Pac-12 Football: No Pac-12 Coach in Top 10 of CBSSports.com Rankings

Four of the top 25 coaches come to Berkeley in 2020 to face Cal

This may not come as a surprise to many people, but the Pac-12 is the only one of the Power Five conferences that does not have a head coach ranked among CBSSports.com's top 10 college head football coaches.

CBSSports.com ranked all 65 head coaches from the Power Five conferences plus Notre Dame, and after releasing Nos. 26 though 65 on Tueday, the site released its top 25 picks on Tuesday.

Cal's Justin Wilcox came in at No. 33 in Monday's post, but the Bears will be matched up against four of the top-25 coaches during the 2020 season, and all four will be coming to Berkeley. That assumes there is a 2020 season and that the opponents remain the same despite any schedule modifications that might be made following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bears host TCU and the No. 16-ranked coach Gary Patterson on Sept. 5. Cal hosts Utah and the Utes' No. 11-ranked coach Kyle Whittingham on Sept. 26. On Oct. 17, Oregon and 24th-ranked coach Mario Cristobal will arrive in Berkeley. Finally David Shaw, who is ranked 19th, will bring his Stanford team to Berkeley on Nov. 21.

Shaw was a top-10 coach last year, but the 4-8 season in 2019 apparently did some damage to his reputation. CBSSports.com had this to say about Shaw: "From 2011-16, Shaw's Stanford teams went 64-17, winning three Pac-12 titles. In the three seasons since, they've gone 22-17, bottoming out at 4-8 last year."

Whittingham, at No. 11, is the highest ranked Pac-12 coach, and CBSSports.com noted this: "[Whittingham has] been at the helm of the best program in the Pac-12 South for the last six years. The same Pac-12 South that is home to USC. Since 2014, Utah has won 55 games to USC's 51." 

Chris Petersen was No. 3 last year before resigning as Washington's head coach following the 2019 season.

The Southeastern Conference dominated the coaching rankings with five SEC coaches ranked among the top eight. Alabama's Nick Saban is No. 1, of course. 

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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