College football mailbag: Pat Haden still has them talking

Each week during the college football season, national analyst Chris Dufresne will burn a timeout to answer questions and exchange opinions. You can email him at chris.dufresne@latimes.com and reach him on Twitter: @DufresneLATimes.

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It seemed to me that Sark texted “daddy” Haden to come down and help him with his job. The officials should have given USC a penalty for the Athletic Director intervening in the progress of a game. The NCAA should also penalize USC for violating sideline rules against texting the AD up in the press box.

Carlos Dias

I agree. Officials had several penalty options in dealing with Haden:

•Rule 4-3: “Illegal athletic director down field.”

An AD can not go five yards beyond the line of scrimmage until the quarterback has released the ball.

Penalty: 15 yards and temporary loss of AD’s monthly T-Mobile text-message plan.

•Rule 6-2: “Unsportsmanlike Rhodes Scholar conduct.”

An AD who earned a Rhodes Scholarship can only address an official on the field in the Old English poem form used in “Beowulf.”

Penalty: two hours of study hall.

•Rule 8-5: “Trojan Horse collar.”

USC athletic directors are specifically forbidden to sneak-attack any official to argue a play on the field.

Penalty: loss of one furlong in yardage.

•Rule 9-8: “Illegal Chopped Salad block.”

An AD can not leave a specially prepared meal from his suite without first notifying Emile, the press-box chef.

Penalty: Loss of bacon bits.

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It really surprised me Pat Haden went on the field. Very disappointed. Not sure he should be on the committee with that kind of behavior

Paul Ochs

Put me down as shocked. I was in the press box at Oregon’s Auzten Stadium, watching the USC game on TV, but there was no audio. I saw Haden on the field and immediately started tweeting to find out what in the heck was going on.

It was so unlike Haden to become part of the story, but removing him from the selection committee is typical, over-the-top, social-media overreaction.

I wish, just once, people would take a deep breath and count to five before offering instant, microwave conclusions.

It was misguided to allow active athletic directors to serve on the panel, but it’s their system so they have to live with it.

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Congrats on your stand that athletic directors shouldn’t be on selection committee. They continually demonstrate their impartiality and strong ethics. Oops, my job is to do anything I can to help our team win.

Jim Petralia

I was sitting when I made my stand but appreciate your support. My hunch — which was right — was that athletic directors’ first responsibility would be to their employers.

The great line from that Beach Boys song is “Be true to your school,” not “Be true to your unpaid moonlight job as a College Football Playoff selection committee member.”

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Are you equally appalled at committee member Barry Alvarez on Saturday?

Ray Lokar

I saw that snapshot of Wisconsin AD Alvarez, standing on the sideline, screaming at the refs in his screaming-red Badger blazer. My first reaction: Why would he be yelling during a game against Western Illinois?

Then I saw that Wisconsin only led 9-3, at the half, which could not have impressed any selection committee member.

I assume the picture is real, but you never know. Last week, I saw a picture of Mississippi Coach Hugh Freeze allegedly giving an obscene gesture during the Boise State game. Turns out it was Photoshopped. Freeze was actually holding up three fingers.

Haden was fined by the Pac-12 Conference because he directly conversed with two officials during the game.

Haden was reprimanded by the Pac-12, not the College Football Playoff selection committee. Spokesman Bill Hancock said that “emotional outbursts at games are not a matter for the playoff selection committee to deal with … we recognize that athletic directors cannot be dispassionate about their own teams, and that’s why we have the recusal policy.”

In other words: Go ahead, Barry, scream your lungs out.

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Could UCLA football be the most over hyped/overrated team in the history of mankind?

Matt McClaren

Yes, but I’m giving the Bruins a Memphis Mulligan after reading this week UCLA biologists have identified a gene that can slow the aging process.

I think that covers all the missed tackles and even Brett Hundley’s pick-six interception.

Right now, scientists are only working with fruit flies, so let’s not get too carried away. Scientists at Texas Christian University say they will be more impressed when reverse aging starts working on frogs.

If there is a major breakthrough, I hope UCLA is willing to share the vaccine with its crosstown rival.

It seems as if USC AD Pat Haden has aged about 20 years the last two weeks.

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Mail Baggage this week? 1) Who is more likely to be a head coach again in the Pac-12, Rick Neuheisel or Lane Kiffin?

Jancis Vaynrchuk

My answer: Jeff Tedford.

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How are you thinking USC is feeling about the (Penn State) announcement?

MaryJo McLaughlin

I don’t think, I know. Trojans fans are upset the NCAA let another school off the probation hook but hasn’t even sent a “we’re sorry” Hallmark card to Heritage Hall.

I hate that USC fans insist on comparing their probation with Penn State’s, which was a criminal case botched at the highest level.

NCAA President Mark Emmert, without due process, unilaterally decided Penn State’s fate. The school, unlike USC, did not get a hearing with the infractions committee. The school agreed to the sanctions and signed off on the punishment.

Does that sound like the USC case with Reggie Bush?

USC needs to move on from its own ugly chapter with the NCAA. The facts may one day prove, in court, the NCAA was out to get the Trojans.

USC football has handled the sanctions much better than many USC fans. The Trojans went 35-17 on probation, twice won 10 games in a season, was ranked No.1 at one point and are now a top-10 program again coming off a big win at Stanford.

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Be honest now, did you have Texas in the top-25 preseason?

@Saminthe208

Yes, of course, I love the baseball program. I was a student at Cal State Fullerton when current Texas Coach Augie Garrido led the Titans to their first NCAA title in 1979.

I am saddened to see that both schools have given up playing Division I-A football.

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Your insight please. Why has Big Ten football been so mediocre the last 10 years? Talent level, coaching, style of play?

@ajay60610

I blame it on former Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler and the weather. For years, Big Ten champions were built to win November games on sloppy, rainy, snowy and muddy fields. Big Ten teams tended to be run-oriented and less flashy. Another word for that is boring.

Schembechler thought winning the Big Ten was bigger, almost, than winning any mythical national title. Good thing, because Michigan never won a national title under Bo.

Postseason games, though, are almost always played in sunny locales such as California and the South, where the Big Ten teams tended to wilt.

Also, skill players in the talent-rich states of California, Texas and Florida are not as easily pried from weather where they can train year-round in shorts and shirts.

Oregon overcame its weather issue with incredible marketing and Phil Knight’s Nike money. The Ducks created uniforms kids craved to wear and a style of play that attracted athletes who would normally not have considered Eugene.

The Big Ten has too long relied on the tradition of Michigan and Ohio State to carry the conference. The Big Ten Network has been a huge moneymaker, but the conference needs to be more dynamic, proactive and innovative in capturing the imagination of recruits outside of its footprint.

It doesn’t help when Wisconsin can’t hold a 24-7, third-quarter lead against Louisiana State. And Michigan State loses a third-quarter lead at Oregon.

The Big Ten needs to win nonconference games against other Power Five leagues to help restore a reputation many still think is stuck in black-and-white television.

The Big Ten was at its height in 2006 when No.1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan met in Columbus.

The world was watching as Ohio State won a thrilling game but the league lost momentum when the Buckeyes were crushed by Florida in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

“Same old Big Ten,” we all said.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com