[Optimus Prime]

Total Conference Strength they are near the bottom.

We've got what....4 in that time? And one of our teams got shut out (Auburn) when they were undefeated.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'm not going to debate overall conference strength between the SEC and Big Ten. Sec is the best conference in football. I have no problem admitting that. I'm just saying that the Big Ten has had a team in the national championship picture 40% of the time over the last ten years, which is respectable.

[paladin]

Xander;336585 said:

I hate USC. So damn cocky. Great teams the last few years but they also play in a finesse conference with little attention to Defense. One and only time I ever rooted for Texas in anything was a few years ago. Beautiful.

i dont think they're cocky. they never say anything. they prove themselves by actions on the field. cocky is les miles talking shit on the pac10/usc when he wont even face a decent pac10 opponent during the year(let alone any good non-conf team).

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

As the linked article mentions, I too am tired of hearing the SEC justify their weak non-con schedule with "But all of our conference games are battles!" Is there some truth there? Yes. Get over it though, play some real teams outside of the SEC.

[paladin]

they dont even play their whole conference. last year usc, oregon, oregon state, cal, and arizona state were all good and all ranked and they all played each other in round robin.

in conferences like the sec, there is no guarantee the two best teams will even play or that even the two best teams will even be determined correctly. georgia didnt even get the opportunity to play lsu last year and tennessee avoided them during the regular season as well. round robin would have ensured everyone played everyone and georgia wouldnt be wondering if they were more deserving of a national title berth(or conference title) than lsu

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

In theory though, the two best teams will end up meeting eventually since they have a conference championship game.

[paladin]

but the theory has holes since you dont play everyone. lsu missing georgia and tennessee in their conference schedule is huge. its like usc not playing cal and oregon

[Optimus Prime]

Come on guys, quit hating. We've got the most talent and the most speed as of now....it's not really debatable. Though I must admit USC versus Georgia would've been a hell of a game.

The SEC is the strongest conference. Even our traditional "weak" teams are getting better now, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State. I don't want to hear about "out of conference" because that was only the last few years. Before that we were playing everybody. UGA has games with Arizona State, Georgia Tech (every year), Louisville coming up, UCLA, we're talking to Michigan about a game in 5 years....so I don't want to hear it. USC is cocky but with a reason. They had a great run and Pete Carroll has his pick of players...why? He doesn't have much competition in his conference.

USC played NORTHERN IOWA to start the season...or was it Idaho...some state with no football team Every power has some easy ones. It's cyclical. And let's not forget that before Carroll got there USC's stadium was half empty and they were a 5 win football team.

[paladin]

sure, strong, but pac10 is #2 and annually has very good nonconference schedules. im not hating on the sec as much as i disagree with the cockyness considering les miles antics are way worse and i dont like the style of play the sec uses. round robin is much better and provides concensus results rather than what-if scenarios

[Optimus Prime]

USC has some skeletons in their closet....you better hope that Reggie Bush thing doesn't blow up in your face..... That'd be a shame.

But seriously, the last few years we haven't had as strong an out of conference...maybe....but Pac 10 isn't always #2 conference. Big 12 is there sometimes....so you guys play finesse, spread football. YAAAAAWN.

[paladin]

spread? you mean like florida?

usc plays a pro style offense. oregon plays a spread with dixon in. cal plays a prostyle offense(though their qbs dont pan out in the nfl usually). az st should have a traditional pro offense from what i remember. ucla uses a pro style offense(and will have a similar offense to usc with norm chow there now). infact, other than oregon with dixon, i cant think of any particular "spread" or "spread-option" or "option" systems in the pac10. washington or wash st? i dunno.. but its not like they're a national superpower because of the gimmick spread-option like florida and west va

rbs typically dont thrive in spread systems either. even with oregon having a spread using dixon, jonathan stewart was a top flight rb for oregon before getting injured. usc, ucla, and cal have put many rbs in the nfl the past few years to varying degrees of success(flops like jj arrington who led the ncaa in yards to maurice drew who is probably considered the best young rb in the league).

as far as reggie, ive never seen any evidence implicating usc in it(as a recruiting tool or anything). it seems to be a deal with reggie and his dad(or stepdad or whatever) and the agent/advertising agency/whatever he setup the deal with. i just dont see it as a really big deal(just like i didnt think it was a big deal with that texas area qb kid(sam keller?) getting paid by a carwash when the uni didnt do anything to initiate it)

[cjd262e]

paladin;337304 said:

sure, strong, but pac10 is #2 and annually has very good nonconference schedules.

