SEC vs Pac 10 in Week One … Pac 10 Could Use This Win
I doubt anyone will dispute the SEC's claim of being the toughest conference in college football. Take a look at the pre-season AP poll. Two top 10 teams. Six top 25 teams. Even the unranked teams are tough. Clearly, from top to bottom it's the best conference out there.
Of course, Pac 10 fans feel disrespected when USC is criticized for playing weak competition, and a one-loss SEC team is much more likely to reach the title game than a one-loss team from the Pac 10 — or any other conference for that matter. Really, the Pac 10 has one legitimate point to make in this argument: Over the past two seasons, USC has beaten Arkansas by a combined score of 120 – 31. This is the same Arkansas team that won the SEC West in 2006. So how much worse could USC really be than the elite SEC teams? It makes you think that perhaps the Pac 10 isn't as inferior as we thought.
But the debate goes beyond USC. It's about the Stanfords and the Arizona States and the Cals that nobody seems to take too seriously. Basically, on the East Coast, it looks like USC and nine nobodys. So pay close attention to the marquee match up of week one: No. 15 Tennessee at No. 12 California. You'll see two NFL prospects at quarterback. You'll see Cal's DeSean Jackson show you he's one of the nation's best wide receivers. And you just might see the Pac 10 gain a little bit more respect.
The Pac 10 needs this one.
Last season, Tennessee handled Cal in week one to the tune of 35 – 18. A win by the Golden Bears — who look like a sleeper to contend for the National Championship — will show the nation that teams not named "USC" can beat the big boys of the SEC. A Vols victory does nothing to silence the East Coast bias.
I think there are BCS implications here too. Let's say Tennessee beats Cal on Saturday. Let's say Cal is the only team to beat USC this year. It's not too unrealistic. If you’re comparing a one-loss USC team at the end of the season to a one-loss SEC team, many analysts will say that the team that beat USC lost to Tennessee at home. Basically, the Trojans should be pulling for Cal this weekend.
A win from Cal QB Nate Longshore and his crew could help the Pac 10 start gaining the respect that it may or may not deserve. And if you need another reason to pay attention to this game, look at the rest of the week-one games. Awful. Truly awful.
I agree on the awful games viewpoint. Great article and great blogsite you have here. I wrote an article on the week one match-ups as well that you might want to read. Send me an email for the link. Great job.
Cal is going to beat Tennessee but the Volunteers are quite possibly the 5th best team in the SEC behind LSU, Florida, Georgia and Arkansas. Its debatable how good Arkansas actually is after everything thats happened this off season. It can be argued that the SEC is currently at a down point and the PAC 10 is peaking.
Good points however I don't think many people will be shocked if Cal wins. They have a good team