Roundtable: Pac-12 Needs Wins in Order to Gain Respect from the SEC

I sat down with Kyle Kensing of SaturdayBlitz.com, Tony Orlando of BamaHammer.com, and Trenise Ferreira of ReignofTroy.com to get a circular discussion on the Pac-12 and the SEC. Here’s the second part of our roundtable, pertaining to the Pac-12’s respectability from the SEC.

Kyle: The Pac will have to produce a champion, as well as a collection of 3-4 teams that can win big games on the national stage. Every year the SEC has a team that plays for the national champion, but then the next teams down the ladder beat great teams. The Pac had USC in the mid-2000s, but the rest of the league was doing no favors in its non-conference and bowl games.

Tony: Simple. Beat a top-level SEC team. Unfortunately, with the SEC expanding, I think it’s even less likely now that non-conference games will be against marquee opponents. I’d love to see more cross-country games like those, and it’s a shame we don’t get more of it. But the argument itself makes the speculation fun.

Trenise: For USC to gain cred in the SEC (which USC should have already for the way USC destroys out of conference opponents, including Arkansas when they were good, and Auburn. Except for Texas, but according to the NCAA that game never happened!), USC would have to be given the opportunity to face an SEC opponent. Now, I won’t be crazy and say that hands down USC could beat LSU or Bama right now, but I will say that USC could no doubt give either of these teams a run for their money today. If USC were able to play either this season, I do believe that USC would put up a good fight, and that it could go either way. LSU’s offense doesn’t scare me even a little bit–I literally can only name Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee from that side of the ball–but their defense is on a whole nother planet. Same goes for Bama. Because neither team has ever had to face USC, their fanbases think that they could easily handle the Trojans, but I do not think that would be the case. If USC were to make a statement, it would be ideal for the game to take place at a neutral site, but let’s be real–the SEC would never allow their precious teams to play outside of their home stadiums, where the run the risk of being embarrassed by an “inferior” opponent. If there’s one thing we have learned from USC over the past 2 years, it’s that one should NEVER doubt what they are capable of.

Michael: This is easy, they have beat the SEC in a BCS Bowl Game, and do so rather handily. Utah beat Alabama a few years back, but I’d say that most people nationally attributed that to an unmotivated Alabama team rather than a Utah team beating around a stout SEC squad, which isn’t fair to the Utes. Had Oregon beaten LSU or Auburn, they’d have gained a tremendous amount of respect. The Pac-12 is on the rise, especially when you look the coaches in the conference, with Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach joining Arizona and Washington State. Things are looking up, and hopefully the Pac-12 gets another crack against the SEC and comes through.

…What do you think? Leave your opinion in the comment box below.

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