Huskers rout Arizona: Pac-10 continues to struggle

I picked Stanford to win the Sun Bowl. I think I’m in trouble.

The Pac-10 continues to struggle. Nebraska’s 33-0 rout of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday night is another flare that the Pac-10 is not the conference we thought it was. The Pac-10 now is 2-3 in bowl games, and its defenses are struggling. Utah beat California 37-27 in the Poinsettia Bowl and Brigham Young routed Oregon State 44-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Southern Cal’s defense played solid in a 24-13 victory over Boston College in the Emerald Bowl, but UCLA struggled to beat Temple 30-21, trailing until the final minutes.

Then Nebraska ran all over Arizona. The Huskers can play some defense, but they are offensively-challenged. Suddenly, the Pac-10′s defensive acumen seems dubious. That might mean a big day for Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. Stanford’s defense is not stout, relative to the Pac-10, anyway.

I thought the Pac-10 was the second-best conference in college football this season, behind only the Southeastern Conference. The Pac-10 went 10-5 against other major-conference teams (BCS automatic-qualifying leagues, plus the Mountain West). That was better than even the SEC’s 9-5.

But updating the standings with the bowl games to date, the SEC is 10-6, the Pac-10 11-8, the Big East 8-8, the Big 12 9-10, the Mountain West 7-8, the Big Ten 6-7 and the ACC 11-15.