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| Saturday, October 14 Conference highs and lows By John Crowley ESPN.com | |||||
| Like the Yin and the Yang, there is a balance in life that keeps things orderly. In college football, a similar philosophy applies. Some conferences have found their footing this year, while others have lost their way. Here are two who top the list.
Despite the fact that it featured unbeaten Tulane last season, the play of C-USA has been a pleasant surprise this year. Already several of its teams have registered upsets of teams from more powerful conferences (see: East Carolina over Miami, Cincinnati over Wisconsin , Houston over North Carolina and Memphis' near upset of Tennessee). East Carolina and Southern Miss reside comfortably in the top 25 and the rest of the country is starting to take notice. The bowl season should hold a handful of invitations to C-USA schools. Disappointing conference -- Pac-10 This one's a no-brainer. The Pac-10 finished last year with a few bumps and bruises, but this season the league has been a veritable punching bag. To wit: Conference teams have gone down to defeat against the likes of New Mexico State and Idaho, teams usually satisfied with merely getting a slice of a Pac-10 payday. For the first time in 14 years, the conference does not have a member of the top 25. And the league's best team to date, Stanford (4-0 in conference play, 4-2 overall) was 3-8 a year ago and began this season with a 69-17 thrashing suffered at the hands of Texas. Arizona began the year as the No. 4 team in the nation, but was embarrassed at Penn State. Last year the conference was 1-4 in bowl games. This year it might settle for such a mark, as it would mean that five teams reached the postseason. | ALSO SEE
Chalk Talk: Who will be No. 1?Midseason Report: Top 10 games Midseason Report: Top Moments Midseason Report: Games to watch Midseason Report: Top Upsets Midseason Report: Surprising Teams Midseason Report: Surprising Players Midseason Report: Disappointing Teams Midseason Report: Disappointing Players Midseason Report: Herbstreit's fabulous freshmen  Harig: Halftime showVideo Plays of the Season | ||||
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