Tell Me More about the Great Pac-10

Note: We hit on some of the larger points of this conversation in this previous entry on SFN.

Without TWO regulars – including National Rookie of the Year candidate, Brendan Wright – the ACC’s UNC Tarheels handed Arizona a record setting loss on the Wildcats home floor today. Carolina never trailed in the ‘tough desert’ and ultimately won by 28 points.

Pardon me for not minding a big Carolina win today…but it felt good for the ACC to run a dagger right through the heart of all of the talk about the great Pac-10 (even though we now will have to deal with an elevated buzz regarding Carolina‘s chances of winning a national title this year).

It got even more satisfying in the middle of the first half of Saturday’s game when the CBS’ broadcast ran a graphic that showed the Pac-10 has six teams currently ranked in the Top 50 of the RPI. What an interesting statistic; an ‘original thought’ must have been spoon fed right out of Arizona (and the Pac-10’s) media relations department.

Why else would CBS be focusing on the Pac-10’s six Top 50 teams when the Atlantic Coast Conference currently has EIGHT Top 50 teams!? In fact, the ACC has EIGHT teams ranked in the RPI’s Top 38?

The Pac-10’s eighth team comes in almost 30 spots behind the ACC at #64! Additionally, the Pac-10 also provides all of its teams two sure wins because of the presence of miserable Arizona State in the league. Other than Colorado, the Sun Devils are the lowest rated team from a BCS Conference in America.

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06-07 Basketball General

12 Responses to Tell Me More about the Great Pac-10

  1. Frank 01/28/2007 at 1:41 AM #

    Carolina could divide their team in two and both teams would be in the top 25. And we have to play them how many times this season????

  2. Sw0rdf1sh 01/28/2007 at 9:00 AM #

    I’m the 180 of a tarheel fan, but ACC first in my book. Personally I am usually hoping for the ACC win against ANY other conference, but to take it out West for a good morning ass kicking is even better.

    Lute is a good guy/coach, so it’s even a sweeter win. Too bad the boys in blue can’t just head over to Tempe and drop an ass kickin on Sendek’s beat up team too.

    Now hopefully our upcoming game against them will be an upset. (dream big!)

  3. class of 74 01/28/2007 at 11:49 AM #

    From my perspective what’s new? Since the days of the Dixie Classic to the present day the ACC has been the premier conference in b-ball. Sure one of the other conferences may have a great year hear or there but the depth and consistency of the ACC is unmatched in my lifetime.

  4. 66pack 01/28/2007 at 3:22 PM #

    big 12 is by far the best this year

  5. chris92heel 01/28/2007 at 11:01 PM #

    brAndan wright.

    And the Pac10 the best conference? LOL.

  6. Wulfpack 01/29/2007 at 8:48 AM #

    I don’t claim to be an expert on the PAC 10 or anything but I have been disappointed in the ACC this year. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not even mid-way through and it’s down to a 3-team race for first place: VT, UNC and Duke. UVA, BC and Clemson are clearly the next best teams. In fact, those six may be the only teams to go to the big dance with the way the others are playing. FSU, Maryland and GT have a ton of work to do if they’re going to get close.

    Most surprising team: VT

    Most disappointing: Maryland and GT

    Coach of the Year: Seth Greenberg

  7. GoldenChain 01/29/2007 at 9:23 AM #

    Sorry but I am a true ABCer. I’d pull for China against unx. Truth of the matter is that unx thinks that they are, in fact, the ACC and there is no way I’d contribute to that arrogance. That being said I must admit that I am wondering if the student has surpassed the teacher. R. Williams appears to me to be a better recruiter and coach than D. Smith. He seems to be able to get the most out of his players and can tap them emotionally in a way that Dean could not.

  8. Mike 01/29/2007 at 10:34 AM #

    SFN, I really enjoy this site, but how dare you bash a school in the Pac10 that is getting ripped by everyone. They are in a transition period right now, and I would say for the next 5 years, they will be rebuilding. After that, for the next 5 years, they will schedule cupcakes to squeak into the NCAA tourney, where they will have no shot at advancing. They have a quality coach who will rebuild their program.

    This is all tongue in cheek of course. GO PACK!

    The ACC beat the snot out of the Big10 in the challenge, and the Pac10, hyped every year always blows up in the big dance. I enjoy hearing about the TarHoles whipping AZ without 2 key players – good for the conference is also good for NCState.

  9. RickJ 01/29/2007 at 11:34 AM #

    Arizona is currently in 6th place in the PAC-10, the same position Clemson holds in the ACC. UNC-Chapel Hill also destroyed Clemson at Littlejohn. Both games illustrate how good UNC-Chapel Hill is more than anything about the leagues as a whole.

  10. WP 01 01/29/2007 at 3:37 PM #

    UNC is in a class of its own in this conference. Let’s leave the conference group hugs to SEC football fans. I’d rather the conference take a hit with a UNC loss.

  11. jhmd2000 01/30/2007 at 9:48 AM #

    [Full disclosure: UNC fan…but read anyway please]. The ACC has to do something to stem the tide. The ACC routinely gets shafted when it comes time to hand out bids. Other conferences (SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, and occasionally, the Big East) seem to always draw more bids than us, despite the ACC’s irrefutable dominance over all of these conferences through history/regular seasons. I haven’t run the numbers, but it seems every year we have the best conference but do not claim the highest number of tickets to the dance.

    This season, the Pac-10 finally has a semblance of an argument on paper(which instantly morphed into a conclusion for all the AB-ACC’ers) that they are the best conference. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bo and Luke decide to actually put two traditional powers head to head on hardwood instead of paper, and then their boys get a pasting for the record books (put THAT down on paper and smoke it Steve Lavin) at home by an ACC team down THREE, not TWO, but in fact THREE, of its starting players (Wright, Frasor, and Ginyard).

    If I was asked to be put in StateFan’s position (advocating for the greater good of my conference via my sworn enemy’s accomplishments), I believe I could ethically do it by simply pointing to the respective conferences of the two schools:

    ACC 94
    Pac 10 66

    I don’t know if it will ultimately make a difference because t.v. commentators are rarely slowed down by any objective facts, but from what I have observed, the tenor of the the much-beloved sweeping, premature conclusion has been tempered by the addendum “…but did you see what [acc school] did on the road versus [Pac10 school]?”

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  1. StateFans Nation » Blog Archive » Follow-Up on ACC vs PAC-10 - 01/31/2007

    […] After Carolina’s pasting of Arizona this weekend we asked to hear more about the great Pac-10. […]

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