A popular topic of discussion among Pac-10 fans, among college football fans — is how their conference is doing against other conferences.
How about this: The Pac-10 is 11-8 against the SEC this decade.
(You know which team Pac-10 fans can thank? UCLA. That’s who. The gutty little Bruins swept home-and-home series this decade against the big, bad boys from Alabama and Tennessee.)
Anyway, this is relevant this week because Arizona State plays at No. 21 Georgia on Saturday, the final chance of the decade to see how the Pac-10 and the SEC compare.
Let’s look closer at that 11-8 record. By itself, that record doesn’t mean much.
I mean, if the Pac-10 had been favored by two touchdowns in every game, that would be a horrible record. So, let’s look at the point spreads.
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.
Furthermore …
*The Pac-10 has been favored to win only seven of the 19 matchups. It exceeded expectations by winning 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.
*On the flip side, the Pac-10 has been favored by at least a touchdown four times — and never faltered, winning each game.
This is not to say that the Pac-10 is a better football conference than the SEC. 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 the head-to-head record shows the Pac-10 has nothing to apologize for, and adds to the belief that the league is unfairly underrated.
Pac-10 vs. SEC
Year Matchup Result Line
2000 No. 3 Alabama at UCLA UCLA, 35-24 Alabama -7
2001 No. 17 UCLA at No. 25 Alabama UCLA, 20-17 Alabama -2
2002 Auburn at No. 19 USC USC, 24-17 USC -7
2002 Mississippi State at No. 15 Oregon Oregon, 36-13 Oregon -13
2003 No. 13 LSU at Arizona LSU, 59-13 LSU -11
2003 No. 8 USC at No. 6 Auburn USC, 23-0 Auburn -3
2003 Oregon at Mississippi State Oregon, 42-34 Oregon -3
2004 Oregon State at No. 4 LSU LSU, 22-21 (OT) LSU -18
2005 No. 5 LSU at No. 15 Arizona State LSU, 35-31 ASU -1
2005 Arkansas at No. 1 USC USC, 70-17 USC -30
2006 Arizona at No. 8 LSU LSU, 45-3 LSU -15
2006 No. 9 Cal at No. 23 Tennessee Tennessee, 35-18 Cal -2
2006 No. 6 USC at Arkansas USC, 50-14 USC -7
2006 Washington St. at No. 4 Auburn Auburn, 40-14 Auburn -14
2007 No. 15 Tennessee at No. 12 Cal Cal, 45-31 Cal -6
2008 No. 18 Tennessee at UCLA UCLA, 27-24 (OT) Tennessee -7.5
2008 No. 3 Georgia at Arizona State Georgia, 27-10 Georgia -7
2009 No. 11 LSU at Washington LSU, 31-23 LSU -17.5
2009 UCLA at Tennessee UCLA, 19-15 Tennessee -8
But what about the college football conference bowl record for the just passed 2008 - 2009 bowl season? Here it is:
Pac-10: 5-0
SEC: 6-2
Big 12: 4-3
Big East: 4-2
ACC: 2-6
Big Ten: 1-6
WAC: 1-4
Mountain West: 3-2
Sun Belt: 1-1
How about all-time head to head SEC vs Other Conferences in bowl games?
Here you go (historical affiliation):
SEC Wins vs. SEC Losses vs. Ties SEC Win %
ACC 31 13 0 .705
Big Ten 34 21 0 .618
Big 12 15 9 0 .625
Southwest 32 26 3 .549
Pac-10 7 7 1 .500
Big East 6 6 0 .500
Big 8 13 19 1 .409
WAC 5 3 0 .625
So, head-to-head, all-time Conference vs Conference CFB bowl games -- the SEC beats every conference but three. And, two of those (Pac-10 and Big East) the SEC Ties. The only conference the SEC has lost more bowl games than one against is the Big-8 which doesn't exist any more.
How about SEC vs Other Conferences in bowl match-ups -- using current conference affiliation?
Here you go:
SEC Wins vs. SEC Losses vs. Ties SEC Win %
ACC 43 27 2 .611
Big Ten 38 26 0 .594
Big 12 41 48 3 .462
Pac-10 9 8 2 .526
Big East 6 12 1 .342
WAC 1 0 0 1.000
Well, SEC haters -- you finally have some stats to back you up. Based on current conference affiliation, the Big 12 and Big East both beat the SEC in all-time head to head bowl game match-ups. interesting when you do look into the whole who's conference is better than who's, stats dont lie