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The SEC's national championship streak may be alive and well, but that doesn't mean there's no room for debate over which is the best league in college football.
With six of the top 12 teams in the preseason Associated Press poll, the SEC had a clear edge in public opinion just three weeks ago, and it still leads the way with seven teams ranked in the top 25. But a contender to the throne is emerging. The Pac-12 has five teams ranked in the AP poll, six teams in the top 25 of the Sagarin Ratings and the best nonconference résumé of any league so far in the 2013 season.
Unlike the SEC, however, the Pac-12 may be too deep for its own good.
Best Conference Records
* Versus other FBS competition
ConferenceW-LWin PctPac-1216-3.842Big Ten21-8.724SEC15-6.714Big 1210-5.667ACC13-7.650
After three weeks, the Pac-12 has the best nonconference record against Football Bowl Subdivision competition at 16-3 (.842), and those three losses belong to Cal and Washington State, which were a combined 3-15 in league play last year. The conference with the second-best mark is the Big Ten at 21-8 (.724). Anyone who watched football Saturday knows how misleading that record is, even though Wisconsin deserved a better fate against Arizona State. But that's another story.
Next is the SEC at 15-6 (.714), which includes losses by two of its premier teams (Georgia and Florida) to the ACC. The Big 12, which had lost a total of seven regular-season games out of conference play over the previous two seasons, has already lost seven in 2013, including a couple to Football Championship Subdivision teams.
So the Pac-12 is on a roll and has an argument for being the best league in college football this year. Just three weeks into the season, eight Pac-12 teams have either been ranked or have beaten a ranked team. The question now is whether that depth might ultimately cost the conference a shot at the national championship.
The season began with most prognosticators believing the Pac-12 was a two-team race that would be decided by the Oregon-Stanford game on Nov. 7 rather than the conference title game on Dec. 7. But that's not so certain anymore. UCLA and Washington have emerged as two of the biggest early risers in the polls, and both teams play the Ducks and the Cardinal in October.
Also, Oregon must travel to Arizona in late November before its annual rivalry clash with Oregon State. In addition to facing Arizona State this weekend, Stanford has road trips to Oregon State and USC, not to mention a late November meeting with Notre Dame. Then there's that not-so-small matter of the Pac-12 championship tilt.
Those games not only increase the odds against the conference having a national showdown game in November, but they also lessen the chance that the Pac-12 will have an undefeated team at the end of the regular season. And that's where things could get tricky for national championship hopes.
No matter how good the Pac-12 might be this season, the conference probably isn't going to get the benefit of the doubt over the SEC, which has won every BCS title since 2006. That means the SEC champion, whether undefeated or with a single loss, is almost certain to be ranked ahead of a one-loss Pac-12 champ in the final BCS standings. And if there's an unbeaten squad from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 -- or maybe even Louisville -- the Pac-12's best team could be left out of the national championship game.
The out-of-conference strength of the league should greatly benefit its teams in the BCS computer rankings, but that may matter only if a Pac-12 team has the same number of losses as all other leading BCS contenders. In the polls, the edge among teams with similar records is likely to go to the SEC. Right or wrong, it's kind of an instinctive move for the voters after seven consecutive national titles for that league.
As long as Oregon and Stanford are cruising along without a blemish on their records, it's easy to feel good about the Pac-12's chances to be a factor in the 2013 national title race. But the longer teams like Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma State stay undefeated, the more the Pac-12 can't afford to see all its teams take a mark in the loss column.
With the conference being as competitive up top as any league in college football, that's much easier said than done.
pulled from espn
With six of the top 12 teams in the preseason Associated Press poll, the SEC had a clear edge in public opinion just three weeks ago, and it still leads the way with seven teams ranked in the top 25. But a contender to the throne is emerging. The Pac-12 has five teams ranked in the AP poll, six teams in the top 25 of the Sagarin Ratings and the best nonconference résumé of any league so far in the 2013 season.
Unlike the SEC, however, the Pac-12 may be too deep for its own good.
Best Conference Records
* Versus other FBS competition
ConferenceW-LWin PctPac-1216-3.842Big Ten21-8.724SEC15-6.714Big 1210-5.667ACC13-7.650
After three weeks, the Pac-12 has the best nonconference record against Football Bowl Subdivision competition at 16-3 (.842), and those three losses belong to Cal and Washington State, which were a combined 3-15 in league play last year. The conference with the second-best mark is the Big Ten at 21-8 (.724). Anyone who watched football Saturday knows how misleading that record is, even though Wisconsin deserved a better fate against Arizona State. But that's another story.
Next is the SEC at 15-6 (.714), which includes losses by two of its premier teams (Georgia and Florida) to the ACC. The Big 12, which had lost a total of seven regular-season games out of conference play over the previous two seasons, has already lost seven in 2013, including a couple to Football Championship Subdivision teams.
So the Pac-12 is on a roll and has an argument for being the best league in college football this year. Just three weeks into the season, eight Pac-12 teams have either been ranked or have beaten a ranked team. The question now is whether that depth might ultimately cost the conference a shot at the national championship.
The season began with most prognosticators believing the Pac-12 was a two-team race that would be decided by the Oregon-Stanford game on Nov. 7 rather than the conference title game on Dec. 7. But that's not so certain anymore. UCLA and Washington have emerged as two of the biggest early risers in the polls, and both teams play the Ducks and the Cardinal in October.
Also, Oregon must travel to Arizona in late November before its annual rivalry clash with Oregon State. In addition to facing Arizona State this weekend, Stanford has road trips to Oregon State and USC, not to mention a late November meeting with Notre Dame. Then there's that not-so-small matter of the Pac-12 championship tilt.
Those games not only increase the odds against the conference having a national showdown game in November, but they also lessen the chance that the Pac-12 will have an undefeated team at the end of the regular season. And that's where things could get tricky for national championship hopes.
No matter how good the Pac-12 might be this season, the conference probably isn't going to get the benefit of the doubt over the SEC, which has won every BCS title since 2006. That means the SEC champion, whether undefeated or with a single loss, is almost certain to be ranked ahead of a one-loss Pac-12 champ in the final BCS standings. And if there's an unbeaten squad from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 -- or maybe even Louisville -- the Pac-12's best team could be left out of the national championship game.
The out-of-conference strength of the league should greatly benefit its teams in the BCS computer rankings, but that may matter only if a Pac-12 team has the same number of losses as all other leading BCS contenders. In the polls, the edge among teams with similar records is likely to go to the SEC. Right or wrong, it's kind of an instinctive move for the voters after seven consecutive national titles for that league.
As long as Oregon and Stanford are cruising along without a blemish on their records, it's easy to feel good about the Pac-12's chances to be a factor in the 2013 national title race. But the longer teams like Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma State stay undefeated, the more the Pac-12 can't afford to see all its teams take a mark in the loss column.
With the conference being as competitive up top as any league in college football, that's much easier said than done.
pulled from espn
