The Can’t Miss Pac-10 Bowl Lineup

Let’s get the guesses out of the way early. The Pac-10 has had better years and only claimed one BCS spot, but if USC doesn’t win the conference and finishes with two losses, it’s hard to see them get excluded. That’s my rationalization of what is probably a bit (lot) of Pac-10 (and Oregon) homerism.

Like We’ve Always Said, the Pac-10 is All About Defense

It’s a pop quiz! I think I got all the answers right.

Which conference has more teams in the top 21 for total defense than any other league?

The Pac-10 has four teams in the top 25 for scoring defense and no teams in the top 27 for scoring offense. Explain what the that means to you in exactly 21 words.

I believe the Pac-10 has good defense and that is why more teams are better at scoring defense than scoring offense.

True or false. The Pac-10 has two of the country’s top 5 run defenses.

Complete this sentence: The blog that is best at using arbitrary ranges and selectively picking stats to bring home a point is Off The Pond.

Best Performance By a Fan in the One and Only Game Attended by this Blog

Guy on the left, obnoxious. Guy in the middle, unhappy.

I didn’t get around to a 2,000 word essay about my trip to UCLA, but somehow this guy has to be worked in. We got seats at the last minute in a nice row of the visitor section at the Rose Bowl. While the allotment was sold out, there were still a number of empty seats in the two rows below us just before a wide walkway that separates the upper and lower sections of the stadium. As the first half went along, more and more people started showing up in these seats. Shirtless men, frat-tastic students, greying crazies, they all found a spot. During the scoring outburst in the third quarter, all looked like they had about 12 too many Red Bulls at halftime (gotta’ love Duck fan’s enthusiasm). But one guy in particular stole the show. He used the walkway as his own personal platform.

With a perma-grin best described as shit-eating, he managed to annoy and entertain an entire section. He completely pissed off a guy the FOTB tells me was blind by harassing the man’s wife and got suitably yelled at for it. A little later, he miserably failed in a five minute, kneeling attempt to make the guy love him. At one point, he sat and stared at another lady’s burrito like it was the only food he’d seen in days. When security asked him to go back to his seat in another section, he disguised himself by turning his shirt inside out and wearing his hat forward. On and on it went and I was reminded why 50 inches and HD is a perfectly suitable substitute for regular attendance.

A League of Schizophrenics

At any given time, eight teams in the Pac-10 have been worthy of a national ranking. All eight have also been worthy of ESPN’s Bottom 10.

Washington Says “We’re Back”. Oregon says, “Not So Fast”

Which is the bigger comeback story this year, Stanford or Washington? I’d say the Huskies by virtue of their win over USC and their 0-12 record a year ago. But the fever pitch of Washington’s 3-3 start is so Oregon circa 1994. You know, cute little underdog thinking they’re one of the big boys now. Consider this my warning shot before the blog goes all “Husky Hate” next week.

Something in the Water of the Bay Area

I’m not sure what’s going on in Northern California, but Stanford and Cal both seem to share a propensity to lose a game just when you think there’s something building. Cal is becoming notorious for underachieving just as they start to, uh, achieve. Now, Stanford is showing flashes of the same trait. Losses to Wake Forest and Oregon State temper enthusiasm about a team that is probably good enough to be ranked, but seems to step on itself at the wrong times. I guess after a decade of bad football, Stanford would be happy with that assessment. Cal, not so much.

BCS Conference Most Likely to Lose its Automatic Qualifier Status
The Big East is bad and the BCS has provisions to review conference eligibility as an automatic qualifier. Compare the Big East to teams in the Mountain West. Perhaps there are traditional teams with good east coast ties, but in terms of performance, I would bet on the Mountain West over the next few years.

Officiating Most Likely To Suck
The Pac-10. God, the officiating is awful. Awful, awful, awful. I’m so tired of it. The pass interference call in the end zone against Jairus Byrd that took away his interception and essentially gave UCLA a touchdown was one of the worst calls ever seen. Yeah, Oregon has benefited as well, but that’s not the point here. Anyone who is a fan of this conference should want more from the officials and the ones overseeing them.

Pac-10 Team With the Easiest Road to the Rose Bowl
Stop right there. Think before you answer. It’s Oregon State. Of the teams that control their own destiny, they are the only one that has a win over USC. Cal, Stanford and Arizona all still have to play the Trojans with only Oregon having that game out of the way.

Most likely BCS National Title Game
Penn State vs. USC as the Rose Bowl suffers a heart attack watching its affiliated members play for a national title in the Orange Bowl. Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Oklahoma are going to eat each other alive in the nation’s best conference.

Most Overrated Conference
Hello SEC. I can acknowledge that my favorite conference is in a down year. I wish the SEC could see it for its true self. Here’s what happens every year. SEC teams get a nice, plush preseason ranking. They then play a bunch of garbage teams to pad records and get five teams in the top ten. They start to beat other throughout the season in constant top ten matchups that make the media swoon. Losing these games carries little penalty so dropping out of the top 25 rarely happens. Everyone ignores the obvious faults or takes half a season to see them (uh, Auburn) and eventually the surviving team makes the title game and gets to beat up on Ohio State. They are like every other major conference – a few good to great teams at the top and a bunch of other mediocre to awful teams.

Where are all the Pac-10 Quarterbacks?
They went east to Big 12 country. The conference of champions has a serious lack of quality quarterback play while the Big 12 is experiencing a boon unseen in conference history. The Oklahoma-Texas matchup was a classic Pac-10 game played under the guise of a Big 12 tilt. Missouri has the feel of a UCLA or Oregon with Nick Allioti running the defense. Oklahoma State, Kansas and Texas Tech all have quarterbacks that would compete for all-conference honors in other regions. It’s pretty obvious why the Big 12 is hands down the best conference in college football.

Best Guess at BCS Matchups
National Title Game
USC vs. Penn State
Note: SEC and Big 12 teams will falter against each other creating a default national title game

Orange Bowl
Pittsburgh (?) vs. Wake Forest (?)
Note: Yuck

Sugar Bowl
Alabama vs. BYU
Note: BYU is going to be an interesting opponent for whoever it faces

Fiesta Bowl
Notre Dame vs. Texas
Note: The Irish just have to finish above .500, right?  I actually think Boise State has a legitimate shot at this game. The likely scenario would have a team like Florida here with a Pac-10 or Big 12 runner-up in the Rose Bowl.

Rose Bowl
Should be: Oklahoma vs. Florida
Might be: Cal vs. Ohio State
Note: The Rose Bowl really wants the Pac-10 to play the Big Ten. It’s not right, but it might happen.