-15 USC 3-1

4,274
Nov-27 Oregon State 3-1

2,139
Nov-29 Washington State 3-0

3,811
Home Conference Record

10-0
Conference Record

18-2
Average Attendance

2,842

Best wishes to the Buffs for a productive offseason and for continued improvement in 2014.

Buffs volleyball attendance on the rise
Nicole Edleman sets Kerra Schroeder in warmups

Fans Find Better Things to Do than Watch Buffs Football

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The primary goal of all Division I football teams is to put fannies in the seats and make donors want to contribute to the university.

The best way to accomplish this is to produce a winning team. The hard cold facts are that half the teams that play every Saturday are losers. Fans don’t support losing programs and Buffs football fans have found better things to do on Saturday afternoons than support the black and gold.

The Buffs finished the 2004 and 2005 seasons with 7-5 records. In 2004 they were 4-4 in the Big 12 and in 2005 they were 5-3. Oklahoma beat them 42-3 in the 2004 Big 12 Championships and Texas thumped them 70-3 the following year.

Many viewed these drubbings in the championships as a sign that CU was not capable of participating in the D1 football arms race without a sugar daddy. The CU administration viewed the losses differently. They used them as justification for hiring a new coach.

The Buffs football team has not had a winning season since 2005. Since then, they have had a 29-67 record, i.e. they have won only 30% of their games.

In 2011, the University of Colorado made a decision to move to the PAC 12 conference. Unfortunately the switch to a tougher conference did not positively impact the Buff’s performance on the field.

Their conference record for the past three seasons follows:

2011

  • 2-7 conference record
  • Home win over Arizona and a road win against Utah.

2012

  • 1-8 conference record
  • Road win over Washington State

2013

  • 1-8 conference record.
  • Home win over California.

The points for/against  Buffs football for the past three seasons follow:

2011

  • 5 home games                  127 points for                    183 points against
  • 4 away games                    51 points for                    193 points against
  • 9 total games                    178 points for                    376 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.11 points

2012

  • 5 home games                    69 points for                     221 points against
  • 4 away games                     86 points for                     210 points against
  • 9 total games                     155 points for                    431 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.78 points

2013

  • 4 home games                  106 points for                    172 points against
  • 5 away games                     77 points for                    226 points against
  • 9 total games                    183 points for                    398 points against
  • For every point scored by the Buffs, the opponents scored 2.11 points

Most Buffs football fans supported CU’s move to the PAC 12, they are less supportive of the product being rolled out at Folsom Field. In the past three years, the Buffs have won 2 of 14 home games and been outscored 2 to 1.

The Buffs conference home attendance for the past three seasons follows:

2011

The Buffs were 1-4 at home in conference play.

  • 9/10       49,532                   California
  • 10/1       51,928                   Washington State
  • 10/22     52,123                   Oregon
  • 11/4       50,083                   Southern California
  • 11/22     48,111                   Arizona.

Average conference home attendance 50,355.

2012
The Buffs were 0-5 at home in conference play.

  • 9/29       46,893                   UCLA
  • 10/11     45,161                   Arizona State
  • 10/27     44,138                   Stanford
  • 11/17     43,148                   Washington
  • 11/23     46,052                   Utah.

Average conference home attendance 45,078.

2013
The Buffs were 1-3 at home in conference play.

  • 10/5       45,944                   Oregon
  • 10/26     38,679                   Arizona
  • 11/16     38,252                   California
  • 11/23     36,005                   Southern California.

Average conference home attendance 39,720.

Hopefully, the most recent change in coaches bodes well for the Buffs football program!

 

 

 

Bowl Not Likely for CU Buffs!

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Spin makes a bowling ball travel into the pocket for a strike, it makes a tennis serve curve into the court for an ace, and it allows media writers and sports information directors to say nice things when the home town team is losing.

Such was the case in Boulder this past weekend after the 3-3 CU Buffs downed Charleston Southern. The media reported, “3 more wins and the Buffs go bowling.”

The optimism was refreshing but, such foolishness belonged on the comics page.

Last year there was a chasm between the Buffs and their PAC-12 opponents. A year later the Golden Buffs have shown signs of improvement, but they still aren’t ready for Prime Time in the PAC 12.

