No bias, just struggles
Kyle at Dawg Sports has been arguing, quite convincingly I might add, for the past few days that there is no 'East Coast Bias' against teams from the Pac-10. In one of his most recent posts, he offers some concessions and suggest the Pac-10 has improved its overall quality as a conference in the past seasons with the evidence being (aside from Southern California's freakish dominance the past few years)
that Pac-10 schools have begun to pick up some key wins over non-conference foes.
I argued this line of reasoning was a tad misleading, and I still think so.
Arizona State, for instance, was a bowl team last year, and the Sun Devils posted non-conference victories over Temple (63-16) and Northwestern (52-21), though those wins came over schools who went 0-11 and 7-5 respectively. Arizona State lost to a LSU team early in the season, as well as to Rutgers 45-40 in the Insight Bowl.
To be sure, the Sun Devils did beat Iowa in 2004, as well as Purdue in the Sun Bowl that same season. However, Arizona State was handily defeated in key non-conference matchups with Hawkeyes in 2003 and with Nebraska in 2002.
Oregon went 3-0 in the regular season in non-conference play in 2005, though its most impressive win was over Fresno State. The Ducks, however, lost to an Oklahoma team suffering through a down season in the Holiday Bowl. In 2004, they opened the regular season 0-2 with losses to Indiana and Oklahoma.
Again, in the name of fairness, Oregon had its most impressive showing in 2003 where they defeated a No. 3 Michigan team.
UCLA breaks the trend last year with wins over Oklahoma - though, again, the Sooners were down last year and lacking Adrian Peterson for the matchup with the Bruins - and Northwestern in the Sun Bowl. UCLA has posted an impressive 15-6 record against non-conference foes the past five years with key wins over No. 25 Alabama and No. 21 Ohio State in 2001, but disappointing losses to No. 24 Colorado and No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003.
that Pac-10 schools have begun to pick up some key wins over non-conference foes.
I argued this line of reasoning was a tad misleading, and I still think so.
Arizona State, for instance, was a bowl team last year, and the Sun Devils posted non-conference victories over Temple (63-16) and Northwestern (52-21), though those wins came over schools who went 0-11 and 7-5 respectively. Arizona State lost to a LSU team early in the season, as well as to Rutgers 45-40 in the Insight Bowl.
To be sure, the Sun Devils did beat Iowa in 2004, as well as Purdue in the Sun Bowl that same season. However, Arizona State was handily defeated in key non-conference matchups with Hawkeyes in 2003 and with Nebraska in 2002.
Oregon went 3-0 in the regular season in non-conference play in 2005, though its most impressive win was over Fresno State. The Ducks, however, lost to an Oklahoma team suffering through a down season in the Holiday Bowl. In 2004, they opened the regular season 0-2 with losses to Indiana and Oklahoma.
Again, in the name of fairness, Oregon had its most impressive showing in 2003 where they defeated a No. 3 Michigan team.
UCLA breaks the trend last year with wins over Oklahoma - though, again, the Sooners were down last year and lacking Adrian Peterson for the matchup with the Bruins - and Northwestern in the Sun Bowl. UCLA has posted an impressive 15-6 record against non-conference foes the past five years with key wins over No. 25 Alabama and No. 21 Ohio State in 2001, but disappointing losses to No. 24 Colorado and No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003.
posted by Jmac at 7:09 AM
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