Strength of Pac 10 vs other conference

It is interesting. The Pac 10 is the strongest conference this year, if you use RPI as the measure of conference strength.

That is, if you use what the NCAA uses to measure the relative strength of basketball conferences, the Pac 10 would be the strongest conference this year.

"How can that be? The Pac 10 sucks!" you say. Well, maybe not.

Let's look at this objectively. What did we do as a conference that made us suck? We lost to non BCS teams. Of course, almost all of those non BCS teams are in the top 25 this year. That is, two losses against BYU, one against TCU, one against Utah, one against Boise, and one against Fresno State. All of those schools, while not in top conferences, have been in the top 25, and are now in the top 30 or so.

Of course, we also lost to Penn State, Oklahoma and Georgia (top 10 team), Maryland, New Mexico and UNLV. Notre Dame as well, but I think we are going to even that out.

Now, how bad are these loses? Only three - Maryland, UNLV and New Mexico - could be considered bad. Maryland is somewhat erratic, and is 4-2, sniffing at the top 25 last week, until it's embarrassing loss to Virginia.

What are the Pac 10 wins? Well, Cal beat top 15 Michigan State. USC demolished whoever they played, including top 15 Ohio State. Oregon beat Purdue. The SEC decided not to play us this year - smart (well, except for the domination that UCLA put on Tenn). They feasted on Cupcakes and got fat over those. Same with the Big 12. They are ranked considerably further down the list. In fact, here is the conference strength by RPI:

1) Pac 10
2) Big 10
3) Big 12
4) ACC
5) Big East
6) SEC
7) Mtn West
8) Conf USA
9) WAC
10) MAC
11) Sun Belt

The RPI measures your strength of schedule by your wins, your opponent's wins, and your opponent's opponent's wins. So it is a fairly reliable indicator of your strength against your schedule.

It rewards conferences which play tougher schedules, like the Pac 10. In that scenario, it is a much more honest assessment of your capabilities vs a poll, which is what the BCS is based on.

Why does the Pac 10 look so good in the RPI version? It is because our weaker teams lost to some good teams. UCLA, Washington both lost to BYU (Washington should have won). Washington got taken to the woodshed by Oklahoma. Arizona State, which is turning out not to be so good, lost to Georgia. Oregon State lost to Penn State and Utah - a game they should have won.

Both Cal and Oregon lost to teams that they should have beaten - Oregon to Boise and Cal to Maryland. And USC lost to Oregon State, a team they should have beaten. But those are not terrible losses - they are the normal bumps and bruises of the 12 week playoff that is college football.

The Pac 10 is down this year, but not like everyone thinks. Come the bowl season, i believe that the rest of the country will see what it is all about. I mean - lets face it - we beat 75% of the Big 10 teams that we played. We beat 100% of the SEC teams we played.

Oh well. I guess all we have to do is win the rest of the way.

GO BEARS!!