California, the Pac-10's Last Hope Against the...Mountain West Conference?

Not exactly. Oregon State gets to travel to Salt Lake City to play Utah on a Thursday night affair in a couple of weeks.

But I don't expect the Beavers to win that. The Utes look pretty good. So, California might be the last team in the good ol' Pac-10 that can earn a victory over, uh, the Mountain West Conference, when it hosts Colorado State this weekend in Berkeley.

Much of the talk the last couple of weeks is how good the Mountain West really is. The MWC, with its schools former members of the Western Athletic Conference (yeah, remember that huge thing in the 1990s?), has three ranked teams in the top 25 this week, one team ranked in the top 12 and owns a 5-0 record against the Conference of Champions (yes, the Pac-10 has the most national championships, of any conference, by far).

Pretty good credentials, no? I do admit, that over the last couple of weeks, I've ranked the Mountain West very high in my conference power rankings, ahead of four of the six BCS conferences.

But is the Mountain West better than the Pac-10? I wouldn't go that far.

And so, this takes me to a column ran in the Daily Cal today, that also suggests that the MWC isn't as good as the Pacific 10. Which has gotten into the inner circles of the Rams most ardent fans, as ramsnation.com has gone crazy, well not too crazy, over Andrew Kim's assertion that the Mountain West is still the Mountain West.

I admit it. The MWC is a pretty good conference...this year. In fact, I truly believe that it's better than the Big East--but only for this year.

But it isn't better than the Pac-10, despite previous reports.

Most of those berating Andrew Kim's column point to those three teams ranked in the top 25. They point to the fact that Southern California is the only team that is ranked in the Pac-10. They point out the 5-0 record against Pac-10 foes.

But who did those Mountain West Conference teams beat? Other than what I always knew was an overrated Arizona State, none of the teams that the MWC has beat-up on was expected to compete in upper echelon of the Pac-10.

Sure, UCLA upset Tennessee, but the Vols aren't the Vols of old. And the Bruins aren't the Bruins of old.

MWC top-dog barely escaped Seattle with a one-point win over Washington (when the game should have gone into overtime).

Stanford and Arizona? Please, they'll both finish in the bottom half.

And who have the top three teams in the Mountain West played so far that gives us any indication that those squads are any good?

BYU? Wins over the aforementioned Huskies and Bruins, D-I AA Northern Iowa and lowly Wyoming.

Utah? The two-years away from being a power again Michigan, conference foes UNLV and Air Force and pseudo-state rival and officially the worst team in the Division I-A football, Utah State.

TCU? New Mexico, Stephen F. Austin, the Cardinal and Southern Methodist.

Any of those teams in the top 25? The top 35? Top 50?

Yes, on the merit of three 4-0 teams, the Mountain West is better, right now, this week in college football.

But to say that the entire depth of the Mountain West makes it a better conference than the Pac-10, that's just crazy. Just because the three best teams are ranked doesn't mean that the rest of the conference is automatically better.

This isn't economics. There's no need for the Ronald Reagan tickle-down effect theory when it comes to the talent of a single football conference. And if that were the case, then wouldn't the Pac-10 be the best conference, because the Trojans are the best team in all the land?

That brings us to this week and the showdown for conference bragging rights (?!) when Cal hosts Colorado State. Because the teams that have been slayed by the Mountain West are not teams that you would think would rule the Pac-10, this is the only shot that the MWC has against a team of any merit in the Pac-10.

So, MWC die-hards are salivating at the prospects of the Rams beating California on the road.

But, can you really say that Colorado State has any chance of doing that Saturday?

CSU lost to in-state rival Colorado. CSU beat D-IAA Sacramento State by three points. Sure it beat up on Houston, but it's Houston. It wasn't like they were thrashing Washington or Stanford.

Why the Mountain West is collectively clinging and vicariously living for this game is because of an inferiority complex that the mid-major conferences have always had since the beginning of time.

The BCS conferences have the tradition, the talent, the money to compete at the highest level and all the attention. The mid-majors have been trying to beat that and gain that for decades.

It won't happen in one season. And it won't happen on Saturday.

Conference Power Rankings: Week 4

East Carolina, kiss your BCS dreams goodbye. How did the Pirates beat Virginia Tech and West Virginia earlier in the year? Well, ECU was at home. But lose to N.C. State? Really? Really?!

The Pirates definitely don't belong in the BCS--at least not this year. But if Skip Holtz sticks around, then ECU will be crashing the party soon. Very soon.

The Pac-10 isn't a sorry conference. It's just the conference where USC plays.

Speaking of the Mountaineers, they are done. And I'm sure Ohio State was thankful to play Troy at the Horseshoe after being embarrassed by the USC Trojans last week.

And don't we all love SEC football?

