I think the Pac-12 is the second best conference. But I don't think they'll ever be on the same level as the SEC unless they recruit better as an overall conference. The Pac basically has only two elite recruiting programs right now. USC and UCLA are top 10 recruiting teams. The others aren't there yet. Not even Oregon. Just about every team in the SEC is in the top 30 in recruiting. With at least 4 or 5 of those teams in the top 10 every year. Until these other conferences can equal them in Rivals recruiting rankings I don't think they'll ever be on the same level. Every team who has won the BCS championship game for the last 10 years have been a top 10 recruiting program for at least the 2 years prior leading up to the championship. The only exception to this was Auburn, who was 11th in recruiting over a 2 year period prior to their championship. If the playoff plays out like the BCS did, the winner will be a top 10 recruiting team with a great QB or hot QB. Which other than Alabama seems to be a common trait of the champion for the last few years.
Recruiting isn't an exact science.. Sure it helps a lot to have 4-5 star recruits. Some coaches don't get enough out of the so called stars..Oregon doesn't get a lot of 5 star recruits , primarily because they are looking for certain kinds of players that fit the system. We easily could have beat Auburn ....We easily could have beat Auburn with Mariota instead of knucklhead Thomas... Thomas was a higher recruit then Mariota... Mariota wasn't even highly recruited and now he is arguably the best player in coll football
It's all gonna work itself out. There are at least 4 more losses coming for those 4 west teams. Plus two matchups vs LSU and another vs UGA. I'm just guestimating, but I'd venture the odds of two SEC teams getting in are similar to none. It's going to be a ride to see this out. Still a lot of 1 loss teams with a chance.
