A mailbag question comes into the show asking about the possibility of moving to an eight-game conference schedule and making a 4-team playoff for the Pac-12 Championship.

An idea not first thrown out into the ether for the Conference of Champions, it’s the sort of rule change that might be trying to fix something that isn’t broken.

The appropriate rule change for determining a Conference champion was already made a couple of weeks ago, making the game between the 2 teams with the highest conference winning % regardless of division.

In today’s episode of Locked On Pac-12, I also take a look at the longest-tenured football coach in the Pac-12: Kyle Whittingham has been the lead man for the Utah Utes for 18 seasons, including their entire time as a Pac-12 team after coming over from the Mountain West.

He has never won fewer than 5 games as Utah’s head coach, and in recent years has started to garner national respect. It should not be a shock that he gets the highest grade to date of any Pac-12 coach I evaluated so far, and challenging his long-tenured success is quite difficult.

The recruiting has been solid since the Utes moved to the Power-5 level, but it’s been Whittingham’s consistent player development—and getting the most out of his recruits—that has allowed him to have such great success.

His defenses have been stellar, and when the offense can just come close to the defense’s level, you get seasons like 2021 in which they finally captured that elusive first Pac-12 Championship.

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—More from Spencer McLaughlin—

• McLaughlin: Wildcats will Increase Win Total in 2022

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• McLaughlin: WSU Should be Over .500 Again in 2022

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• McLaughlin: Winning Season a Challenging Goal for Huskies

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• McLaughlin: Will Buffs be Worst Pac-12 Team in 2022?

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• McLaughlin: Why Utah Football will be Over 8.5 wins in 2022

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• McLaughlin: Can UCLA football reach 10 wins in 2022?

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• McLaughlin: Predicting every game on USC’s 2022 Schedule

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• McLaughlin: Pac-12 Teams with the Biggest QB Questions

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• McLaughlin: The Complications of Pac-12 Realignment

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• McLaughlin: Will Major Pac-12 Football Commits Flip?

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• McLaughlin: Pac-12 Football Title Contenders in 2022

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• McLaughlin: George Kliavkoff is Not Backing Down

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• McLaughlin: The Latest Conference Realignment Speculation

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• McLaughlin: USC, UW Football Hot on Recruiting Trail

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• McLaughlin: Lincoln Riley’s Expectations at USC in Year One

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• McLaughlin: Pac-12 Football Head Coaches Feeling Pressure

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• McLaughlin: Will Pushback on UCLA’s Move Matter?

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• McLaughlin: Pac-12 has one option left to make a big splash

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• McLaughlin: What does Breakdown of Big 12 Talks Signal?

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• McLaughlin: Is Conference Realignment affecting Recruiting?

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• McLaughlin: What comes Next for the Pac-12 Conference?

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• McLaughlin: Reactions to Dante Moore Committing to Ducks

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• McLaughlin: What is the Pac-12 Conference’s next move?

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• McLaughlin: Is the Big 12 a realistic landing spot for Oregon?

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• McLaughlin: Which Schools Could the Pac-12 Add?

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• McLaughlin: Pac-12 Must Keep Top Talent in West

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• McLaughlin: Can UW Football Re-Emerge as National Power?

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• McLaughlin: Will Stanford Exceed 4.5 Wins in 2022?

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• McLaughlin: Whittingham’s Deal a Good Sign for Pac-12

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• McLaughlin: Which Pac-12 School has Highest NIL Potential?

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