We’re just six weeks in, and the college football season is already beginning to look messier than the economy.
Three of the top five preseason teams are out of the top 10. Supposedly invincible teams like USC and Georgia have lost convincingly. On top of that, schools like Brigham Young and South Florida are climbing the rankings faster than a Sherpa on the juice.
And it’s barely October. This season is shaping up to be more of an upset-fest than, well, last year’s. And that says something.
But what has perhaps been the most surprising is the downfall of the Pac-10. The drop-off since just last season has been shocking as it has failed to hold its own against what were thought to be inferior opponents. Right now, the only thing the Pac-10 can beat is itself ““ which half the teams in the conference will do on Saturday. The conference has the depth of a tide pool and will be lucky to finish the season with more than two teams ranked in the top 25.
For starters, there’s really no way for the Pac-10 to come out of this weekend looking any worse than it already does. It had its chance to establish its legitimacy by beating teams like Boise State, Texas Christian, BYU and Maryland but flopped harder than Jack Johnson at a death-metal concert.
It’s all become a saddening situation for a conference that used to claim it was the best in the nation. Media darling USC signaled the end of Pac-10 respectability when they dropped a stunner in Corvallis, Ore., on Thursday.
They made the Beavers’ running attack look like the ’85 Chicago Bears, had a worse defensive scheme than whoever designed the Maginot Line and looked worse than Tony Siragusa in a two-piece.
For a team that was not only supposed to be class of the conference but also the best in the country, they sure did embarrass themselves. And all of a sudden, with that one game acting as the symbolic final straw, the Pac-10 looks as threatening as Miley Cyrus.
Now seemingly the “Pac-Who?,” as labeled by Southeastern Conference fans, is playing second fiddle to the Mountain West, Western Athletic and Big East conferences.
Correction, I’m mistaken. The Pac-10 is not playing second fiddle. It doesn’t even have a fiddle. That’s how bad it’s become.
But for those of you already looking ahead, this weekend probably won’t calm your fears of a no-show from the Pac-10 in Bowl Championship Series games. Its top two teams, Oregon and ‘SC, are playing each other, which bodes poorly for everyone. If Oregon wins, ‘SC will fall hard ““ the one team with a shred of national respect suddenly a mid-level team that can’t even win at home.
If ‘SC wins, then Oregon ““ currently holding the No. 23 spot in national rankings ““ will take heat for failing to win the big one, again. Besides, nobody likes it when the Trojans win.
There is a chance for the Pac-10 to make a little headway this weekend with Stanford facing Notre Dame and Oregon State travelling to Utah. Both Stanford and OSU will be underdogs, and it would be beneficial for them to connect on a couple of inter-conference games against resurgent programs.
But that’s just not going to cut it. You see, only six weeks into the season, it’s too little too late for the Pac-10. No matter how many more nonconference wins it can land, barring something crazy, the Pac-10 is down for the count this year.
E-mail Feder at jfeder@media.ucla.edu if your day was made by watching Pete Carroll squirm.