Pac 10 Bowl Success

While everyone salivates over the Pac 10 going to undefeated in the bowl games, let's take a look at those games:

• USC clobbers Penn State 34-24 - actually a 1 vs 1 matchup that the Trojans dominated. Of course, most pundits had Penn State as the lowest ranked one loss team from the BCS conferences, and USC-West was a 9.5 point favorite.
• Oregon State squeaks by Pitt, 3-0 - OSU was favored by 2.5. Oregon State winning without the Rodgers brothers is impressive, except it was against the Wannstaches. Oregon State finished 3rd in the conference, and Pitt was 2nd in a mediocre Big East. Pitt's four losses this year were to Bowling Green by 10, Rutgers by 20 and Cincy by 7. Pretty exclusive company the Beavers are in on this one.
• Arizona defeats BYU 31-21 - Arizona was favored by 3 and won by 10. Actually a victory to hang your hat on, except when you consider that BYU was the third best team in the Mountain West conference. The Pac 10 now stands at 2-6 versus the Mountain West this season.
• Miami beats Cal 31-24- Cal, fourth in the Pac 10, took on the 4th place team from the ACC Coastal Division (and probably 6th best in conference) in what was essentially a home game for the Bears. The Bears were a 8.5 point favorite.
• Oregon vs Oklahoma State - the #2 team in the Pac 10 beats up the #4 team in the Big 12 South. Oregon was a 2.5 pt underdog. If we flipped it, where Texas (or Oklahoma) played Cal, how do you think that would turn out?

So, in summary, the Pac 10 went 5-0 in straight up and 4-1 against the spread. The Pac 10 representative was favored in all but one game.