Congratulations are in order for 13th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils after holding off the late charge of their archrival Arizona Wildcats to win 20-17. Unfortunately for them, USC also won, which meant that due to USC's win over Arizona State on Thanksgiving, USC won their sixth straight Pac-10 title. But, 10-2 is a pretty good record, especially since their only losses were to USC and an Oregon team that was ranked 2 at the time.
But why am I singling out Arizona State for congratulations today? It's because they beat Mike Stoops's Arizona team late in the season.
Mike Stoops became the head coach at Arizona before the start of the 2004 season. Since then, his teams have been 3-8, 3-8, 6-6, and now 5-7, for a total record of 17-29. However, a closer look at his record broken down by calendar months shows something quite remarkable:
September: 6-11. Of course, four of those wins were against Div. I-AA opponents (3 over Northern Arizona, and 1 over Stephen F. Austin). The 2-11 against I-A opponents include a 1-4 Pac-10 record and an 0-6 record against ranked opponents.
October: 3-13. All of these games are Pac-10 conference games, and they lost all 5 games against ranked opponents.
November: 8-4. Yes, that's right. Once the calendar turns to November, Stoops's Wildcats become pretty tough. Even crazier though is their 5-1 record against ranked teams in the month of November. In November, 2004, they lost to #1 USC, but then they beat #20 Arizona State. In November, 2005, they beat #7 UCLA. Last November, they beat #25 Washington State and then #8 California, and then two weeks ago, they upset #2 Oregon.
December: 0-1. We saw with their loss to Arizona State today that Stoops's November magic does not seem to extend into December.
So, lets sum up. Versus ranked teams in November: 5-1. Versus Division I-A teams not in the month of November: 5-25.
But why am I singling out Arizona State for congratulations today? It's because they beat Mike Stoops's Arizona team late in the season.
Mike Stoops became the head coach at Arizona before the start of the 2004 season. Since then, his teams have been 3-8, 3-8, 6-6, and now 5-7, for a total record of 17-29. However, a closer look at his record broken down by calendar months shows something quite remarkable:
September: 6-11. Of course, four of those wins were against Div. I-AA opponents (3 over Northern Arizona, and 1 over Stephen F. Austin). The 2-11 against I-A opponents include a 1-4 Pac-10 record and an 0-6 record against ranked opponents.
October: 3-13. All of these games are Pac-10 conference games, and they lost all 5 games against ranked opponents.
November: 8-4. Yes, that's right. Once the calendar turns to November, Stoops's Wildcats become pretty tough. Even crazier though is their 5-1 record against ranked teams in the month of November. In November, 2004, they lost to #1 USC, but then they beat #20 Arizona State. In November, 2005, they beat #7 UCLA. Last November, they beat #25 Washington State and then #8 California, and then two weeks ago, they upset #2 Oregon.
December: 0-1. We saw with their loss to Arizona State today that Stoops's November magic does not seem to extend into December.
So, lets sum up. Versus ranked teams in November: 5-1. Versus Division I-A teams not in the month of November: 5-25.
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