[jayasena]

Now, I think that is not fair.  Winning in Oregon, defeating Under Stanford Control when they were fully armed (with Barkley), defeating UCLA twice (though that win took a blow when UCLA was destroyed by Baylor), taking down Oregon State (which choked against Texas!), still count as excellent wins.  But I want to beat Under Stanford Control when it is good, not when it is a national joke.  I want to beat Oregon when it is running on all cylinders (as it was this year), not if Chip Kelly goes to the NFL and the Oregon program, perhaps, takes a step back. I want the Pac-12 to be seen as a serious conference when we build a nerd dynasty.

We did beat USC when they were good -- even when Carroll was still there. And we are 2-2 against Oregon during their current peak. Personally, there's nothing I'd like better (in a football sense) than to see Kelly leave for the NFL and Oregon take a step back and for USC to not become the single point of national attention in the Pac (in reality or perception) again.

In other words, I'll take championships in a perceived-to-be-weak Pac-12 over most other outcomes. The reality is, the Pac will always be a tough conference, whether it's regarded as such or not (e.g. almost all of USC's losses during Carroll's run of success was to Pac-10 teams and they dominated almost all OOC teams they played, including a number of upper-tier SEC teams). And the perception of the conference won't matter much once the playoff system kicks in.

[jayasena]

Now, I think that is not fair.  Winning in Oregon, defeating Under Stanford Control when they were fully armed (with Barkley), defeating UCLA twice (though that win took a blow when UCLA was destroyed by Baylor), taking down Oregon State (which choked against Texas!), still count as excellent wins.  But I want to beat Under Stanford Control when it is good, not when it is a national joke.  I want to beat Oregon when it is running on all cylinders (as it was this year), not if Chip Kelly goes to the NFL and the Oregon program, perhaps, takes a step back. I want the Pac-12 to be seen as a serious conference when we build a nerd dynasty.

We did beat USC when they were good -- even when Carroll was still there. And we are 2-2 against Oregon during their current peak. Personally, there's nothing I'd like better (in a football sense) than to see Kelly leave for the NFL and Oregon take a step back and for USC to not become the single point of national attention in the Pac (in reality or perception) again.

In other words, I'll take championships in a perceived-to-be-weak Pac-12 over most other outcomes. The reality is, the Pac will always be a tough conference, whether it's regarded as such or not (e.g. almost all of USC's losses during Carroll's run of success was to Pac-10 teams and they dominated almost all OOC teams they played, including a number of upper-tier SEC teams). And the perception of the conference won't matter much once the playoff system kicks in.