Pac-10 standing tall

I've said that the Pac-10 is, right now, the conference to beat. With help from an online Cal fan, Bud Withers says that it's been this way for a while:

Using raw data from the Web site cfbdatawarehouse.com, he crunched numbers from 2000 to 2006, tracking how the six BCS conference teams and Notre Dame did in nonconference games against BCS-league opponents (on the basis of league alignment at the time of the game), including bowl games.

Notre Dame was the winner, going 41-30. But — surprise — the Pac-10 had the best record of the six BCS leagues, at 66-60, followed by the SEC's 68-65. The other four leagues had sub-.500 records.

True, it's only one small measure of competence, and not necessarily the ultimate test. A win against Duke gets you one point, just as a victory against Ohio State does. And it's questionable whether the statistic is any more relevant than performance in bowl games, where, for instance, the Pac-10 went 3-3 last season compared to the Big East's 5-0.

Still, consider it a little more kindling in the crackling debate that Miles stirred over the summer, when he said of USC, "They're going to play real knock-down, drag-outs with UCLA, Washington, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford — some real juggernauts — and end up in the title game."

With UW facing Ohio State and USC heading to Nebraska, this could be the biggest chance for the Pac-10 to prove to East Coasters that it, not the SEC, is the NCAA's premiere conference.