Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (5/11)

Pac 10
Established 1959
10 Teams
4 States
Longest Distance Between Schools: 1219 Miles (Arizona and Washington)

Arizona
Arizona State
California
Oregon
Oregon State
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Washington
Washington State

The Pac-10 runs smoothly as a whole thanks in part to fair scheduling, good competition, plenty of in-state rivalries, and passionate fans. In the Pac-10, each team plays each other every year, so no team can benefit from playing a soft in-conference schedule. Though an out-of-conference game is sacrificed for an extra in-conference game (9 instead of 8), playing each team within the conference is the fairest way to determine a conference champion. There is not really any need to push for adding a conference championship game (since the NCAA only allows conferences with 12 or more teams to have a conference championship game) aside from the fact that teams that play in the last week of the season seem to be disproportionally rewarded in the minds of the voters. Although the conference may be a little down right now competition and depth wise, USC is always a national powerhouse, Oregon and Arizona State were ranked in the top 5 two years ago, Arizona is rapidly improving, and Oregon State surprised everyone last year by shaking up the entire BCS after defeating USC. The Washington schools are the only ones really hurting the reputation of the conference, combining for a 2-23 record last year (with one of those wins coming when Washington State defeated Washington and the other when Washington State defeated Division I-AA opponent Portland State). Although the teams in the Pac-10 are spread out, each school has one big in-state rival closeby, allowing fans the easy opportunity to travel to at least one away game every two years. The in-state rivalries are among the best in the country and always give the fans something to look forward to, no matter their team's record. The Arizona schools play in the Territorial Cup (first played in 1899), the Oregon schools in the Civil War (1899), the Washington schools in the Apple Cup (1900), USC and UCLA in the Victory Bell (1929), and Cal and Stanford in the Big Game (1892). -J.S.

Solution: To help improve competition, give some of USC's recruits to the state of Washington? Other than that, leave the Pac-10 alone