The D1scourse 30

Taking a timeout from looking at the unbeatens (that can resume next week) to try to parse the mess that is the Pac-10.

Oregon is 8-2 and leads the conference. But after that, there's a scrum of three-loss teams that are difficult to sift through.

There's Stanford and Southern Cal, Arizona and California, and don't forget perennial stalking horse Oregon State. All have three losses overall, and Arizona, Oregon State and Stanford each have only two in the conference.

It's a pain in the neck to figure these teams out. Stanford probably owns the best pair of victories (Oregon and Southern Cal). Southern Cal still has that win at Ohio State, which is better than anything anyone has in the Pac-10 (and perhaps nationally, since it's the only home loss by a team in the top nine of my Harris ballot this week).

So then you get into Arizona, which won at Oregon State, which won at Cal, which just beat Arizona. Both Arizona and Oregon State have a win over Stanford; Cal still gets that chance later.

In short: The Pac-10 probably provided more headaches than anyone while sorting out this top 30, which remains devoted to ranking teams based on their accomplishments and not the name on their jerseys.

A rundown:

Team                           W-L     Reg.     Pvs.      Notes
1. Alabama                  10-0     10-0     1          * Louisiana State (H), Virginia Tech (N), Tennessee (H), South Carolina (H), Mississippi (A)
2. Florida                     10-0     10-0     2          * Louisiana State (A), Georgia (N), Tennessee (H), South Carolina (A), Arkansas (H)
3. Cincinnati                10-0     10-0     4          * Oregon State (A), Rutgers (A), South Florida (A),  West Virginia (H), Connecticut (H)
4. Texas                       10-0     10-0     3          * Oklahoma State (A), Texas Tech (H), Oklahoma (N), Missouri (A), Colorado (H)
5. Texas Christian        10-0     10-0     5          * Clemson (A), Brigham Young (A), Utah (H), Air Force (A)
6. Georgia Tech                       10-1     9-1-1    6          * Virginia Tech (H), Clemson (H), North Carolina (H); OTW: Wake (H); L: Miami (A)
7. Boise State               10-0     10-0     7          * Oregon (H), Fresno State (A), Tulsa (A)
8. Ohio State                9-2       8-2-1    12        * Penn State (A), Wisconsin (H), Navy (H); OTW: Iowa (H); L: USC (H); Purdue (A)
9. Oregon                     8-2       8-2       10        * Southern Cal (H), Cal (H), Utah (H); L: Boise State (A), Stanford (A)
10. Iowa                      9-2       9-1-1    8          * Penn State (A), Arizona (H), Wisconsin (A), OTL: Ohio St. (A);  L: N'western (H)
11. Pittsburgh               9-1       9-1       13        * Rutgers (A), South Florida (H), Navy (H), Notre Dame (H), UConn (H);  L: N.C. State (A)
12. Louisiana State      8-2       8-2       15        * Auburn (H), Georgia (H), Mississippi State (A); L: Alabama (A), Florida (H)
13. Virginia Tech         7-3       7-3       16        * Miami (H), Nebraska (H), BC (H); L: Alabama (N), Georgia Tech (A), UNC (H)
14. Stanford                 7-3       7-3       28        * Oregon (H), USC (A), UCLA (H); L: Arizona (A), Oregon State (A), Wake (A)
15. Southern Cal          7-3       7-3       11        * Ohio State (A), Oregon St. (H), Cal (A), ND (A); L: Oregon (A), Stanford (H), Wash. (A)
16. Clemson                7-3       6-3-1    20        * Boston College (H); OTW: Miami (A); L: TCU (H), Georgia Tech (A), Maryland (A)
17. Miami                    7-3       7-2-1    9          * Georgia Tech (H), Oklahoma (H), Florida St. (A); OTL: Clemson (H); L: VT (A), UNC (A)
18. Penn State              9-2       9-2       19        * Northwestern (A), Temple (H), Minnesota (H), Michigan (H); L: Iowa (H), Ohio State (H)
19. Wisconsin              8-2       7-2-1    26        * Michigan St. (H), Minnesota (A); OTW: Fresno (H); L: Iowa (H), Ohio State (A)
20. Arizona                  6-3       6-3       14        * Stanford (H), Oregon State (A), C. Michigan (H); L: Iowa (A), Cal (A), Washington (A)
21. Oregon State          7-3       7-3       21        * Stanford (H), California (A), UCLA (H); L: Cincinnati (H), Southern Cal (A), Arizona (H)
22. North Carolina       7-3       7-3       NR       * Virginia Tech (A), Miami (H), Connecticut (A); L: GT (A), Florida State (H), Virginia (H)
23. California              7-3       7-3       NR       * Arizona (H), Minnesota (A), UCLA (A); L: Oregon (A), USC (H), Oregon State (H)
24. Houston                 8-2       8-2       18        * Oklahoma State (A), Texas Tech (H), Tulsa (A); L: UCF (A), UTEP (A)
25. Oklahoma State     8-2       8-2       23        * Georgia (H), Texas Tech (H), Missouri (H); L: Texas (H), Houston (H)
26. Brigham Young     8-2       8-2       24        * Oklahoma (N); L: Texas Christian (H), Florida St. (H)
27. Nebraska               7-3       7-3       NR       * Oklahoma (H), Missouri (A); L: Virginia Tech (A), Texas Tech (H), Iowa State (H)
28. Georgia                  6-4       6-4       NR       * Auburn (H), Arkansas (A), South Carolina (H); L: Florida, LSU, Okla. State, Tennessee
29. Auburn                  7-4       7-4       22        * West Virginia (H), Ole Miss (H), Tenn. (A); L: LSU (A), UGA (A), Ark. (A), Kentucky (H)
30. Rutgers                  7-2       7-2       NR       * South Florida (H), Connecticut (A); L: Cincinnati (H), Pittsburgh (H)

--- Patrick Stevens