By Arlie Rahn
Arizona Daily Wildcat
After years of trying to break through the shadow of the respected Big Ten and Big Eight, the Pacific 10 Conference has finally established itself as the best conference in the nation Ÿ at least by a computer's standards.
According to last week's Sagarin Computer ratings, the Pac-10 was first, followed by the Big Ten, Big Eight, SEC, Atlantic Coast, Southwest, Big East and the Western Athletic Conference.
The Pac-10 makes up one-fifth of the top 25 with Southern Cal at No. 5, Oregon at No. 12, UCLA at No. 16, Washington at No. 22 and Arizona at No. 25, and has a record of 13-8-1 against teams outside the conference.
"I think what makes our conference so good is that the bottom is not that far away from the top," said Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder. "The college football fan on the West Coast has to be one of the (luckiest) because of the Pac-10 race."
And with Washington emerging from probation, a team with two conference losses might be heading to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
"I think there is a group of three or four teams in the hunt," Snyder said. "I see the race being decided in November like it was last year."
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While the Arizona-USC game this weekend has received the bulk of the press, the best matchup might be the Oregon-Stanford game.
This game marks the top two early-season surprises in the conference. The Ducks and the Cardinal are the only two teams that finished unscathed through their first three games, with Oregon (3-0) defeating two top-25 teams.
Not only is there a growing Pac-10 rivalry here, but some animosity also exists.
"Stanford knocked us out of the bowl picture two years ago," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "I look for this to be a battle."
And as the first meeting of these two first-year coaches, this game could be one that makes or breaks Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham.
"I think coach Willingham has done a great job," Bellotti said. "He took over a program in less shape than I did, and he has still managed to be successful."
While this will mark the first conference game for the Cardinal (2-0-1), the Ducks are coming off an emotional win on the road against then-No. 12 UCLA. After being down 24-10 at halftime, the Bruins tied the score late in the game, but Oregon drove 79 yards in eight plays to seal the 38-31 victory.
"We did not play the kind of second half that I expected or want from my football team and I can beat them to death with that (this week)," Bellotti said. "But we did do the things we needed to when the game was on the line. Offensively we had the great drive and the defense rose to the occasion. We bent but we did not break."
Stanford, however, was stuck in the role of playing catchup for most of its game against Wisconsin, with quarterback Mark Butterfield connecting with Greg Comella late in fourth quarter to tie the Badgers 24-24.
"Coming away with a tie is certainly not what we wanted," Willingham said. "I'm disappointed we didn't do what it took to get the game won."
While Stanford might not have the players Oregon does, the Ducks know that anything can happen in the Pac-10.
"One thing we talk about is not to overlook anybody. We know what it's like to be the underdog," Bellotti said. "I'm very concerned about Stanford. Any team in this league is capable of beating anybody else."
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It looks like there is little doubt regarding this year's Pac-10 cellar-dwellar. Oregon State (1-2), coming off consecutive losses to Division-I doormats Pacific and North Texas, will start its conference schedule this Saturday against shell-shocked Arizona State (1-2), who lost to Nebraska 77-28 on Saturday.
"They will be the best team athletically we have seen this year," OSU coach Jerry Pettibone said. "They wiped out (Texas-El Paso) and then they were the victims of playing one of the top two teams in the country when they played Nebraska."
The last loss to North Texas, which was playing just its third game as a Division I-A team, was a heartbreaker for the Beavers. Oregon State had three players rush for 100 yards, but could not overcome special teams mistakes.
"It was a very disappointing defeat because I felt we had the game in control with about nine minutes to go," Pettibone said. "We were up by 11 points in the fourth quarter and let it get away from us. The biggest contributing factor was the various mistakes we made in the kicking game."
The big question for the Beavers this season will be the emotional strain caused by their first two losses. The ASU game could decide whether OSU will be a factor in this season's race.
"It is going to be difficult for us to get our team up emotionally," Pettibone said. "We are certainly going to do everything we can as a coaching staff to do that."