Week 4 Standings:	Record	Winning Pct.
1) ACC	6-0	1.000
2) WAC	4-1	.800
3-t) Big Ten	6-2	.750
3-t) MWC	3-1	.750
4) SEC	2-1	.667
6) Big East	5-3	.625
7) Big 12	5-4	.556
8) Pac-10	2-2	.500
9) C-USA	4-6	.400
10) MAC	4-9	.307
11) Sun Belt	1-4	.200

Season Standings	Record	Winning Pct.
1) SEC	25-4	.862
2) MWC	19-4	.818
3) Big Ten	31-7	.816
4) Big 12	31-8	.795
5) ACC	22-9	.709
6) Big East	14-13	.518
7-t) Pac-10	12-12	.500
7-t) WAC	13-13	.500
9) C-USA	13-18	.419
10) MAC	15-25	.375
11) Sun Belt	7-15	.318

Power Rankings

1) SEC Last Week No. 1

• Key Wins: No. 3 Georgia over Arizona State
• Key Losses: Georgia Tech over Mississippi State
  

2) Big 12 Last Week No. 2

• Key Wins: Colorado over No. 21 West Virginia, No. 7 Texas over Rice
• Key Losses: Louisville over Kansas State, UConn over Baylor, Miami over Texas A&M, UNLV over Iowa State

3) Mountain West Last Week No. 3

• Key Wins: UNLV over Iowa State, TCU over Southern Methodist, Colorado State over Houston
• Key Losses: Tulsa over New Mexico

4) Big Ten Last Week No. 5

• Key Wins: Michigan State over Notre Dame
• Key Losses: Pitt over Iowa, Ball State over Indiana

5) Pac-10 Last Week No. 4

• Key Wins: Stanford over San Jose State
• Key Losses: No. 3 Georgia over Arizona State, Boise State over No. 17 Oregon

6) ACC Last Week No. 7

• Key Wins: N.C. State over No. 15 East Carolina, Georgia Tech over Mississippi State, Miami over Texas A&M
• Key Losses: none

7) Big East Last Week No. 6

• Key Wins: Louisville over Kansas State, UConn over Baylor, Pitt over Iowa
• Key Losses: Navy over Rutgers, Colorado over No. 21 West Virginia

8) WAC Last Week No. 9

• Key Wins: Boise State over No. 17 Oregon, New Mexico State over UTEP
• Key Losses: Stanford over San Jose State

9) Conference USA Last Week No. 8

• Key Wins: Tulane over UL Monroe
• Key Losses: N.C. State over No. 15 East Carolina, Boston College over Central Florida, No. 7 Texas over Rice

10) MAC Last Week No. 10

• Key Wins: Ball State over Indiana, Akron over Army
• Key Losses: No. 5 Mizzou over Buffalo, Maryland over Eastern Michigan, No. 16 Penn State over Temple, UL Lafayette over Kent State

11) Sun Belt Last Week No. 11

• Key Wins: UL Lafayette over Kent State
• Key Losses: No. 12 South Florida over FIU, No. 13 Ohio State over Troy
  

Conference Power Rankings Week 3

Southern California reigned supreme, there were upsets and almost upsets. How about Mizzou? They look dangerous right now. And BYU, well maybe it was just a little motivated after how it won last week.

But still, the conference to beat right now is the SEC. And it does help that they've been playing these cupcakes the last few weeks, save, of course, of a few top matchups (like Bama beating Clemson and Florida surviving against Miami). And now, with Arizona State's loss to UNLV, Georgia's trip out west looks a tad easier. Just a tad.

While the SEC still sorts itself out, its the Trojans that have the straightest line and clearest road to the national championship. Every team left on USC's schedule is just a mere speed bump to Miami, especially if the Pac-10 keeps playing like it did Saturday.

Week 3 Standings:	Record	Winning Pct.
1) SEC	6-0	1.000
2) MWC	7-1	.875
3) Big Ten	7-2	.778
4-t) Big 12	6-2	.750
4-t) MAC	3-1	.750
6) ACC	3-2	.600
7) Big East	2-2	.500
8) C-USA	2-3	.400
9) Pac-10	3-7	.300
10) Sun Belt	2-5	.286
11) WAC	2-6	.250

Season Standings	Record	Winning Pct.
1) SEC	23-3	.887
2) Big 12	26-4	.867
3) MWC	16-3	.842
4) Big Ten	25-5	.833
5) ACC	16-9	.640
6) Pac-10	10-10	.500
7) Big East	9-10	.474
8-t) C-USA	9-12	.429
8-t) WAC	9-12	.429
10) MAC	11-16	.407
11) Sun Belt	6-11	.353

Powers Rankings:

1) SEC Last Week No. 1

• Key Wins: none
• Key Losses: none

2) Big 12 Last Week No. 2

• Key Wins: No. 6 Mizzou over Nevada, Baylor over Wazzu, No. 3 Oklahoma over Washington
• Key Losses: Iowa over Iowa State, No. 19 South Florida over No. 13 Kansas

