Please Relax, the Pac-10’s Bowl Record is no Big Deal

Since USC’s Rose Bowl victory about two weeks ago, most Pac-10 football fans have been pointing out that the conference’s undefeated bowl record indicates that the conference was better than most pundits believed it to be.

Sorry Tom Hansen. Sorry Pete Carroll. Sorry Mr. Pac-10 football fan. But to be brutally, honest that 5-0 postseason mark means very little at this point in time.

First off, I’ve always believed that the bowls are only part of the equation that determines the conference hierarchy, not the entire equation. A few wins in December and January should not overshadow the previous three months of regular-season results.

Does Arizona’s victory over Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl offset the Mountain West Conference’s dominating performances against the Pac-10 in the regular season? Not in my opinion. Arizona’s victory merely improves the Pac-10’s record against the MWC to 2-6. It’s still well under .500.

But even if you do put a lot of stock into the college football postseason, than I encourage to take a closer look at the 5-0 record..

Unlike other conferences such as the Big Ten, which plays three SEC teams in its bowl games, the Pac-10 is in an advantageous position during the postseason due to its second-rate bowl arrangements. The Pac-10 has only one January bowl game, the Rose Bowl, and three of its seven bowls have either an opponent from the Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference, two non-BCS conferences. As a result of such favorable matchups, the conference was favored in four of its five bowl games.

In the Holiday Bowl, fifteenth ranked Oregon, who was a slight underdog, beat thirteenth ranked Oklahoma State. However, it was a clash of the Pac-10’s second ranked team against the Big 12’s fourth ranked team, and said little about the strength of the Pac-10 relative to the Big 12. It would have been far more interesting to see Oregon face the Big 12’s number two team, the Texas Longhorns.

In the Emerald Bowl, Cal, which was the Pac-10’s fourth ranked team, beat Miami, which, was the ACC’s sixth or seventh best team. The Bears, who were obviously favored, should have won handily, but they escaped with a narrow seven point victory.

USC’s Rose Bowl victory over Penn State only illustrates the fact that the Big Ten is an average conference in the world of college football. The outcome says nothing about the Pac-10 relative strength in comparison to either the Big 12 or the SEC.

The only significant Pac-10 bowl result, was Oregon State’s victory over Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl. In that matchup, the Pac-10’s number three team beat the Big East’s second ranked team. It was the only bowl matchup outside of the Rose Bowl, in which a Pac-10 team beat a comparable foe from a BCS conference. However, in this case, that foe was from the Big East, not the SEC or Big 12.

Looking back, it’s clear that the Pac-10’s perfect bowl record was made possible due to the conference’s second rate matchups. In no instance did a Pac-10 team defeat a comparable foe from either the Big 12, the SEC, or even the ACC. So before you go gloating about the Pac-10’s bowl performances, keep in mind that this was made possible by some awful bowl partnerships thanks to commissioner Tom Hansen.