The Pacific-10 Conference produces the most exciting and unpredictable games in the nation. Therefore, it is the best conference.
I know that a lot of people would love to debate that, and there are good arguments for other conferences, such as the Big Ten, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences. But let’s look at all of the major conferences and eliminate them one by one.
First, the ACC. Sure, there are four ranked teams, including two in the top 10. But the bottom line is that they aren’t producing shocking games. If you exclude Virginia’s home victory over then-No. 4 Florida State Saturday, how many other upsets have there been?
The only legit team the ACC boasts is third-ranked Virginia Tech. If you put No. 13 Boston College, No. 11 Florida State or No. 6 Miami against any one of the top four teams in the Pac-10, I could almost guarantee you that the West Coast would be the victor.
Then there is the Big Ten. Penn State represents the league with a No. 12 ranking, followed by Ohio State at 14, No. 19 Wisconsin and No. 22 Michigan State. Once again, four ranked teams, but not one stands above the rest. There is great parity in the Big Ten, which has led to several exciting games and it shows with Northwestern sitting in the top half of the conference standings. So I can’t honestly dog too much on the Big Ten; just believe me … they are second best to the Pac-10.
The SEC is overrated. Flat out, No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Alabama are over/under killers on the betting line. They couldn’t spread peanut butter and jelly on bread, much less the point spread on a football game. Seventh-ranked LSU should have lost to Arizona State earlier this year. They have three other teams, Auburn, Tennessee and Florida, ranking 16 through 18, respectively. I think everyone has seen Tennessee’s and Florida’s collapses this season. Both are way overrated and basically, that is all you can say about this conference.
So that leaves the Pac-10 on top. USC has held the No. 1 ranking for more than two years. UCLA has escaped near misses all season and ranks eighth. Oregon has climbed to No. 15 with California dropping to No. 25. Four teams are ranked, just like two other conferences.
My guess is that a majority of pollsters look at nothing more than game scores when determining where West Coast teams sit on the chart. In the end, the only things you can judge a conference on are its non-league schedule and record and its parity from top to bottom.
The Pac-10 has been the conference that beats itself up every week. The non-league record shows this year so give the Pac-10 the respect it deserves – as the top conference in the country.