Stanford's loss to California on Saturday further muddied the Pac-10 race and also caused several people to scratch their heads in confusion.
What is going on in this conference?
USC beats California by 27 points, Stanford beats USC by 34 points and then Cal goes out and beats Stanford by 6 -- in Palo Alto? What a wacky season this has become along the Left Coast, where six teams are within two games of the conference lead and strange occurrences happen on a weekly basis.
The tight race and regular oddities might be a result of the all-around excellence of the conference. The strength of the Pac-10 could be unprecedented this year, as it's rated No. 1 by Jeff Sagarin and seven teams -- 70 percent of the conference -- are already bowl eligible.
And Coach Carroll has surely taken notice.
"Teams are so loaded, they're just so good, that you could sense that this was going to be an extraordinary year," Carroll said. "And it definitely has been one so far for the Pac-10."
You know, it looks and plays a lot like the NFL, where the perceived great teams are never shoe-ins for wins and parity rules the roost. For example, the 6-2 Cincinnati Bengals beat the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers last week before falling to the 2-7 Oakland Raiders on Sunday. It's been a similar story in the Pac-10 this season, as the hottest teams are just 60 minutes away from dropping way down the standings and getting their Rose Bowl dreams crushed. Call it parity or across-the-board strength, but the Pac-10 has inarguably been a wild race this season.
Thanks to California and Oregon, Stanford and Arizona were the latest victims of the Pac-10 parity party this weekend. And with six conference games involving nine Pac-10 teams remaining in the season, the party is more than likely far from over.
What is going on in this conference?
USC beats California by 27 points, Stanford beats USC by 34 points and then Cal goes out and beats Stanford by 6 -- in Palo Alto? What a wacky season this has become along the Left Coast, where six teams are within two games of the conference lead and strange occurrences happen on a weekly basis.
The tight race and regular oddities might be a result of the all-around excellence of the conference. The strength of the Pac-10 could be unprecedented this year, as it's rated No. 1 by Jeff Sagarin and seven teams -- 70 percent of the conference -- are already bowl eligible.
And Coach Carroll has surely taken notice.
"Teams are so loaded, they're just so good, that you could sense that this was going to be an extraordinary year," Carroll said. "And it definitely has been one so far for the Pac-10."
You know, it looks and plays a lot like the NFL, where the perceived great teams are never shoe-ins for wins and parity rules the roost. For example, the 6-2 Cincinnati Bengals beat the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers last week before falling to the 2-7 Oakland Raiders on Sunday. It's been a similar story in the Pac-10 this season, as the hottest teams are just 60 minutes away from dropping way down the standings and getting their Rose Bowl dreams crushed. Call it parity or across-the-board strength, but the Pac-10 has inarguably been a wild race this season.
Thanks to California and Oregon, Stanford and Arizona were the latest victims of the Pac-10 parity party this weekend. And with six conference games involving nine Pac-10 teams remaining in the season, the party is more than likely far from over.
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