Realistically, a respectable showing in the last six games will be great and a win against a solid PAC-12 team would be a major step forward. A road win would be stellar! Three wins are out of the picture. The Punch Bowl is the only bowl Chip and his football Buffs will see this season.

More importantly, the improving CU Buffs have not increased the number of fannies in the seats. After all, the financial bottom line is the most important part of major collegiate football programs. Go Buffs!

CU Buffs

Lady Buffs Volleyball Deserves Better Attendance!

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Historically, University of Colorado Lady Buffs volleyball fans have been spoiled. The lady spikers have been a member of the Big 8, Big 12, and PAC -12, arguably the best volleyball conferences in the country.

Most years the Buffs have fielded a competitive team, on occasion they have upended nationally ranked teams, and they have infrequently paid a visit to the NCAA championships.

Given the competitiveness of the program it seems only logical that attendance at home matches would be strong. Unfortunately, Boulder is a town that loves sports, but in the case of volleyball, the locals would rather play it than watch it.

A total of only 12,261 people attended all 10 home PAC-12 games during the 2012 season. By comparison, the record number of people to attend a single men’s basketball game is 11,363. The individual game attendance for 2012 was:

  •    415                  Utah
  •    704                  California
  •    757                  Washington State
  •    712                  Washington
  • 3,117                  Arizona State
  • 2,851                  Arizona
  •    701                  Oregon
  •    607                  Oregon State
  • 1,257                  UCLA
  • 1,140                  USC

In 2012, CU was 4-16 in PAC-12 play; however, they were very competitive at home, winning 4 of the 10 matches in the Foam Dome, aka the Coors Event Center.

Average attendance was 1,226 spectators per home PAC 12 game, including two extremely popular promotional nights (In the photo below players hand out goodies to fairies and princesses prior to a Halloween promotional game). Without the promotional nights average attendance was 787 people.

There are still plenty of opportunities in the 2013 season to watch the Buff spikers compete against the best teams in the country. Go Lady Buffs Volleyball!

Lady Buffs Volleyball

 

Are Women’s College Coaches Looking for Mercenaries to Fill Their Tennis Rosters?

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Right or wrong, PAC 12 women’s tennis coaches are looking outside their state to fill their tennis rosters.

The short report “Gender of Coaches and Residence of Players – PAC 12 Tennis 2013” looked at the rosters of PAC schools during the month of April 2013 and found that 32.7% of the players were in-state. Of the 101 players, 26.7% were out-of-state and the remaining 40.6% were foreign players.

A majority of the USC and Stanford players were in-state (8 of 11 and 7 of 8). Four schools did not have any in-state players, including both Washington schools, Arizona, and Oregon. ASU only had 1 in-state player.

Stanford had no foreign players and USC only had one player from out of the country.  More than half the players on the Arizona, Oregon, California, Washington, and WSU teams were from foreign countries.

For a similar analysis on men’s tennis go to the post “Are There Too Many Hired Guns in Men’s College Tennis?“

Are There Too Many Hired Guns in Men’s College Tennis?

horvath 1 Comment

The short report “” evaluates whether PAC 12 schools are bringing in “hired guns” to make their men’s tennis programs successful. The analysis evaluated rosters published on athletic websites in April 2013.

Only 8 schools in the PAC 12 had men’s programs (ASU, CU, OSU, and WSU did not have men’s programs).  Of the 88 players listed on the rosters, 32 players, or 36.4%, were in-state and 17 players, or 19.3%, were out-of-state.  In other words, 55.7% of the players were Americans and 44.3% were from other countries.

All schools had at least 1 in-state player. Only UCLA and California players had 50% or more in-state players.   Stanford and Washington had the least number of foreign players (3 of 13 and 3 of 11). At least half of the USC, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah players were from other countries.

Clearly, most men’s programs (at least in the PAC 12) look outside their state to find players to build their program. The effectiveness of this tactic might be debatable in situations where programs need to build local fan or alumni support.

For a similar analysis on women’s tennis go to the post “Are Women’s Tennis Coaches Looking for Mercenaries to Fill Their Rosters?”

 

Placement of Athletics Link on the Home Page of PAC 12 Websites

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Website layout is a challenging task, particularly at major research universities where many interests are vying for key real estate on the school’s home page. So where do you think the Athletics link is located on the home page for each of the PAC-12 universities? Is it located in the primary links or in a less conspicuous location?  Is there a difference in the location between the schools with winning football programs and those with losing records?  What is the name of the link to the athletics department?