Pac10 is always solid. I agree with you that they are the number two toughest conference right now, mainly because USC has recaptured their greatness. The East Coast and Midwest bias over the Pac10 always bugs me.

However, I still think Big10, Big12, and ACC are a little better for depth. I.E. top three in Pac10 are as good, and probably better than the top three of any other conference besides the SEC. However, when you get down to the Arizonas, Stanfords, etc, I don't think they are as good as the lower-level teams from the other conferences.

My point being, that it is easier for a top-tier Pac10 team to go through their conference undefeated because, depending on the year, they may only have to play one other top Pac10 team, versus someone like Wisconsin, who every week has a tough game.

I still think Pac10 and Big10 need a conference championship to help RPI.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I think everyone should have a conference championship game, or no one. It's very odd that some schools don't. It can unfairly be an advantage or disadvantage for some teams.

[cjd262e]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;337385 said:

I think everyone should have a conference championship game, or no one. It's very odd that some schools don't. It can unfairly be an advantage or disadvantage for some teams.

I agree, that SEC championship usually has a huge bearing on the bowl landscape. The end of the year is always when wins and losses count the most.

Teams who lose one game early are always in much better shape to make a BCS than a team who loses late. It sucks that an Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Va Tech, Florida State etc. are putting their lives on the line while Ohio State and USC are sitting on their asses hoping for one of them to lose.

I actually don't even know if the Big East has a championship game. I know that West Virgina and Louisville have good teams, but after Miami, BC, and Va Tech left, I haven't paid attention in a while. Do they have a championship?

[Optimus Prime]

paladin;337346 said:

spread? you mean like florida?

usc plays a pro style offense. oregon plays a spread with dixon in. cal plays a prostyle offense(though their qbs dont pan out in the nfl usually). az st should have a traditional pro offense from what i remember. ucla uses a pro style offense(and will have a similar offense to usc with norm chow there now). infact, other than oregon with dixon, i cant think of any particular "spread" or "spread-option" or "option" systems in the pac10. washington or wash st? i dunno.. but its not like they're a national superpower because of the gimmick spread-option like florida and west va

rbs typically dont thrive in spread systems either. even with oregon having a spread using dixon, jonathan stewart was a top flight rb for oregon before getting injured. usc, ucla, and cal have put many rbs in the nfl the past few years to varying degrees of success(flops like jj arrington who led the ncaa in yards to maurice drew who is probably considered the best young rb in the league).

as far as reggie, ive never seen any evidence implicating usc in it(as a recruiting tool or anything). it seems to be a deal with reggie and his dad(or stepdad or whatever) and the agent/advertising agency/whatever he setup the deal with. i just dont see it as a really big deal(just like i didnt think it was a big deal with that texas area qb kid(sam keller?) getting paid by a carwash when the uni didnt do anything to initiate it)

Yeah...Florida plays a spread...one out of 12....lower percentage

Pac 10 isn't known for Defense, let's just leave it at that.

Where there's smoke...there's fire. Concerning Reggie Bush...I won't be shocked if someone at USC knew what was going on.....let's not be ignorant here

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Reggie bush is guilty as charged. It might cost USC their championship, wouldn't that be screwed up.

[Optimus Prime]

Yeah it would. Look, USC has been very good the last few years...but this idea that they have been a powerhouse year in and year out is misleading. They were very good in the 70's and then not so great for almost two decades. All the "tradition" with that school is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over hyped.

I laugh when people say Pete Carroll may leave USC for the NFL. Why? He's one of the sweetest jobs in the sports world. He picks whatever player he wants. Though...some have speculated that he may jump ship if this little fire with Reggie Bush blows up.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Shit, he might get fired if Bushgate blows up.

[Optimus Prime]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;337509 said:

Shit, he might get fired if Bushgate blows up.

Unlikely, unless it's proven he was in deep and has A LOT of dirty laundry. It'd take amazing amounts of bad shit to come out for that to be a possibility.

I love the conference championship games but agree we should have them for all or none. It all comes down to money.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, but what college ball really needs is a playoff of some sort, to open that bag of worms. I think the season should be played out as usual, then in the bowl games #1 and #4 play each other, and #2 and #3 meet. The winners play one extra game for the championship. The season only extends one game.