Illinois started the 2011 season 6-0 and it looked like the team was ready for big things. The Fighting Illini then proceeded to lose six straight games. Illinois fired coach Ron Zook before the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl game last year. Illinois did rally for 20-14 win over UCLA in that game.
Kevin Wilson’s first year with the Indiana Hoosiers didn’t go exactly as planned. Everyone knew he was walking into a difficult situation, but a 1-11 season in 2011 was definitely a disappointment. In fact, the team’s only win came over a non FBS school (South Carolina State).
Mike Leach was bound to find another job sooner or later because of his past success, and it turns out the Washington State Cougars were the team to give him a chance. Leach left Texas Tech under tons of controversy, but he definitely took the Red Raiders program to far more success than they had ever seen before.
2011 could be coined the year of mediocrity for the Cal Golden Bears. The team wasn’t all that bad in any one area, but they also didn’t have any great strengths as a team. California finished 7-6 and just 4-5 in the PAC 12 Conference in the 2011 season.
Rich Rodriguez is getting another chance to prove he can take a team to the top. After great success at West Virginia, Rodriguez was run out of Michigan after disappointing seasons. Mike Stoops never panned out for the Wildcats. Arizona had an embarrassing 4-8 campaign in 2011.
The high expectations are back at USC. Over the last couple years the program has been in a minor slump after the NCAA punished the program in a big way, but Lane Kiffin’s Trojans are loaded and ready to go in 2012.
Stanford football fans hoped this day would never come, but this is the year where they must go on without Andrew Luck under center. The prosperity of the last couple seasons wasn’t based on only one player, but losing him will hurt a great deal.
The 2011 Washington Huskies are probably best remembered for losing 67-56 in last year’s Alamo Bowl. Steve Sarkisian is an offensive wizard, but it has become completely clear that this team must find a way to play a little more defense if they are going to contend with the best teams in the PAC 12 on a weekly basis.
The Utah Utes took a major step up in class last year when they joined the PAC 12 Conference. No longer would the team have breathers every other week like they did in the Mountain West. The Utes went 8-5 on the season, and 4-5 in the PAC 12.
Todd Graham didn’t make any friends during his 11 month stay at Pittsburgh. Graham bolted from Pittsburgh in the blink of an eye last December to take the job at Arizona State.
He believed it would be a better fit for him and his family.
The Oregon Ducks have become a true national power in college football over the last three years. Chip Kelly had no previous head coaching experience, but he has proven to be an excellent hire for Oregon. Kelly has taken the program from a solid yearly winner to a team capable of playing for a title each year.
It’s hard to believe the Colorado Buffaloes won the NCAA Football Championship in 1990. This program is a proud program that has really fallen on hard times in the last few years. The Dan Hawkins experiment didn’t go as planned, and now Jon Embree has been left to pick up the pieces.
A few years ago it seemed Mike Riley had the Oregon State football program moving in the right direction. The team was knocking off some highly ranked opponents and going to bowl games on an annual basis. The past couple years have been big disappointments. In 2011, the Beavers only managed three wins all season long.
The last time the UCLA Bruins won the Rose Bowl was 1984. The Bruins haven’t even been a part of the Rose Bowl since 14 years ago. Rick Neuheisel promised to take the program back to the top, but that never panned out. Jim Mora was brought in to try things a different way in Westwood.
