Where Do We Go From Here? Part 2

No Pac-10 headlines this week. I feel I should give it a week off because there really was no buzz.

Sure, California redeemed the Pac-10 against the Mountain West by stomping on Colorado State, but other than Oregon State's upset of No. 1 USC, I saw who cares?

We'll care next week. Promise.

No more conference power rankings either. Why? Cause the rest of the year we're just going to see the mediocre conferences duke it out for spots 4-9. The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 are by far the better conference's in the country. The MWC is the best mid-major and the Pac-10 is leagues better than the ACC and Big East...combined.

So I'm not even going to bother with that.

But, who would have though nine top 25 teams were going to go down this weekend (three top 25 teams were going to lose, since there were three top 25 matchups)? How about four top 10 teams?

If you didn't think this was going to happen, then you're not living in the right century.

Many thought that last year was an anomaly, with so many upsets and so many teams ranked No. 2 going down throughout the year. It was crazy! It was a roller coaster. But it couldn't happen again, could it? Nah. The powerhouses were going to take control.

Ugh. Wrong.

The days where you can count on the perceived top 10 teams from steamrolling through their schedules are done.

Yes, teams can still go undefeated, but it will be and is harder and more unpredictable.

Parity (a four-letter word to some) is real. It lets teams like Vanderbilt be ranked in the top 20! It lets teams like Ole Miss beat No. 4 Florida. It lets teams like Oregon State own USC.

It's why teams in the mid-major conferences are able to beat teams in the BCS conferences and why teams like South Florida and Mizzou are in the top 10.

It's why the Mountain West was 5-0 against the Pac-10 before this week.

Parity. It's here. It's time for the "traditional" powerhouses to deal with it.

And, oh by the way, with all those losses by top teams, USC was able to stay in the top 10. I still would have voted them out of the top 25, but if the AP is going to put Oregon back in the top 25, I guess Southern California can stay.

But if I were voting, no Pac-10 teams would be ranked. At least for now.