The defense rests in the Pac 10 (or really, just doesn't tackle or generally make stops)

Over the last week or so, I’ve been plagued with several questions.

Questions like, why is the airport gate for my flight ALWAYS the very last one at the end of the row and thus I must schlep my bag much longer than I want to? Or, is fudge an acceptable breakfast option? These are things I think about.

But, the question that has crossed my mind most is:

What in the name of Pete Carroll happened to the Pac 10 in bowl games?!

I suppose I’m writing this to therapeutically work through that horrifying 33-0 loss my Arizona Wildcats suffered to Nebraska on Dec. 30. I spent my undergrad time at Arizona watching some pretty bad football. However, I don’t think I EVER watched a game where they mustered less than 50 yards of total offense (you can’t see me right now, but I’m cringing). That was bad, even for Arizona football. I may need to seek professional help.

But seriously, what happened to the conference as a whole? It wasn’t just Arizona that tanked (they just found an epically bad way of doing it). Oregon State and Cal lost to Mountain West teams, for crying out loud. Oregon’s ridiculous offense forgot how to score in a loss to Ohio State.

The answer may simply be in the lack of defense in the Pac 10.

The Pac 10 pretty innovative offensively (see: Oregon) but it’s no secret the conference isn’t defensive minded. It’s more fun to watch that way and gave us some ridiculous shootouts this season in conference play. Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate to bowl success.

Quick, what Pac 10 team do you think was the best in total defense? Did you guess Arizona State? They are 12th nationally. The next closest Pac 10 team is Arizona at 21st. Oregon (the conference champion) at 33rd nationally. This, to put it mildly, is not a good sign.

In fact, through Dec. 26th, in 14 statistical categories for defense on the NCAA Web site, only three have a Pac 10 team in the top 10.

So, it’s two-fold. The Pac 10 teams weren’t used to facing good defenses, and thus scored wildly. When they come up against legit defenses (see: Nebraska) they couldn’t score. And, their defenses couldn’t stop the other team from scoring.

Now, I'm not a football strategist or a mathematician (in all honesty, the former would be more likely), but here's my mathematical breakdown of why the Pac 10 was so horrendous in bowl games this year.

Not scoring + not stopping the other team from scoring = Pac 10 looks awful.

That's all.

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