PAC-10 IS THE TOUGHEST CONFERENCE AND HERE IS WHY....
Sword of Troy
Decision to play all nine league opponents has limited Pac-10's
opportunities in BCS games.
Bud Withers
Seattle Times colleges reporter
Last week in the Southeastern Conference, Auburn stepped out and
played Furman. Georgia played Tennessee Tech. Kentucky hosted Eastern
Kentucky. Mississippi welcomed Northern Arizona. Tennessee invited in
Memphis.
When's Furlough Week in the Pac-10?
Once again, the league is eating its own, pushed to the periphery of
the discussion about getting two teams into BCS bowls. Of course, that
hasn't happened since 2002.
And all for ... what, exactly? So the Pac-10 can say it's the only big
football-playing league that has nine conference games?
Time to end the fratricide, and go back to playing eight conference
games, which means everybody "misses" one opponent annually.
Let's pause for a minute, while I dodge the rotten tomatoes.
I know the arguments: It's more equitable this way. It's more
interesting for the fans and the media. It facilitates scheduling in a
part of the country where it isn't always easy to get games or to draw
sexy opponents.
On all counts, agreed. But the overriding factor is how the nine-game
grind, implemented in 2006, impacts the league nationally. And how it
affects the student-athlete (oh yeah, him).
In 2006, two Pac-10 teams, Arizona and Washington State, didn't get to
bowl games despite being eligible at 6-6. Last year, the league could
fill only five of its seven bowl slots. This year, the weekly gauntlet
(WSU excepted) might limit the league's participation in the big bowls
to just the Rose.
Last year, you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing an ACC team in a
bowl game. It had 10. Anybody foresee a time when the Pac-10 will have
eight or nine?
Funny, I don't recall any raging controversies under the old system.
Probably the closest thing was in 1995, when Washington and USC tied
at 6-1-1 — deadlocking in their game. USC "missed" a 9-3 Oregon team
while the Huskies missed 3-8 Cal.
Oregon State coach Mike Riley favors the round-robin. But he concedes,
"At the same time, it hurts us. It's very difficult to get two teams
in the BCS."
At league meetings last spring, the coaches had a long discussion
about a return to an eight-game league schedule, joined by athletic
directors. Nothing changed, but there's clearly significant coaching
support for it. Among those weighing in against the round-robin
Tuesday were Arizona's Mike Stoops, UCLA's Rick Neuheisel and WSU's
Paul Wulff.
Saying he sees both sides of it, Neuheisel said, "For the sake of the
conference and becoming nationally recognized, it may be wise to go to
an eight-game schedule."
After Washington meets Oregon State on Saturday, the Huskies will have
played eight teams already bowl-eligible and two that are still very
much in the hunt.
That's a load.
The Pac-10 has always had sort of a quixotic self-image. It was among
the first to limit Proposition 48 entrants, it clings to the old
alliance with the Rose Bowl, it bucked the tide and went through the
entire '90s without a Pac-10 basketball tournament.
In this case, cutting-edge ought to be mean something different:
Cutting back.
And what's more ...
• Circumstances might be tilting toward a dreary Ohio State-USC Rose
Bowl, which would be their third meeting in 16 months and USC's fifth
straight year in the Rose. If Arizona, Oregon and USC tie atop the
Pac-10 at 7-2 — with Arizona beating Oregon and USC beating Arizona —
USC wins the tiebreaker.
• Wulff says five to seven of WSU's 17 committed recruits "have been
talked to" by Pac-10 schools in an attempt to reverse their pledge,
and he doesn't like it. "I guess I'm old-fashioned in my beliefs," he
said. "We make early decisions on kids, and if it takes [competing
schools] six to eight months longer, it shows a lack of work on their
part, and it shows no class."
• QB roulette: Kevin Prince should be OK for UCLA's trip to Pullman
this week. ASU coach Dennis Erickson isn't declaring on either
freshman Brock Osweiler or senior Danny Sullivan for Oregon. And Wulff
is noncommittal on Jeff Tuel (kneecap), saying he wants to see how he
practices.
• Two years ago, Stanford went to USC and won as a 41-point underdog.
Now the Cardinal has cut that spread to 11 and coach Jim Harbaugh says
of the trip to LA, "It's put-up-or-shut-up time for Stanford
football."
Steve Cutchen
and we ALL know that USC is unbeatable.
Battlestar Joseph
> ...because anybody in it can beat USC,
> and we ALL know that USC is unbeatable.
I wish Texas could beat USC. I bet they beat us every time we have
played them. Maybe Texas and USC will meet in the national
championship this year.
Cheers
Joe