Suddenly there is great national hype surrounding Mark Sanchez. ESPN has him going in the first round, along with the Sam Bradfords and Graham Harrells of the world.

Why now? Throughout the season, Sanchez has been attacked as a poor decision maker with average accuracy.

Of course, the media also attacked the Pac-10 as a weak conference with a weak schedule.

However, the critics were right throughout the regular season. Mark Sanchez does not have the greatest accuracy–not yet at least. One more year of experience and practice would make Sanchez a much better quarterback, and a solid first round draft choice.

If Sanchez decides to enter the draft, he would not be making the smartest decision. Playing all year with a knee brace, Sanchez was not able to show America what he is capable of.

He took off the knee brace for the Rose Bowl and improved dramatically. If Sanchez can stay healthy (and at USC) next year, expect a spectacular season as he guides an offense that will have lost only one player.

Also, Sanchez is one year away from his college degree. Sure, he will be a professional football player making millions of dollars. Yet when a player such as Emmitt Smith goes back to school during his professional career to earn a degree, the importance of education becomes obvious to even the best of athletes–or at least it should.

With another year of experience, a near-guaranteed better statistical season, and a college degree, Mark Sanchez would greatly benefit from staying for his senior year.

And if that doesn’t lure him, maybe a potential championship bid will.

I’ll get an extensive post-Rose Bowl review up later when I’m off vacation, but here’s a few interesting facts to think about:

• Pac-10 is 5-0 in bowl games. Looks like USC didn’t have such an easy in-conference schedule after all
• USC is 21 for their last 22 in out of conference play with their win over Penn State – Another top Big 12 team is about to lose a bowl game (Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss). A supposed BCS championship contender losing to a middle of the pack SEC team, after Oklahoma State lost to Oregon. The Big 12 is looking much weaker than the pundits thought.
• Although the Pac-10 has gone undefeated, I will admit that the SEC has performed admirably so far. I expect Florida to win, so I put the fate of the SEC in Alabama’s hands. If Alabama can manage to win, I will claim them the best conference in the country.
• In case you didn’t notice, USC creamed another top 10 team in a bowl game. The score was at one point 31-7. Critics, give these guys the championship bid that you claim they deserve after every Rose Bowl, only to take that claim back the next season.

Miami almost pulled the upset over the Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears.

Jacory Harris avoided throwing more than one interception to Cal’s vaunted pass defense, but a late game fumble–forced by Golden Bear senior Zach Follet– cost him an Emerald Bowl victory.

Jahvid Best didn’t help the Hurricane’s cause either, rushing for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Best saved the Golden Bears with his effort, as Cal looked outplayed by Miami for most of the game.  Miami will improve defensively over the next few years with their young squad, but yesterday’s Emerald Bowl was not their time.

After Cal’s exciting win, the Pac-10 is 2-0 in this bowl game season. If you watched the game, you noticed Jahvid Best’s explosiveness and speed. If you followed USC, you will remember that Jahvid Best ran for less than 40 yards in a 17-3 domination of Cal-Berkeley. Arizona was competitive against USC, and this was perceived as a weak game for the Trojans.

But then Arizona beats a ranked BYU, and USC’s schedule is not looking as weak as people thought it was.

The most important game for the “USC was cheated” club (of which I’m a member) is this tuesday, when the Pac-10 plays its first big conference matchup. Oregon plays Oklahoma State in what will become a very high scoring Holiday Bowl.

USC held Oregon’s strong offense in a 44-10 blowout early in the season. If Oregon beats Oklahoma State, look for rumblings from Los Angeles that their team was cheated from the BCS Championship once again.

Conference strength is nothing more than a false measuring stick. The best way to measure a team is by their out of conference schedule. The SEC has no tough out of conference schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I read on ESPN.com that Trojan offensive guard Jeff Byers—although a senior already—will have not a fifth, but a sixth year of eligibility. This is great news for the USC offense. Byers has been a stalwart on the line all year, and is an examplary student as well as athlete. Coaches praise his work ethic; he was a walk on who earned his way to a starting position. Not only does he grind it out on the practice field, but he (to borrow a Ben Stiller quote) likes to break a mental sweat as well. With a 3.27 GPA and already having earned his B.A. in Business Administration, Byers is currently working towards his masters degree. He is also a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior Class award, which recognizes all-around excellence in Senior athletes.

This offseason, Byers plans to gain 15 points and reach 305. With his athleticism and experience, Byers will surely be a major anchor in next year’s line. He was one of two offensive starters expected to leave after the Rose Bowl (along with Patrick Turner). Now, the O-line returns all its starters, and the offense only loses one wide receiver. With a year of starting experience under Mark Sanchez’s belt, and an O-line with plenty of chemistry, who knows what next year’s Trojans can accomplish?

So, after all the ranting I’ve heard about the BCS being inefficient, and my own ranting (on bleacherreport.com) that the Pac-10 is better than it looks, I decided to put myself to the test.

Throughout the season, I have argued that it was the Pac-10’s difficult non-conference schedule that made them seem weak. By splitting the number of games that they have won, the Pac-1o made themselves look worse than the incestuous SEC. The Big 12 I give some respect to. They played a few tough games outside of their conference. The SEC, however, continues to ride their reputation as a strong conference, and has yet to prove themselves in bowl play.

So now that you have the background to my argument, here’s what is really important: the stats. For the next two weeks, I will be logging a comparison of the Pac-10 versus the two “strongest” conferences in the NCAA. Hopefully, I will be proven correct in that conference strength means nothing when comparing an incestuous conference to one that actually plays difficult out-of-conference games. If I’m proven wrong, you may not hear from me for a while.

Pac – 10 Bowl Results

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