The short study “Location of Athletic Link On PAC-12 Websites” shows there is a tendency for the PAC-12 schools with weaker football programs to place their Athletics link more prominently on their home page. Key findings from this analysis produced the following results:

  • The Athletics link for 7 of the 12 schools is not located in the primary links. Five of these 7 schools had winning records. These 7 schools had a combined 49-38 record.
  • The Athletics link for 5 of the 12 schools is located in the primary links. Three of these 5 schools had winning records. These 5 schools had a combined 32-32 record.
  • Stanford and Oregon had the best records. Neither school had their Athletics link in the primary links.

It was also interesting to note how the schools referred to their athletic programs.

  • Eight schools refer to their programs as Athletic Programs
    • Athletics and Recreation (Arizona)
    • Athletics (ASU, CU, OSU, UCLA, Utah, WSU)
    • Cal Athletics (California)
  • Four schools refer to their programs as Sports Programs
    • Sports (Oregon, Stanford, USC)
    • Husky Sports (Washington).

This brief study shows there is a difference in the location of the Athletics link on the home page. As well, schools refer to their programs in different ways (sports and athletics). It does not answer the following question, “Is the location of the Athletics link based on standard website layout principles or is it determined by the importance the university places on athletics relative to academics?”

Can Colorado Afford to be in the Athletic Arms Race?

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Two and a half years ago, the University of Colorado announced they would join the PAC 12 in 2011. The move was justified by university officials for the following reasons:

  • More than 35,000 alumni reside in the Pac-12 footprint, whereas about 11,000 are located within the Big 12 regions.
  • This level of alumni support in key markets should help with recruiting.
  • CU should get more support on the road, because there is easier access to PAC 12 cities.
  • Many CU fans feel the PAC 12 cities are more desirable to visit.
  • PAC 12 teams will receive significant revenue from the new Pac 12 television contract.
  • The PAC 12 was a closer fit academically.

These are all legitimate reasons to make the switch; however, it was obvious that CU could not bankroll teams that could consistently compete against Oklahoma and the wealthier Texas schools. Most Coloradans hate to lose to Texas (at anything).

CU is not the only university that is having trouble dealing with the accelerated level of spending for athletic programs. In August 2011 Michael Smith, writer for Street and Smith’s Online Sports Business Journal was the author of an article entitled “Athletic Budgets Continue to Climb“, that focused on the rapid growth of budgets for the major athletic conferences. Though the data is slightly dated, it illustrates the amount of money spent on college athletic programs and their rates of growth.

Smith secured budgets for most of the schools in the Big 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC, and PAC 12. Texas tops the list in spending. The median rate of annualized growth is 5.4%.

Six SEC, four Big 10, and two Big 12 teams round out the top twelve schools in spending. Oregon is the top PAC 12 team at number 13 and North Carolina is the top ACC team at number 21. Four of the bottom eight schools are from the PAC 12, including newcomers Colorado and Utah.

In the PAC 12 Colorado and Arizona State have similar budgets and both are well above Washington State and Utah. The four schools stack up at the bottom of the conference.

If Colorado was still in the Big 12 it would be at the bottom with a budget similar to Iowa State and Baylor. The size of the Texas athletic budget is about the same as the combined budgets of Colorado, Iowa State and Baylor.

Of the 49th teams, CU was 42nd overall and 39th in the rate of growth. Six of the PAC 12 teams had budgets that grew at an annualized rate of 3.1% or less from 2010 to 2012.

The PAC 12 is a great conference for the University of Colorado for the reasons stated above. Time will tell whether schools such as Colorado, Oregon State, Washington State, and Utah can afford to participate in the PAC 12 or any other major athletic conference.

The table below expressed the athletic budgets for the schools in millions, from Smith’s article. In three instances estimates were made or to account for data that was not available in Smith’s report.

ACC Budgets were not available for Boston College, Duke, Miami and Wake Forest. The Big 10 budget for Northwestern was not available. The PAC 12 budgets for Stanford and USC were not available. The Big 12 budgets were not available for Baylor. The SEC budget for Vanderbilt was not available.  The 49 universities are color coded by Conference (Big 12 = grey, Big 10 = pink, SEC = green, Pac 12 = purple, ACC = light orange).