Pac 10- FIVE and O

[depakid]

When did the Pac-10 all of a sudden get good? Guilty as charged; I was front and center on the "Pac-10 sucks" bandwagon all year, and yes, Washington, Washington State and UCLA really were bad. But now, Oregon brought a bad attitude and a big bag of knuckles and showed the spread doesn't necessarily have to be a finesse attack. While Oklahoma State's running game was dancing around, the Ducks blasted their way to 307 yards on the ground in the stunning win.

Now there's no more dogging the league, at least at the moment. Arizona came up with a nice win over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, Cal got by an athletic Miami and now, the league has its big, huge win over the much ballyhooed Big 12 South. Remember, Oklahoma State's three losses came to Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech, so while this Ducks win was a big step forward for the 2009 season, it also changed the perception of 2008 ... so far. There's still USC vs. Penn State in the Rose Bowl, and Oregon State vs. Pitt in the Sun. If the Pac-10 wins those two and finishes 5-0 this bowl season, the college football world will owe the conference a big, fat apology. — Pete Fiutak

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/9007820/Five-thoughts:-Ducks-earning-Pac-10-some-respect

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Way to go Pac 10!

:applause:


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[Upton]

1. Yep, and the Big Ten is so pathetic

it's laughable. With PSU's loss they are now 1-5 in bowls. Does anybody outside of the Midwest even consider them a major conference anymore?

[depakid]

2. The Buckeyes might still beat Texas...

Kinda sucks that the bowls are so spread out. I know it's a money thing, but there's something to be said for playing all the big ones on New Years Day.

[nolabels]

4. Maybe the games will be closer together next year

The BCS title game goes through the Rose Bowl next year which is supposed to be on New Years Day.

[jakefrep]

3. The Big 10 should drop to 1AA until they get their act together.

We'll see what happens between AnOSU and Texas.

[Condem]

5. Man, did those Hawkeyes put a whippin on the ol' coach?

Should of been 35-0 at the half. All that SEC speed had Iowa intimidated. Those Cocks were yappin til' the bitter end. Pure class.

[Upton]

6. Wonderful the Big 10 is now 1-5

after Monday night you'll be 1-6. If I was a Big 10 fan, I'd be embarrassed. Meanwhile, the SC loss is the only one by the SEC so far.

Pac 10 5-0

SEC 3-1

Big 10 1-5

[Condem]

14. Not embarrassed at all, Upton.

Ferentz is 3-1 against the vaunted SEC. Wins over Florida, LSU and now SC. You have all the talent in the world, down there. You'll never have heart- or class. Playing on your home turf all you fuckers do is talk. Same shit, every year.

[hughee99]

7. The second best team in the PAC 10 beat

the 4th best team in the BIG 12 SOUTH (not even in all of the big 12) by 11, and this is going to enhance people's perception of the PAC 10? Good for the Ducks, but winning games against lower teams in better conferences isn't going to change people's perception, though it may get them a better bowl match up next year.

[Upton]

8. Going into the game OSU was ranked

higher than Oregon. I believe that's much more relevant than the two team's finishes in their respective conferences.

This whole bowl season has demonstrated that there was an east coast bias against the Pac 10. A bias that had an effect on USC's final place in the BCS standings. USC was downgraded because of a supposedly weak in conference schedule, which now looks not to have been the case.

BTW, USC defeated Oregon 44-10.

[hughee99]

10. I'm not arguing that the Pac 10 is weak...

Just that top Pac 10 teams beating mid-level teams from "stronger" conferences isn't going to change people's perception of the PAC 10. The impression that many would take from this is that the 2nd best team in the Pac 10 is good enough to be 4th or 5th in the Big 12.

[Condem]

13. Not only that, hughee

The SEC and PAC-10 have all fucking home games for the bowls. Hey, Upton. How far did USC have to travel for the Rose?

[Ptah]

9. But what about

Oh, they stayed home

:evilgrin: :bounce: :nopity: :headbang:

[TZ]

11. But the PAC10 also boasts

TWO of the worst teams in the entire nation..Washington and Washington State. I think there are other conferencs that are stronger from top to bottom As mediocre as the ACC was this year they still had EIGHT bowl teams to the PAC 10's five. (and Cal played and lost pretty badly to a very up and down Maryland team that finished I think 6th in the ACC..)

[Awsi Dooger]

12. I have never met one successful sports handicapper who relies on strength of schedule

I was thinking about that 2 or 3 nights ago, trying to come up with a single example from more than 20 years in Las Vegas. Everyone gets quickly labeled, "He's a stats guy," or "He likes situational trends," or "He bets based on motivation." Literally no one comes to mind as fixating on strength of schedule. They would be buried at the betting windows so no one even contemplates it.

It's a crock by definition because of examples like this year. The teams disperse into conference play before midseason and those results have potential to shatter reality, playing in your own little cove. I've posted many times that the worst analysts focus on recency, yet that's all strength of schedule allows. You get runaway crap like '08's, "The Big 12 is awesome; the Pac 10 sucks..."

Meanwhile, everything tends to drift back to the beginning and preseason ratings are more reality based than regular season crappiola results. Again, I understand it's an argument I can never win. A handful of friends in Nevada and I mostly keep quiet and take advantage. For example, if anyone really wants to believe Georgia Tech should be a 4 point favorite over LSU, more power to you. Keep that mindset and please spread it. I've posted every year the simple bowl-betting system of taking the higher rated team from preseason if it is a bowl game underdog. LSU was ranked several dozen spots above Georgia Tech, which was reality, based on sheer talent level. Bob Griese matter of factly stated during the game that LSU had far superior athletes than Georgia Tech. No kidding. Check the recruiting results the past 5 or 6 years. But obsession over late season results comically made LSU the underdog.

It's no different with the Pac 10. That conference always has a flood of great athletes and I can't count how many times teams have stepped up and won so-called major upsets over the decades. It's not a defensively stout league during the conference play, for the most part, and that somehow allows the conference to be understated as a whole. Yet the current Big 12 is allowed to give up 35+ points with stunning regularity and everyone wants to jump on board and slobber how great the teams are.

USC blew it by sleepwalking through the first half at Oregon State. But it was obscene that one outing buried USC in the rankings all year, due to idiocy in false evaluation of the Pac 10, while Florida lost AT HOME and that disgrace was conveniently ignored, along with scheduling the likes of Citadel while USC played the first of a home and home series with Ohio State. Mind boggling.

The BCS is a farce. Anything that prioritizes strength of schedule while ignoring margin of victory is inept by definition. The old system was massively superior, not pretending it was clear cut process and allowing an open vote after the conference tie-in bowls, dominoes tumbling everywhere. As a Canes fan I'll never forget Miami needing Texas to lose to Georgia in the '83 Cotton Bowl. Otherwise the famous 31-30 victory over Nebraska would have been good for merely second place. Georgia miraculously pulled it out, 10-9, in the final couple of minutes, after Texas missed a clinching FG followed by a fumbled punt by Texas and the right side of the Georgia offensive line held in unison on the next play, allowing the victorious TD run. I still laugh at the flagrance of the holding on that play, ignored by the referees. Yet in current college football the result would mean nothing, other than to the two teams involved.

I can't believe how often strength of schedule shows up as a priority on this message board and elsewhere. It's like trained mules. I sincerely hope it never accompanies speculation.

[AsahinaKimi]

15. went to CAL

Yay Golden Bears! ^^