10 Reasons Why the Pac-10 Deserves More Respect

Throughout the South, the Pac-10 is often referred to as the “Pac 1” by fans of the SEC (with the “1” being the University of Southern California).  

And when people talk sports, they almost always diminish the Pac-10 accomplishments by saying that the teams do not play any tough opponents and citing a perceived weak in-conference schedule. 

I am not making the argument that the Pac-10 is necessarily better or worse than the SEC. However, when you look at the numbers, the Pac-10 is definitely comparable to the top conferences in college football and deserves more respect from college football fans in general.

(1) Pac-10 heavyweight USC flies across the country to play games against non-conference opponents including Ohio State, Auburn, Virginia, Hawaii, and Arkansas, in which they posted victories against these schools on their campuses in hostile environments this decade.  Many other top programs will not even consider taking games of this nature, especially flying across the country to play top programs early in the season.

(2) UCLA has defeated SEC heavyweight Tennessee twice in the last two seasons.  UT won the SEC-East in 2007 before losing to LSU in the SEC Championship game, who went on to defeat Ohio State for the BCS National Championship.  Tennessee also lost to Cal 45-21 in 1997.

(3) The loss to Oregon State for Southern California in the early 2008 season on the road in Corvallis is equivalent to Florida’s loss of Ole Miss at home. 

USC’s defense shutout three teams throughout the remainder of the season, never allowed more than 27 points in a game, and only allowed 111 points total, including the Rose Bowl game. 

Florida played for the BCS National Championship in 2006 when UF had not allowed more than 28 points per regular season game.  USC’s numbers were nearly identical to Florida’s, and instead of playing for a national championship, an overhyped Oklahoma team who basically won a coin flip to play in the Big 12 Championship game, was ranked No. 2 in the AP and No. 1 in the BCS. 

USC was sent to the Rose Bowl to pound another Big Ten team.

(4) The USC Trojans are a perfect 10-0 in their last 10 meetings with the Big Ten. 

Now, before people start saying that it’s not that impressive because the Big Ten is a weak conference, the Big Ten has been the only team to beat Tim Tebow’s mighty Gator teams in a Bowl Game when the Michigan Wolverines beat the Florida Gators 41-35, the year Tim Tebow won the Heisman.

USC has beaten Michigan twice at the Rose Bowl by double digits in this decade.

(5) The Big 12 was hyped up as the super-conference last year, but were exposed in the bowl season when Ole Miss beat Texas Tech and Florida beat Oklahoma.  Well, the Pac-10 also contributed to the demise of the overhyped Big 12 when Oregon defeated Oklahoma State, ranked No. 5 this season until they lost to Houston.

(6) BYU, who defeated Sam Bradford’s Oklahoma Sooners last week, played Arizona last year in the Las Vegas Bowl.  Arizona beat BYU 31-21, but the Heisman-winning overhyped Oklahoma Sooners, who couldn't do the same, were ahead of USC last year in the rankings played in the national championship game.

(7) Since 1998, the Pac-10 is 11-8 versus the SEC.  This is very balanced and respectable competition, far from what some fans and media analysts downplaying the Pac-10 would lead people to believe.

(8) In Week One, SEC powerhouse LSU played Washington in Seattle and beat the Huskies 31-23.  Last year, the Huskies lost all of their games and have not won a single game in 21 months.  Even though the Huskies lost the game, they gave LSU a run for their money, which is very respectable considering Washington is the bottom feeder team of the Pac-10.

(9) The Pac-10 has a winning record of 5-3 this decade in the Rose Bowl game.  The Rose Bowl game is examined closely by the AP voters and often determines major preseason ranking leverage in the following season.  The Pac-10 has particularly dominated the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl.

(10) The Pac-10 went a perfect 5-0, posting the best postseason conference record in last season’s bowl series.  The Pac-10 posted victories against BYU, Miami, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, and Penn State.  No other major conference went undefeated.