The Pac-12 has a new recruiting king, while the Arizona schools live in the middle.

UCLA coach Jim Mora adjusted just fine to the college game a year ago, spinning a near top-10 class after only several weeks on the job.

He further flexed in this recruiting cycle, putting together the unanimous top group in the conference, dethroning the usual February champ, USC.

(On the right: Composite rankings from 247Sports, ESPN, Rivals.com and Scout.com.)

The Bruins had high quality across the boards; 17 of its 23 signees were rated at least a four-star recruit by Scout.com.

USC signed five five-star recruits — as many as the entire ACC — but late defections and NCAA sanctions kept the Trojans to a 12-player class. Quality over quantity, coach Lane Kiffin said. But quantity matters, too, in recruiting rankings, and USC’s rankings suffered.

(more…)

Arizona State coach Todd Graham did win the Territorial Cup by beating Arizona, but that hardly merited a Top 25 ranking. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The final regular-season USA Today college football coaches poll — in which the individual ballots are revealed for the only time — are usually a fount of amusement, filled with curiosity, cronyism and conflicts of interest.

With bonuses sometimes tied to the BCS standings — of which the coaches poll makes up one-third of the formula — should coaches really be voting?

You can see how all the coaches voted at this link, and one thing jumped out at me right away.

Arizona State, at 7-5 overall, received eight votes in the poll. Upon closer inspection, two coaches put the Sun Devils on their Top 25 ballot. Looking even further, you find that the one coach to rate ASU the highest — at No. 20 — is none other than Arizona State coach Todd Graham.

(more…)

Ka’Deem Carey leaps into the end zone for a first-quarter touchdown. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats running back Ka’Deem Carey, despite missing stretches of the second half because of injury, improved his national-best rushing average with 25 carries for 172 yards and one touchdown against Arizona State on Friday night.

Carey said last week he has been bothered by a bruised collarbone and other injuries.

Carey had only six carries after halftime. Backup Daniel Jenkins had 20 rushes in the second half.

“He was banged up before the game,” coach Rich Rodriguez said of Carey after the 41-34 loss to the Sun Devils.

“He was banged up last week (at Utah). He got banged up again. He wasn’t able to go as much, but I think D.J. did a nice job when he went in there.”

Carey, who entered the game leading the nation with 144.1 yards per game, did break the school season rushing record early in the game. He zoomed past Trung Canidate (1,602 yards, 1999) and sits at 1,757 at the end of the regular season. That’s 146.4 yards per game.

(more…)

Photo by azcentral.com sports.

A new rivalry era begins Friday night.

The last time Arizona and Arizona State had new coaches in the rivalry game was 2001. John Mackovic’s Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils of Dirk Koetter, 34-21 in Tempe.

But the past decade-plus hasn’t been particularly kind to either school, which is why each program had to press the reset button last season.

Arizona jettisoned Mike Stoops and brought in Rich Rodriguez, trying to climb back among the nation’s elite coaches after a failed tenure at Michigan. Arizona State sent off Dennis Erickson and imported Todd Graham after his one season at Pitt.

Whatever their histories, it’s history. Their Territorial Cup story begins now.

“There’s going to be a lot of intensity,” Rodriguez said. “This shouldn’t be a game where I have to do all of the motivational tactics to get guys excited.”

(more…)

Arizona State fans will be giddy, at least for the next couple of weeks.

The Sun Devils are 4-1, have found a quarterback in sophomore Taylor Kelly, are on the fringes of the Top 25 and should, with relative ease, post another victory next Thursday at Colorado.

That will set up a huge Thursday night “Blackout” game on Oct. 18 — at home vs. Oregon — that already has launched a mascot war.

With league wins over Utah and Cal, ASU should be considered ahead of schedule in its first season under Todd Graham. The Sun Devils would be 5-0 if they could have made a play at the goal line at Missouri.

But, as was the case last year, we really won’t find out what kind of team the Devils have until they hit the tougher part of their schedule in the second half of the season. ASU has yet to face a dynamic quarterback. That will change.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s first year under Rich Rodriguez already is in its critical stretch, with the Cats facing their third No. 18 team in the country this week at Stanford. UA split against its previous No. 18 foes — beating Oklahoma State and losing last week to Oregon State.

What to make of the Wildcats?

(more…)

Rich Rodriguez talks to quarterback Matt Scott at a scrimmage in Glendale last month. Photo by Pat Shanahan, The Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez has an even better idea than teaming with ASU coach Todd Graham to throw out the first pitches before the Arizona Diamondbacks’ season-opener.

“It would probably be more exciting if he was batting and I was pitching,” Rodriguez said. “Or the other way around.”

As it is, the two new college football head coaches in the state will have to settle for dueling Duel in the Desert deliveries on Friday afternoon at Chase Field. In the never-give-an-inch world of coaching, you can bet each will be looking to fire a strike with slightly more velocity than the other guy.

Rodriguez, 48, said he hasn’t much thrown a baseball since he was a high school infielder, other than a couple of cases of tossing a ceremonial first pitch at a minor-league game.

This is the big leagues now.

(more…)

Todd Graham went 6-6 in his one season at Pitt. Photo by Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

When new Arizona State coach Todd Graham was the head coach at Allen (Texas) High School in the late 1990s, he ran a no-huddle, shotgun offense that emphasized the option attack.

Who was his inspiration, at least in part, for that brand of offensive attack?

His friend, Rich Rodriguez.

That’s what Graham told the Dallas Morning News in a 2000 story, and there was enough friendship/mutual respect between the two that Rodriguez hired Graham when he put together his first coaching staff at West Virginia in 2001.

A 2001 Dallas Morning News referred to Rodriguez and Graham as “close friends.”

Now, they’re rivals.

(more…)