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Mark Heim | mheim@al.com
USC athletic director Lynn Swann says teams on the West Coast must schedule tougher, and doesn't see a scenario where a Pac-12 team gets to the CFP without winning a conference title.
USC's Lynn Swann said this week his Trojans and West Coast teams will have to schedule tougher, in part, because of their geographic location.
The athletic director took part in a Q&A with the Press-Telegram to discuss USC football, the Pac-12 and the College Football Playoff.
The Trojans finished 11-3 and 8-1 in the conference with a 31-28 win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, it wasn't enough to make the CFP Final Four.
"I'm not so much worried about fair consideration as the realities," Swann said when asked if USC got fair consideration. "Last year, we weren't a national championship-caliber football team. That's the reality."
Swann - who played on USC's undefeated, national championship team in 1972 - pointed out two factors, above all others, that are a necessity for the Pac-12 to be in the CFP: scheduling and a conference title.
"We didn't have a great bowl game (a 24-7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl), but we did win the Pac-12 championship and that's one more step closer. I don't think we're ever going to win the national championship without winning our conference.
"Alabama did it this year, and I think it's a very unusual set of circumstances for them to get there -- and certainly their history of being in the championship games the last few years kind of helped them and pushed them forward in that particular effort. But I don't think there's ever going to be a Pac-12 team in the hunt for a national championship without winning the conference title. So, we have to get that as a mindset."
Nick Saban's Tide has made the CFP in the first four years of the playoff's existence.
The Pac-12, he said, also must schedule tougher teams because of the schools' geographic location.
"Because of time zones, people on the East Coast aren't really seeing us," he explained when asked about the Pac-12 playing a nine-game conference schedule as opposed to other Power 5 conferences playing an eight-game conference. "We have to play a tougher schedule. If the voters are going to look at four teams to be in the top four, the Pac-12 playing the Pac-12 won't get it by itself. We have to schedule teams and we have to have that very competitive schedule to be able to get that look. And we've got to win those games. So, it's important to have Texas on the schedule. It's important that Notre Dame is playing well, and we play them and we beat them along the way. When I was a student here, I think all four years, the Notre Dame-USC game had an impact on the national polls. It's to our advantage to have that game on our schedule."
Check out the full Q&A at PressTelegram.com.
Mark Heim | mheim@al.com
Lynn Swann on Alabama: 'Their history of being in the championship games ... kind of helped them'
USC's Lynn Swann said this week his Trojans and West Coast teams will have to schedule tougher, in part, because of their geographic location.
The athletic director took part in a Q&A with the Press-Telegram to discuss USC football, the Pac-12 and the College Football Playoff.
The Trojans finished 11-3 and 8-1 in the conference with a 31-28 win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, it wasn't enough to make the CFP Final Four.
"I'm not so much worried about fair consideration as the realities," Swann said when asked if USC got fair consideration. "Last year, we weren't a national championship-caliber football team. That's the reality."
Swann - who played on USC's undefeated, national championship team in 1972 - pointed out two factors, above all others, that are a necessity for the Pac-12 to be in the CFP: scheduling and a conference title.
"We didn't have a great bowl game (a 24-7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl), but we did win the Pac-12 championship and that's one more step closer. I don't think we're ever going to win the national championship without winning our conference.
"Alabama did it this year, and I think it's a very unusual set of circumstances for them to get there -- and certainly their history of being in the championship games the last few years kind of helped them and pushed them forward in that particular effort. But I don't think there's ever going to be a Pac-12 team in the hunt for a national championship without winning the conference title. So, we have to get that as a mindset."
Nick Saban's Tide has made the CFP in the first four years of the playoff's existence.
The Pac-12, he said, also must schedule tougher teams because of the schools' geographic location.
"Because of time zones, people on the East Coast aren't really seeing us," he explained when asked about the Pac-12 playing a nine-game conference schedule as opposed to other Power 5 conferences playing an eight-game conference. "We have to play a tougher schedule. If the voters are going to look at four teams to be in the top four, the Pac-12 playing the Pac-12 won't get it by itself. We have to schedule teams and we have to have that very competitive schedule to be able to get that look. And we've got to win those games. So, it's important to have Texas on the schedule. It's important that Notre Dame is playing well, and we play them and we beat them along the way. When I was a student here, I think all four years, the Notre Dame-USC game had an impact on the national polls. It's to our advantage to have that game on our schedule."
Check out the full Q&A at PressTelegram.com.
Mark Heim | mheim@al.com
Lynn Swann on Alabama: 'Their history of being in the championship games ... kind of helped them'
