In yesterday’s entry about college powerhouses playing ultra-soft non-conference games, you may have noticed no Pac-10 teams were mentioned. That’s because Pac-10 teams don’t do that.
Part of it is that Pac-10 teams all play each other, so they only have three non-con games. Most conferences have four.
But that’s only part of it. UCLA plays BYU and Notre Dame. USC plays Nebraska and Notre Dame. Washington plays Boise State and Ohio State. Cal plays Tennessee. Oregon goes to Michigan, and hosts Fresno State.
More importantly, there is not a single 1-AA on a Pac-10 schedule. There is not one utter day off like Buffalo or Florida International or Eastern Michigan. Idaho or La. Tech is about as soft as it gets.
Phil Steele’s voluminous football annual ranks all 119 1-A skeds via a mathematical formula. His top (toughest) eight are, in order, Washington, USC, Washington State, Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State and Cal. Oregon is 11th, and Arizona State 15th. The entire league is in the top 15.
The SEC is probably college football’s best conference year after year. But this year, the PAC-10 seems right there. Which is why I don’t think the national champion is coming from either league.
Where is the national champ coming from?
Of course I have no idea, but here are my pivotal games (by pivotal, I mean the winner of this one could win ‘em all): Texas-Oklahoma in Dallas Oct. 6, Louisville-West Virginia in Morgantown Nov. 8, and Virginia Tech at LSU next Saturday*.
* Va. Tech could win out if they get by this one, not LSU.
Steele thinks Penn State-Michigan Sept. 22 in Ann Arbor is a pivotal. He’s predicted that the winner will run the table in the Big Ten.
My suspicion is Michigan may not go into that game undefeated, and Steele just likes Penn State more than I do.
Because of their leagues, I don’t think USC (or anyone else in the Pac-10) is going undefeated, and I don’t think LSU (or anyone else in the SEC) is going undefeated.
I’m leery of the Big East teams because West Virginia is shaky defensively and L-ville lost a brilliant head coach.
LSU beats Va. Tech, and somebody from the Penn St.-Oregon-Notre Dame-Wisconsin-Ohio St. group knocks off Michigan.
That leaves the Texas-Oklahoma winner. Gimme the Sooners.
