Overall, no conference is better than the Pac-10

July 1, 12:11 AMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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Every year, over 250 Div I universities compete for the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Cup, given out to, "...the institution that records the highest number of points in their division's Directors' Cup standings."

Points are awarded by how schools finish in 20 sports (10 men and 10 women for Div I), chosen by each institution.  Cal placed seventh for the third time in the last four years - their best finish in the history of the cup.

While placing in the top 10 out of 271 universities is a great accomplishment for Cal, the real story is how well the entire Pac-10 did compared to the other big conferences.

Eight of the ten schools in the conference finished in the top 24 overall - Only Oregon State (70th) and Washington State (120th) weren't among the top 25 schools nationally.

(Here's the link to the complete list.  You'll need a pdf reader to read it.)

Here's the list of Pac-10 schools, and where they ranked:

1. Stanford

4. USC

7. Cal

11. Washington

12. Arizona State

16. UCLA

22. Oregon

24. Arizona

70. Oregon State

120. Washington State

Wondering how the big, bad SEC finished?  They, along with the Big 10, trailed the Pac-10 with five schools in the top 25.  The ACC had four schools, the Big 12 had two, the Big East had zero, and Notre Dame was the only independent school to get in at No. 21.

* EDIT - Notre Dame should probably be included as a Big East team.  My apologies for the oversight.  This would give the Big East one team in the top 25.  When writing this, my thoughts were on comparing football conferences, which two of our readers below showed me the errors of my ways.

Does it mean that the Pac-10 is the best football conference?  No.  What it means is that the Pac-10 is the most balanced and competitive conference in Div I.  It doesn't matter which sport, there are always Pac-10 teams in contention for a national championship.

While we mainly focus on Cal here, it's easy to lose sight of the conference big picture all the time we watch the Golden Bears become stronger in nearly every sport they compete in.  These cup standings are further evidence in the type of competition throughout the Pac-10, and this evidence can be relayed to the sports they play.

When the pundits complain that it's a down year in whatever sport they are frothing over, remember that they just don't understand how difficult it is to win a Pac-10 game - they're probably just used to seeing other conferences.