Someone Give the Pac-10 Some Love

Ever since I returned to New York after graduating from Arizona State, I have been trying to convince people to start watching the Pac-10. Pac-10 games are rarely on TV on the east coast and when they are they are on later in the evening – nonetheless the conference is worth watching when the games are aired.Think about this, last year when USC played Fresno State who was 16th in the nation at the time, the game was on at 10:15pm. Very few people got to see the game where Reggie Bush put up roughly 600 yards. It’s not like this game was USC versus Stephen F. Austin, this was the #1 team against the #16 team, you’re telling me not enough people were interested in a match up between two quality teams?

I, like many others on the east coast, grew up watching Notre Dame, the ACC, the Big Ten, the SEC, and the Big East so I understand why people have grown accustomed to watching those teams. But when the winner of the National Championship two out of three years and the Heisman Trophy winner three out of four years come out of one conference, maybe it’s worth showing these guys a little love.

So for those of you who are a little unsure about whether the Pac-10 is worth watching, here are some reasons why you should tune into to Pac-10 this fall:

*    The offenses: From USC’s pro style offense to Oregon’s spread offense, the Pac-10 is filled with an array of options for those who are students of the game. The spread is becoming more popular as teams in other conferences are beginning to use it after seeing how effective it has been at schools like Utah, Northwestern and Oregon. Even Ohio State last year started to use it a little bit and appeared to be unstoppable when they did. Whatever the offense is, you are guaranteed to see a game where 50-70 points are going to be scored.

*    The Quarterbacks: Chalk it up to a lack of defense if you want, but I believe the quarterback play in the Pac-10 is the best in the nation. It seems as though every year a Pac-10 QB is taken in the first round. Some don’t pan out but for every Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, and Ryan Leif, there is a Bledsoe, Palmer, and Plummer (Sorry I think his career would have turned out a whole lot better if he wasn’t playing for a lame duck franchise for most of it). The monster numbers they put up I will admit is a little inflated, but overall I think the coordinators are able to adapt to the quarterbacks they have and the defenses they play against very well

*    The Coaches: Pete Carroll, Ty Willingham, Mike Bellotti, Mike Riley, Walt Harris, Dirk Koetter, Jeff Tedford, and Mike Stoops are all highly respected coaches in the college football world or many agree that their upside is tremendous. Although people say Willingham did a terrible job at Notre Dame, remember that they would not have Brady Quinn and many others if it wasn’t for Willingham. This is similar to Roy Williams winning the national title with Matt Doherty’s recruiting class. College sports aren’t all about what takes place on the field, a very critical aspect of coaching in college is being a good recruiter.

*    The Fans: By far the Pac-10 has the worst fan attendance of the major conferences. I believe only Oregon, Washington State, Oregon State, and recently USC have constantly sold out their home games. I will admit that it is very much a bandwagon conference. With that being said, most of the Pac-10 schools are in urban areas and have other entertainment activities that say Columbus, East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Iowa City don’t have. The reason why I said fans was because the Pac-10 crowds are the best looking crowds. When the cameras pan to the crowd, they always pick up on a plethora of hot girls in the front row. Who wants to see a bunch of bundled up girls that you would see watching a Big Ten game? At least if it is a crappy game, you are guaranteed to see a girl and say, “Oh my god, why didn’t I go there for college instead!”

If you want to see a defensive showdown, generally you will not find it in the Pac-10. I like the occasional 17-7 game, but too much of it leaves me yearning for touchdowns. There are lots of shootouts and the games seem to take forever because of the large amount of passing.

Keep in mind that although it is very much a passing conference, quality running backs have come out of the conference. Reggie Bush, Corey Dillon, O.J Simpson, Marcus Allen and many others made their name in the Pac.

If you need more convincing, let me reemphasize a comment stated earlier; two of the last three national champions and three of the last four Heisman Trophy winners all came from the Pac-10. Yes, these were all accomplishments made by USC, but doesn’t it say something when the best player and the best team is coming out the same conference?