ESPN's Ted Miller has his measuring stick and he's not afraid to use it.
College football is confusing.
One week, you’ve got a reputable east coast publication calling out the Pac-10 for its lack of an alpha dog and stating that the current state of the conference “isn’t great on the field” (ACC was jealous of the glowing review).
The next, there’s a whole bunch of smart writers ranking five teams in the top 25 and calling Oregon the fifth best outfit in all the land (let’s face it, 4th or 6th would be a ridiculous placement).
So which is it Pac-10? Historically bad or absurdly good?
Neither? Yeah, neither. Not yet, anyway.
Drawing conclusions on anything one or two weeks into a season is just bad form. But after three weeks? Well, yeah, that makes a ton of sense! And that’s what’s going to happen on… what are we calling it ESPN, Measuring Stick Saturday? Really? We better not be using the f-ing metric system. I’ll boycott.
Technically, this is the Pac-10′s biggest weekend of the year in terms of non-conference action. Gone is the SEC-like platter of creampuffs and in its place a more respectable list of opponents that include four ranked teams (not you, Oregon).
How the conference fares in these games goes a long way in sculpting a national opinion about the league’s quality. Yep, how Arizona fares against Iowa is important to Oregon’s national title game credentials.
No, that’s not your broken sewer line you smell, it’s the sweet aroma of BCS in the fall.
So here we are, stuck rooting for teams to win that are supposed to be considered our direct competition. Washington? Bow down. USC? Fight on. The Beavs? Uh, fire up the chainsaw?
I’m not saying run out to your nearest Wal-Mart and stock up on rival gear. Well, I’m not saying you can’t. They do sell a pretty sweet Caucasian Team Tackler thingy. And you can feel good knowing some five year old in a third world country got to take home three pennies from your generous consumerism.
Was I trying to make a point here? Oh yeah, Pac-10 teams winning this weekend equals good for Oregon in the long run. Losing, bad.
You don’t have to admit that you rooted for Washington. In fact, I already know you won’t.
But knowing I’d sell my soul for Oregon (now available at Wal-Mart in both Caucasian and African American) to get to the national title game, there’s room on one Saturday to say: Go… ahem… Bea… ahem, ahem, …vers.
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OK Ill do it but only if you let me have some of that jack danials you been pushing.
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Sorry, but I don’t subscribe to the tough conference argument. Alabama, Ohio State, Boise State, etc are ranked where they are because of who they are and how they ended up last year and began this year. If they win out we will not pass them no matter how strong the PAC-10 is or who we play. If they falter we will pass them if we keep winning irregardless of how our PAC-10 cronies do. That is how it works in the 21st century NCAA football world. How else could Boise State and TCU be ranked high? Start with a high ranking, feast on beatable OOCs and then do well in conference. Number of wins is the critical factor. I will never root for Washington. Ever. May the Huskers knock Jake on his over-rated ass.
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I knew I could get you going on this topic. Hell, that line about knowing you won’t root for Washington was mostly for you.
My thinking is that teams like Boise and TCU have a ceiling precisely because of their conference. They get to number 3 on merit, but no matter what, cracking that 1 or 2 spot is virtually impossible.
But let’s say Boise, Oregon and Alabama all end up undefeated. Many voters will put Oregon 2nd because of the strength of their schedule. But some really want to buck the system and will look for an angle to get Boise in there. If the Pac was down, that might be enough cause to give the nod to Boise.
In 2007, Oregon was the “it” team because Cal, USC and ASU were all top 10 when they played them. Voters were choosing between a lot of teams that year and Oregon was a clear choice.
In 2005, Oregon had only 1 loss and was worthy of a BCS at-large. But they only beat two ranked teams in conference and they were only 17th and 23rd respectively. The resume was weak. Now, Notre Dame was eligible and you’re not getting picked over them anyway, but the Ducks argument was weakened by the notion the conference was down.
You could say conference pride only matters to a select few teams at the top of the rankings trying to get into the BCS. But tell that to every school that wants a piece of the extra cash a 2nd BCS team delivers. In that respect, it matters to everyone.
The bottom line is sometimes voters are making choices based on very subjective data. Why not go into that argument loaded with as many positives as possible?
And yes, I know nothing I say here is going to get you to say, think or even vomit the words Go Huskies.
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Good points and I’ll agree that the strength of the conference can help break a tie in the front pack as can the strength of OOC games. Still, starting off with a high ranking and having a lot of wins seems to be the key to being ranked at the top. So, almost all PAC-10 teams get my backing.
Huskies, never. Forget about it.
I’m also really conflicted about the OSU/BSU game. I can’t stand either team but probably dislike the Donkies more than the Rodents. Plus a loss for BSU moves us up. So I’ll likely
roothope for an OSU win. Yuk.loading...
Should have left the HTML out of it.
I’ll hope for an OSU win since I can’t get myself to root for the Lunch Bucket Rodents.
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Fair enough on the Huskies. Every conference has bad teams so they might as well be that team (although I’m on record loving it when they are good for the sake of rivalry).
All we need is for some strength at the top. Arizona, Stanford and Oregon State should provide enough quality with USC and Cal as wildcards.
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Give me enough of that J.D. and I can vomit Go Huskies
not a pretty thought.
Better— GO!!! DUCKS!!!
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