3) Mountain West Last Week No. 6

• Key Wins: TCU over Stanford, No. 18 BYU over UCLA, No. 22 Utah over Utah State, New Mexico over Arizona, UNLV over No. 15 Arizona State
• Key Losses: San Jose State over San Diego State

4) Pac-10 Last Week No. 3

• Key Wins: No. 16 Oregon over Purdue, Oregon State over Hawaii, No. 1 USC over No. 5 Ohio State
• Key Losses: TCU over Stanford, No. 18 BYU over UCLA, New Mexico over Arizona, UNLV over No. 15 Arizona State, Maryland over No. 23 California, Baylor over Wazzu, No. 3 Oklahoma over Washington
  

5) Big Ten Last Week No. 5

• Key Wins: No. 17 Penn State over Syracuse, No. 10 Wisconsin over No. 21 Fresno State, No. 24 Illinois over UL Lafayette
• Key Losses: No. 16 Oregon over Purdue, No. 1 USC over No. 5 Ohio State, Notre Dame over Michigan

6) Big East Last Week No. 8

• Key Wins: No. 19 South Florida over No. 13 Kansas, UConn over Virginia
  
• Key Losses: North Carolina over Rutgers

7) ACC Lass Week No. 7

• Key Wins: Maryland over No. 23 California, Duke over Navy
• Key Losses: UConn over Virginia

8) Conference USA Last Week No. 4

• Key Wins: Southern Miss over Arkansas State
• Key Losses: Air Force over Houston, Tennessee over UAB, Vanderbilt over Rice, No. 12 Texas Tech over SMU

9) WAC Last Week No. 9

• Key Wins: Boise State over Bowling Green, San Jose State over San Diego State
• Key Losses: No. 10 Wisconsin over No. 21 Fresno State

10) MAC Last Week No. 11

• Key Wins: Western Michigan over Idaho
• Key Losses: Boise State over Bowling Green

11) Sun Belt Last Week No. 10

• Key Wins: Troy over Alcorn State, UL Monroe over Alabama A&M
• Key Losses: No. 24 Illinois over UL Lafayette, Kentucky over Middle Tennessee State, Southern Miss over Arkansas State
  

Conference Power Rankings Week 2

Well, it was probably the most boring weekend of the college football season, at least on paper, and especially after week 1.

No ranked teams, in either the coaches or the AP poll, played each other this week. Congrats to the Big Ten for going undefeated in week 2--the best opponent the conference played was Oregon State, and even that isn't saying much because it was in Happy Valley. Good job Big Ten in scheduling those powder puffs.

There were some shockers, most notably East Carolina taking down No. 8 West Virginia.

And how about that stupid excessive celebration rule that gave pretty much screwed Washington out of an overtime game? Can we change that please? It takes part of the reason why college football is so fun away from the game.

Week 2 Standings:

11-t) Big 12 12-0 1.000 Winning Pct.
1-t) Big Ten 11-0 1.000 Winning Pct.
3) SEC 7-1 .875 Winning Pct.
4) MWC 4-1 .800 Winning Pct.
5) ACC 6-3 .667 Winning Pct.
6) Big East .571 Winning Pct.
7-t) Pac-10 2-2 .500 Winning Pct.
7-t) Sun Belt 3-3 .500 Winning Pct.
9) WAC 2-4 .333 Winning Pct.
10) C-USA 3-7 .300 Winning Pct.
11) MAC 2-9 .222 Winning Pct.

Season Standings:

1) Big 12 20-2 .909
2) Big Ten 18-3 .857
3) MWC 9-2 .818
4) SEC 17-3 .800
5) Pac-10 7-3 .700
6) ACC 13-7 .650
7) WAC 7-6 .538
8) Big East 7-8 .467
9) C-USA 7-9 .437
10) Sun Belt 4-6 .400
11) MAC 8-15 .348

Power Rankings:

1) SEC Last Week No. 1

• Key Wins: No. 5 Florida over Miami
• Key Losses: No. 20 Wake Forest over Ole Miss

2) Big 12 Last Week No. 3

• Key Wins: No.4 Oklahoma over Cincinnati, No. 14 Kansas over Louisiana Tech
• Key Losses: None

3) Pac-10 Last Week No. 2

• Key Wins: none
• Key Losses: No. 15 BYU over Washington, No. 19 Penn State over Oregon State

4) Conference USA Last Week No. 5

• Key Wins: East Carolina over No. 8 West Virginia
• Key Losses: No. 17 South Florida over Central Florida, No. 9 Auburn over Southern Miss, No. 13 Alabama over Tulane

