Pac-10 vs. SEC leans toward the West Coast

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UCLA's Datone Jones makes a hit on Montario Hardesty of Tennessee in the most recent Pac-10 win over an SEC team. (Icon SMI)

 

By Anthony Gimino
 
The SEC and Pac-10 have met in football 19 times this decade, with the Pac-10 holding an 11-8 advantage.
 
Which sounds good for us who happen to be West Coast honks.
 
This isn't to argue that the Pac-10 is a better overall football conference. The SEC has more tradition, bigger stadiums, crazier fans, pays its coaches more — heck, it probably even pays its players more — and turns out the highest rate of NFL draftees.
 
But 11-8 is 11-8, so the Pac-10 has something to crow about.
 
What we will argue is that 11-8 shows the Pac-10 is vastly underrated.
 
You have to look beyond the 11-8 record, which doesn't tell you all that much until you look at the individual matchups. Consider: The record would be 19-0 for the Pac-10 if it were USC vs. Vanderbilt all those times. And it would be 19-0 for the SEC if it was, say, LSU vs. the John Mackovic-era Arizona teams.
 
So, which conference has done better relative to the matchups?
 
It's still the Pac-10 ... by an even greater margin.
 
The guys who set the betting lines try to get equal action on each side of the line and probably have been factoring in fans' biases — SEC good, Pac-10 bad — when coming up with a point spread. The Pac-10 has responded with a 12-6-1 record against the spread vs. the SEC, further fueling the notion that the SEC is overvalued and the Pac-10 underrated.
 
We bring this up now because the conferences will meet again Saturday when Arizona State plays at No. 21 Georgia on Saturday.
 
“I do believe the Pac-10 plays a legitimate brand of football,” said UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel. “And having coached in the NFL, I know that Pac-10 players show very well at that level. I think our conference is a little underrated.”
 
And misunderstood.
 
The Pac-10 — known as the Conference of Quarterbacks — isn't a pass-first, no-defense league. In fact, the offenses tend to be conservative, pro-style attacks, falling behind the progressive offenses found in the Big 12, for example. Moreover, the Pac-10 might have the best collection of running backs — Cal's Jahvid Best, Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers, Stanford's Tony Gerhart, Arizona's Nic Grigsby, whoever USC trots out there — in the country.
 
“Our history has kind of been basketball on grass and all the great quarterbacks and stuff,” said Oregon State's Mike Riley.
 
“I actually think a couple of things have changed. I think the defenses are better and physical and athletic, and the running game for a lot of teams is better than ever. We have become different than our history. There is still a perception out there about the Pac-10 that isn't real anymore.”
 
What is real is the Pac-10's success this decade against the SEC.

 
*The Pac-10 was favored to win only seven of the 19 matchups. It won 11.
 
*Three times, the Pac-10 pulled off an upset when being an underdog of at least a touchdown — UCLA over Alabama in 2000, and UCLA over Tennessee in each of the past two seasons.
 
*The Pac-10 has been favored by at least a touchdown four times — and never faltered, winning them all.
 
Just something to keep in mind for this week's ASU-Georgia game.
 
 
Year     Matchup                                                  Result                      Line
2000    No. 3 Alabama at UCLA                      UCLA, 35-24           Alabama by 7
 
2001    No. 17 UCLA at No. 25 Alabama       UCLA, 20-17           Alabama by 2
 
2002    Auburn at No. 19 USC                          USC, 24-17             USC by 7
            Mississippi State at No. 15 Oregon    Oregon, 36-13        Oregon by 13
 
2003    No. 13 LSU at Arizona                           LSU, 59-13              LSU by 11
            No. 8 USC at No. 6 Auburn                   USC, 23-0                Auburn by 3
            Oregon at Mississippi State                 Oregon, 42-34         Oregon by 3    
 
2004    Oregon State at No. 4 LSU                  LSU, 22-21, OT        LSU by 18
 
2005    No. 5 LSU at No. 15 Arizona State      LSU, 35-31               ASU by 1
            Arkansas at No. 1 USC                          USC 70-17               USC by 30
 
2006    Arizona at No. 8 LSU                              LSU, 45-3                   LSU by 15
            No. 9 Cal at No. 23 Tennessee            Tennessee, 35-18    Cal by 2
            No. 6 USC at Arkansas                           USC, 50-14                USC by 7
            Washington State at No. 4 Auburn        Auburn, 40-14           Auburn by 14
 
2007    No. 15 Tennessee at No. 12 Cal         Cal, 45-31                  Cal by 6
 
2008    No. 18 Tennessee at UCLA                  UCLA, 27-24 (OT)     Tennessee by 7.5
 
2009    No. 11 LSU at Washington                    LSU, 31-23                 LSU by 17.5
            UCLA at Tennessee                                UCLA, 19-15               Tennessee by 8