Big Ten vs. Pac-12 - which is the better conference?

[mnhusker]

Seemed like an easy call to me that the Big is the better conf top to bottom. I live in Oregon now and the wife is an Oregon State student and I just don't see the same quality of football top to bottom top to bottom in the Pac. Reading all of the better analysis here has not changed my thinking.

[walksalone]

Outside of Oregon and USC, who are their powerhouses?

Utah.

 

Stanford.

 

Stanfords only really been good past couple years. They've won 23 games in the past two years, in the 3 years before that they won 17.

[southernoregonhusker]

Why in the world would you ignore past history? That makes no sense.

 

Who do you think has a better chance of winning a national championship in the next five years, Nebraska or Iowa State? Nebraska, clearly. Why? Because we've been there before, we have a huge fan base, better facilities, better overall infrastructure, etc. The machine that is Nebraska Football is far larger than Iowa State, and that's based on past history, not just the last few years of success.

 

Okay, I'll play. Nebraska in your scenario because they have the better team and will probably continue to have the better team. That said...

 

Who do you think has a better chance of winning a national championship in the next five years, Oregon or Nebraska? Nebraska has a much better history. So does Harvard and Notre Dame. The answer is Oregon. In fact, if UNL played UO head to head, who would win? I'd give 17 points and take Oregon if the game were in Lincoln. In Autzen? Pffft, 28 maybe.

 

As far as last year's poll, I think all three highly ranked Pac 12 teams were ranked higher than Wisconsin or would have been had USC been eligible.

 

The media darling thing is BS too. 1 in 4 televisions in this nation reside in Big 10 country. If anything, the Big 10 has been overrated for years and most Nebraska fans agreed with that statement prior to joining the Big 10.

 

What's sad is we Nebraska fans are sounding more and more like Notre Dame fans. The longer we stay mediocre by our standards, the more we will hold onto past accomplishments.

 

The Pac 12 is a much better baseball conference. Arizona won the College World Series this year. My Beavers won it back to back in '06 and '07. UCLA, USC and ASU have won it also.

 

Academics is an interesting topic, Bucky. One of the reasons the Big 10 and Pac 12 have stuck with each other is because they respect each other's academic institutions. You say the Big 10 is better. I think Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Washington and USC speak for themselves.

[southernoregonhusker]

Ranking based on conference record. Didn't look up tie breakers but conference title game bid (win/lose) did help break some ties. BIG vs. PAC-12

 

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(#10) Illinois over (#4) UCLA 20-14

What does previously said inept Illinois do with a bowl berth? Beats defacto division winner UCLA, albeit with new coach.

 

(#1) Wisconsin over (#9) Oregon State 35-0

I won't say much, but a shutout? It is hard to compare one conferences bad team to a good one in another, but OSU put up 21 on Oregon and 38 on Washington.

 

 

 

In Oregon State's defense (my alma mater), they started a true freshman QB. I think he threw less picks than Taylor.

 

The defacto division champ finished 6-8. Obviously USC was the class of that division.

[southernoregonhusker]

I don't even see Oregon being THAT much better than the top Big 10 team, if at all. Oregon truly lost a lot of players. And Oregon is my #2 team. Lots of question marks.

 

I hate to say it, but they're going to be very good and very, very fast. Whichever QB emerges will be an improvement. Thomas left early because he knew he was going to get beat out. So goes the rumor. I think it may be true. James was a great back, but Barner and Thomas are scary. Alliotti loves the speed of the defense. I think they could be better than last year's team and the game at USC will be a doozy.

[Stumpy1]

Why in the world would you ignore past history? That makes no sense.

 

Who do you think has a better chance of winning a national championship in the next five years, Nebraska or Iowa State? Nebraska, clearly. Why? Because we've been there before, we have a huge fan base, better facilities, better overall infrastructure, etc. The machine that is Nebraska Football is far larger than Iowa State, and that's based on past history, not just the last few years of success.

 

Okay, I'll play. Nebraska in your scenario because they have the better team and will probably continue to have the better team. That said...

 

Who do you think has a better chance of winning a national championship in the next five years, Oregon or Nebraska? Nebraska has a much better history. So does Harvard and Notre Dame. The answer is Oregon. In fact, if UNL played UO head to head, who would win? I'd give 17 points and take Oregon if the game were in Lincoln. In Autzen? Pffft, 28 maybe.

 

As far as last year's poll, I think all three highly ranked Pac 12 teams were ranked higher than Wisconsin or would have been had USC been eligible.

 

The media darling thing is BS too. 1 in 4 televisions in this nation reside in Big 10 country. If anything, the Big 10 has been overrated for years and most Nebraska fans agreed with that statement prior to joining the Big 10.

 

What's sad is we Nebraska fans are sounding more and more like Notre Dame fans. The longer we stay mediocre by our standards, the more we will hold onto past accomplishments.

 

The Pac 12 is a much better baseball conference. Arizona won the College World Series this year. My Beavers won it back to back in '06 and '07. UCLA, USC and ASU have won it also.

 

Academics is an interesting topic, Bucky. One of the reasons the Big 10 and Pac 12 have stuck with each other is because they respect each other's academic institutions. You say the Big 10 is better. I think Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Washington and USC speak for themselves.

How can you say this is bs? Have you been on espn or any other sports sites lately? The media promotes the PAC10, mostly USC, more then they do any other confrence besides the SEC.

[Saunders]

I don't even see Oregon being THAT much better than the top Big 10 team, if at all. Oregon truly lost a lot of players. And Oregon is my #2 team. Lots of question marks.

 

I hate to say it, but they're going to be very good and very, very fast. Whichever QB emerges will be an improvement. Thomas left early because he knew he was going to get beat out. So goes the rumor. I think it may be true. James was a great back, but Barner and Thomas are scary. Alliotti loves the speed of the defense. I think they could be better than last year's team and the game at USC will be a doozy.

Pretty sure that's said at 1/4 of all schools every single year.

[Blackshirt96]

FY MIchigan St is 44-22, Wisconsin 48-18, Nebraska 44-23, Ohio St 50-16, Penn St 47-18. All of which were better then Stanfords 40-23. This is over the last 5 years.

[deedsker]

Ranking based on conference record. Didn't look up tie breakers but conference title game bid (win/lose) did help break some ties. BIG vs. PAC-12

 

(

(#10) Illinois over (#4) UCLA 20-14

What does previously said inept Illinois do with a bowl berth? Beats defacto division winner UCLA, albeit with new coach.

 

(#1) Wisconsin over (#9) Oregon State 35-0

I won't say much, but a shutout? It is hard to compare one conferences bad team to a good one in another, but OSU put up 21 on Oregon and 38 on Washington.

 

 

 

In Oregon State's defense (my alma mater), they started a true freshman QB. I think he threw less picks than Taylor.

 

The defacto division champ finished 6-8. Obviously USC was the class of that division.

 

If that is the point you are going to use to refute my post, obviously you didn't get it. Oregon St. means little to the argument; just a nice way of adding a little extra bit of info in retrospect.

 

I understand that UCLA gets in because of the USC suspension, but their conference record and place in the PAC-12 conference is still much higher than where Illinois stood. I was just trying to show you that the BIG is better conference as a whole, not just the top two.

[JJ Husker]

I'm having trouble even figuring out how a person can think this is even close. The B1G is hands down the better conference by virtually any rationale. The key word is "conference", not which conference may have had the most dominate team in a given year. Sure, USC or Oregon or Stanford may have been better than anyone in the Big 10 in most of the last 10 years but, that does not mean the PAC is a better conference top to bottom. It shouldn't take gobs of endless data to figure that out.