Since when is winning a Rose Bowl a participation ribbon? Forget just the Petersen era. UW as a program hasn't won a big bowl game in fucking 18 years. Only one team wins the national title and it ain't going to be UW. "A shot at the playoffs" means absolutely fucking nothing when your team is not ready to compete at that level yet and only further damages the brand and national perception of the program by getting cock slapped by some BBC having, zero-fuck giving Bama thugs. For the first time in my life I would like to see UW finish the season with a big bowl win against a big-time opponent and use the glory of that big win to bring in a monster 2020 recruiting class.
What a loser. This is what happens when you value TBSing over the games on the field.
Being a team to make the playoffs 2/3 years says a lot more than being a one hit wonder.
Of course we'll take a Rose Bowl if that's what the season presents, but it won't be better than getting to the only thing that matters In this era, a chance to compete for the real title.
It's not a loser mentality. It's about being realistic. UW in the playoffs means UW gets slaughtered again on national TV. You say you would rather have "a chance to compete for the real title" and that's the problem. UW can't compete at that level yet. Not with Brownsocks and these JAG receivers and JAG inside backers and probably JAG pass rushers.
For example, If you're a boxing coach do you want your fighter to accept a title shot against Mike Tyson in his prime before he's anywhere near ready to fight that dude. No, because he's gonna get killed and fuck up his confidence.
Another example, USC post Rose Bowl victory against Penn State was on fire. National perception of them increased massively, the SC hype train started again, and recruits took notice and wanted to jump on board including our #1 recruit at the time. Compare that to SC after getting stomped by Notre Dame and Ohio State. Their perception is down and recruits are wondering if Helton is the right guy? Will he be there for four more years? Can he develop players and put them in the league? A guy you would normally expect to be an SC lock (Faatui Tuitele) eliminates them early in his process. Sama Paama commits to UW before even visiting SC.
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Basically, winning big bowl games against quality national opponents is GOOD. Getting you're ass whooped in big bowl games against national opponents is BAD. UW is not winning a Playoff game and they certainly aren't winning the national title so making the Playoffs only adds another loss to their record (probably an ugly, blowout loss) and hurts the program brand, perception, and recruiting. On top of that the players won't be confident playing against quality national opponents until they get some wins against them. The Penn State game they were a bunch of shrivel dicks again. Penn State looked way more confident and relaxed than UW.
UW needs to take a step forward this season. That means winning the conference title again and winning the Rose Bowl against a tough national opponent like Michigan or Penn State. Losing their bowl game is not a step forward. It's more of the same and opposing coaches will be telling recruits "UW can't win the big game, they've plateaued, they're as good as they're gonna get, come here and win a national title, etc". For fuck sakes, Petersen has zero impressive bowl wins at UW. He needs one on his resume.