Well, it doesn't look good for the Pac-12 that WSU couldn't beat an FCS team, Boise State or a middling Minnesota team, but managed to go 7-0 in the conference to start with. If we hadn't choked against the Gophers, the B1G might not be at the top of that list. So, you could argue that we did everyone a favor by helping them get the SEC love tampered slightly.
It's a testament to how good the SEC was for years that they are still #2. That was a mediocre conference last year but salvaged some honor with a good performance in bowl games.
I agree that the ACC has done a tremendous job of improving their brand over the last few years. Of course, only time will tell if it's more of a confluence of good to great QB's at one time (Watson, Jackson, Kaaya, Francois et al) or if they really have built something.
The Pac-12 will get more love if UCLA doesn't suck this year and if teams like ASU don't melt down in the second half. Teams like WSU need to take care of business against teams from outside the conference. Looking back at last season, WSU could have been 10-0, ranked in the top 10 and holding a 17-14 lead against CU at halftime last year but failing to execute consistently saw us limp to an 8-5 finish. For the record, I'm not complaining about 8-5, that's just how far we've come.
One quibble about the article was their commentary on the Big 12. Anyone who thinks that a schedule with Oklahoma, O-State, Baylor, TCU, and KSU is an easy one to face every year is a fool. That list doesn't even include Texas, a team so loaded with underachieving all stars that even UCLA gets a little embarrassed at their performance. A solid, middle of the road program like Texas Tech gets eaten alive on an annual basis in that grinder. Just because they don't have 12 teams doesn't mean that it's a weak conference. It's too bad for them (but not us) that they don't realize that adding Memphis and Louisville when they had a chance would have been a smart move.
