Pac-10 Football Is Better Than SEC Football: Part Five

Over the past decade, brainwashed college football fans have been tricked into believing that the SEC is the best football conference in the country.

I have heard it all: The competition is harder week in and week out, the SEC atmosphere drains the players' bodies more, SEC teams play harder when it's a conference game, there's more speed in the SEC, among many others.

But when it comes down to it, speculation doesn't mean anything.  Claiming a certain team will beat another team doesn't mean anything unless they play.  If you try and speculate, you can come up with any opinion you want.

For example, I could say that Texas State would have beaten Georgia last year if I were to use speculation.  Appalachian State lost to Georgia Southern (who lost to Texas State), but beat Michigan.  Michigan beat Florida who beat Georgia.  So by that logical series of thoughts, I can claim Texas State would have beaten Georgia last year.

Obviously, I don't think that this is true, but it's an example of how speculation can lead you wherever you want to go.

The only true way you can determine if a football team is better than another football team is to match them up.

Don't talk about national titles—those are subjective.  Don't talk about Top 25 rankings—those are subjective.

Talk about when these teams actually played each other.

Listed below is every SEC versus Pac-10 head-to-head matchup going back to the year 2000.

2000

Alabama 24, UCLA 35 {PAC10}

2001

UCLA 20, Alabama 17 {PAC10}

2002

Auburn 17, USC 24 {PAC10}

Mississippi State 13, Oregon 36 {PAC10}

2003

USC 23, Auburn 0 {PAC10}

LSU 59, Arizona 13 {SEC}

Oregon 42, Mississippi State 34 {PAC10}

2004

Oregon State 21, LSU 22 {SEC}

2005

Arkansas 17, USC 70 {PAC10}

LSU 35, Arizona State 31 {SEC}

2006

USC 50, Arkansas 14 {PAC10}

Washington State 14, Auburn 40 {SEC}

Arizona 3, LSU 45 {SEC}

California 18, Tennessee 35 {SEC}

2007

Tennessee 31, California 45 {PAC10}

The Pac-10 ends up with a 9-6 record against the SEC.  So much for the speed and athleticism of the SEC catching up with them.

The most alarming part is that if we take the two powerhouses, USC and LSU, out of the equation, the Pac-10 is 5-2 against the SEC.

It's interesting how every SEC fan who wants to derail the "Pac-10 Football Is Better Than SEC Football" argument claims the Pac-10 proponents only lean on USC.  Well, we took them out of the equation—and the Pac-10 still rules the day.

There's not much else to say on this topic: The Pac-10 is better against SEC opponents than the SEC is against Pac-10 opponents. 

I don't know what SEC fans are going to do to explain this one.  Maybe they'll claim that the SEC doesn't try out of conference, or that the game wasn't big enough so they probably just threw it. 

Whatever excuses are made by SEC fans, the fact remains that the Pac-10 has a 9-6 record against the SEC since 2000.  If you take out USC and LSU, the Pac-10 owns a 5-2 record.

THE LIST IS BUILDING:

5. The Pac-10 has a 9-6 record head-to-head against the SEC since 2000.

4. The Pac-10 has just as much, if not more, parity top to bottom than the SEC.

3. The Pac-10's best team is better than the SEC's best team.

2. The Pac-10 plays a better overall schedule.

1. The Pac-10 plays a better non-conference schedule.

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