All year I've been hearing bitching and whining about how the Pac 10 conference gets no respect and that they are the best conference. Well thus far they have laid an egg at 0-3 with Stanford being the biggest culprit of the 3. Interestingly enough the much maligned Big East conference which everyone loves to rip on as being awful is 3-0 with a very good chance to go 5-0 and win the national championship. Lets give some props to Eastern football which I feel doesnt get the attention it deserves.

The East Coast already gets all the attention it needs with us West Coast guys left in the dark. Seems that when Oregon is finishing a spectacular season, all the East Coast "experts" are all already in bed. Having Nebraska instead of Oregon in the Rose Bowl is a perfect example (yes, I am aware that Neb. is not on the east coast).

Sure we've stumbled a bit in post-season play, but if everyone decided to stay up past their bedtimes during the regular season and caught some West Coast games, they would know that the Pac-10 is one tough conference.

Do they play defense in the Pac 10?

How bout those Washington State Cougars!!!!!!

Hey Washington St. came through for the Pac 10....Wahooooooooo!

And Oregon came through for the PAC-10, too, in a BIG showcase bowl game.

I went to grad school and Syracuse and worked for two years at UO. I'm glad that both schools did well in post-season play this year.

I think the West Coast bias is changing, too.
ESPN has been nearly breathless in exhorting that Oregon get more attention and praise, and the
reporting staff couldn't pile more accolades on Willingham, either.

True, just the other week on College Football Today, both the Big East AND the PAC 10 were
slammed for not playing "more competitive"
schedules. It's good to see that when teams
from these conferences do play big, imp. non-
conference games, the pundits on ESPN, at least,
are willing to recognize an outstanding
performance...

I am very proud of the way Washington State and Oregon represented the Pac 10 this year. Both school are extremely well coached and I would put them up against anybody from any division anytime.

I am also proud of both the Ducks and Cougs. Heck, I'm even proud of the Beavers even though they didn't live up to they hype of being #1. These three programs have made great strides in building competitive programs considering that in the late 80's many "experts" questioned whether these three schools belonged in the Pac-10 or should they relocate to the Big Sky conference. I was there at probably one of the worst game in college football history. The November 19, 1983 0-0 Civil War (aka The Toilet Bowl) game that was played in freezing temperatures. Oregon, OSU & WSU fans have suffered many a dissapointing season so to see any one of these teams atop the standings is always a joy to me. Back in 1983, when I was freezing my tush off, I never thought I would live to see the day when Oregon would be one of the elite football programs in the nation. I am always damn proud to be a Duck fan, win or lose. My Congratulations to Mike Belotti & his staff for a fabulous game plan and to the players for their perfect execution. My kudos also go out to Mike Price and the Cougs for their excellent season and thir win againt Purdue. Go Ducks Go, Fight Ducks Fight, Win Ducks Win...Mighty "O" all the way!!!

All props to Oregon. God knows they should be in Pasadena. However, I really disagree that the Pac-Ten is a 'power-house' of any kind this year. Yes, Washington St. beat Purdue (6-6), but then, so did everyone else... Notre Dame, Indiana (need I say more?) I can admit that this was an off season for the Big Ten. With the exception of the Ducks, I would say the same for our friends in the Pacific.

Despite the poor overall Pac-10 bowl performance, Oregon's demolition of Colorado coupled with a Nebraska upset of Miami renders all second-guessing of the Pac-10 moot.
A Duck title would more than eliminate all concerns of the Pac-10's validity.

Well, a Big East team won the National Championship, and finished the season the undisputed No. 1 team in college gridiron.

But despite the fact that the Big East ended up with four teams ranked in the Top 25, I still can't help but feel the Big East gets a bit more attention due to the branding efforts of the individual schools' athletic departments and the conference's lucrative endorsement and broadcast deals...

I hope Syracuse certainly has a better season next year against non-conference opponents, and that VA Tech and Boston College can improve their conference and non-conference records, as well.

Ditto for the PAC-10. Oregon's success this year will bode well for the entire conference, and what will help even more is if UCLA and USC both have competitive and successful seasons...

Big East 4-1 with National Champion Miami

Pac 10 2-3 with Runnerup Oregon

Whether it proves anything at least it temporarily dispels the myth that the Big East sucks as a football conference and their schedules are so weak. I heard way too much bluster about how great the Pac 10 was this year and how 4 teams were ranked in the top 15. Well as it turns out UCLA was a total fraud. Washington turned out to be more bark than bite and Stanford was not ready for prime time. Oregon St was a total bust and a one hit wonder. Only surprising Washington St other than Oregon was able to do some damage. I will give props to Oregon. They played a great game against Colorado. That being said though Miami is the undisputed national champion hands down and Oregon should have no gripes because of that 49-42 loss to Stanford.

Ok guys. It's bad enough that enough NCAA fans are upset about the BCS. The BCS (in my honest humble opinion) helped the schools with the HUGE powerhouse teams. Hell, if you really want to bitch at a conference, check out the Big 12 - they get the most coverage, the biggest players (with exception of Miami who was SUPER FAST last night at the Rose Bowl), etc. The big powerhouses like the SEC and the Big 12 always get the most attention.

Yes, Oregon got snubbed (even though they lost to Stanford by 7 points). Washington State could have deserved more (they beat Stanford by 4). But look at it this way: only 1 Big East Team and 1 Pac-10 team made it to the Top 10 - that's it. The rest were taken up by SEC and Big 12 names.

Personally, out of sheer tradition, I'd like to have the Rose Bowl back to the champions of the Pac-10 and Big-10 conferences. Out of sheer tradition. I personally don't like non-conference teams playing out here. I couldn't really participate or rally for either team participating in the Rose Bowl this year.

It's all about $$$$$ and which schools have it in their athletic departments. It's not even about the sport anymore.

[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Beachbum ]