5) Big Ten Last Week No. 4

• Key Wins: No. 19 Penn State over Oregon State
  
• Key Losses: none

6) Mountain West Last Week No. 6

• Key Wins: No. 15 BYU over Washington
• Key Losses: Notre Dame over San Diego State, Texas A&M over New Mexico

7) ACC Last Week No. 7

• Key Wins: No. 20 Wake Forest over Ole Miss
• Key Losses: No. 5 Florida over Miami, Mid Tenn. State over Maryland, Northwestern over Duke

8) Big East Last Week No. 9

• Key Wins: UConn over Temple, No.17 South Florida over Central Florida
• Key Lesses: East Carolina over No. 8 West Virginia, No. 4 Oklahoma over Cincinnati, Akron over Syracuse

9) WAC Last Week No. 8

• Key Wins: none
• Key Losses: Nebraska over San Jose State, Kansas over Louisiana Tech

10) Sun Belt Last Week No. 11

• Key Wins: Mid. Tenn State over Maryland, FAU over UAB
• Key Losses: Arkansas over UL Monroe

11) MAC Last Week No. 10

• Key Wins: Ball State over Navy, Akron over Syracuse
• Key Losses: No. 2 Georgia over Central Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State over Ohio
  

Conference Power Rankings/Standings After Week 1

Week 1 of the college football season is in the books and oh what a week it was.

We had bowl-like atmospheres in Atlanta and St. Louis. We had upsets. We had the rekindling of a dynasty. We had a Division I-AA champion reminded of its place in the pecking order. And what an ending. I would not have guessed that the Baby Bears of UCLA would upset No. 18 Tennessee. By the way, it's the Big East, not the ACC, that's the laughing stock of the BCS conferences after week 1.

Each week during the non-conference slate of games, I'm going to be giving you the standings of where each Division I-A conference lands, and then give you my power rankings. Note, the games that count are only ones that are played out of conference. In-conference fixtures don't count in the standings or the power rankings.

The Standings:

1-t) SEC 10-2 .833 Winning Pct.
1-t) Pac-10 5-1 .833 Winning Pct.
1-t) Mountain West 5-1 .833 Winning Pct.
4) Big 12 8-2 .800 Winning Pct.
5) WAC 5-2 .714 Winning Pct.
6) Big Ten 7-3 .700 Winning Pct.
7) C-USA 4-2 .667 Winning Pct.
8) ACC 7-4 .636 Winning Pct.
9) MAC 6-6 .500 Winning Pct.
10) Big East 3-5 .375 Winning Pct.
11) Sun Belt 1-5 .167 Winning Pct.

Power Rankings:

1) SEC

• Key Wins: No. 24 Alabama over No. 9 Clemson, Kentucky over Louisville
• Key Losses: Louisiana Tech over Mississippi State, UCLA over No. 18 Tennessee

2) Pac-10

• Key Wins: No. 3 USC over Virginia, California over Michigan State, No. 18 UCLA over Tennessee
  
• Key Losses: Oklahoma State over Wazzu

3) Big 12

• Key Wins: No. 6 Mizzou over No. 20 Illinois, Colorado over Colorado State, Oklahoma State over Wazzu,
  
• Key Losses: Arkansas State over Texas A&M

4) Big Ten

• Key Wins: Northwestern over Syracuse
• Key Losses: Utah over Michigan, California over Michigan State, No. 6 Mizzou over No. 20 Illinois

5) Conference USA

• Key Wins: East Carolina over No. 17 Virginia Tech
• Key Losses: Buffalo over UTEP, Ole miss over Memphis
  

6) Mountain West

• Key Wins: Utah over Michigan, Wyoming over Ohio, UNLV over Utah State
• Key Losses: Cal Poly over SDSU, Colorado over Colorado State

7) ACC

• Key Wins: No. 23 Wake Forest over Baylor
• Key Losses: South Carolina over N.C. State, East Carolina over No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 24 Alabama over No. 9 Clemson

8) WAC

• Key Wins: Fresno State over Rutgers, Louisiana Tech over Mississippi State
• Key Losses: No. 5 Florida over Hawaii, Arizona over Idaho, UNLV over Utah State

9) Big East

• Key Wins: none
• Key Losses: Fresno State over Rutgers, Kentucky over Louisville, Northwestern over Syracuse, Bowling Green over No. 25 Pitt

10) MAC

• Key Wins: Bowling Green over No. 25 Pitt, Buffalo over UTEP
  
• Key Losses: No. 13 Wisconsin over Akron, Wyoming over Ohio, Minnesota over Northern Illinois, Nebraska over Western Michigan, Boston College over Kent State

11) Sun Belt

• Key Wins: Arkansas State over Texas A&M
• Key Losses: No. 10 Auburn over UL-Monroe, No. 11 Texas over FAU, No. 14 Kansas over FIU, Kansas State over North Texas