Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
I'll pick up the hate discussion tomorrow, because, golly, you guys love to hate and debate varieties and degrees of hate and, for freak-frack-sake, how could I leave the Civil War off my list of bitter rivalries?
Like I said: Tomorrow.
A serious issue demands immediate attention.
In my analysis Monday of the Pac-10's non-conference schedules (and by Pac-10, we mean, the bold, courageous, dauntless, fearless, heroic, intrepid, stout, valiant, valorous Pac-10), I included this line about UCLA's rigorous slate of Tennessee, BYU and Fresno State:
Welcome back to Westwood, Coach Neuheisel! You've got an opener against an SEC power and then two other ranked teams. What's worst: No matter that BYU and Fresno State likely will get preseason rankings; most folks will view a UCLA loss to either as an embarrassment.
Carey of Murrieta, Calif., writes: UCLA should be "embarrassed" if they lose AT BYU? What have you been smoking? BYU should crush them in Provo. I'll be shocked if the Y doesn't win this by 2 touchdowns. BYU will enter this season a top 15 team, how could UCLA be embarrassed to lose to a #15 team on the road? Do you really think UCLA should be a top 10 team?? You must.
Eric of San Francisco writes: UCLA losing to BYU and Fresno State an embarrassment? I guess losing to them isn't as embarrassing as losing to Notre Dame, Utah, and yes, BYU in 2007 or say Wyoming in 2004. In another post you called UCLA a national power and you seem to really drink the kool-aid. UCLA has finished in the top 10 once in the past 10 years and has 1 national championship to its name (in 1954). A national power where it is embarrassing to lose to BYU (despite the fact they did last year)? Hardly.
Carey, Eric... Let me explain.
I know BYU and Fresno State are outstanding programs. My boss will beat me for revealing this -- shoot, he often does so for no apparent reason other than his blood lust -- but I voted for both in our preseason Power Rankings (Fresno State at 17 and BYU at 19), ahead of, for example, Penn State and Florida State.
Know who I wedged in between them? Tennessee.
So what does "embarrassment" have to do with this? It's about perception -- not informed perception but general perception.
Become for a moment the average fan, not the well-read, charming, knowledgeable renaissance person all Pac-10 Blog readers are.
Which headline goes down easiest and arches not an eyebrow:
"Tennessee overwhelms UCLA with 17-point fourth quarter"
"Fresno State overwhelms UCLA with 17-point fourth quarter"
"BYU overwhelms UCLA with a 17-point fourth quarter"
My guess is most folks assume Tennessee will beat UCLA. My guess is Bruins fans would utter a "drat" and move on.
I don't think they'd react the same to losses to Fresno State or BYU. They'd immediately register their first pang of doubt over Rick Neuheisel. It might be the lightest of flickers, but it would appear.
Fair or unfair, even with recent history as our guide, most folks still believe in the superiority of the BCS conferences. It's mostly OK to lose to another BCS conference foe, particularly a storied one like the Vols.
But the WAC or Mountain West? No.
That, by the way, is why many BCS teams run screaming when Fresno or BYU come looking for a game. It feels like a no-win situation.
The general feeling persists that if UCLA, Fresno State and BYU are competing for a recruit, said recruit will choose UCLA in a vast majority of cases (unless he's Mormon or sports a cool Fu Manchu).
That means the general feeling persists that UCLA's players are better. Or should be.
That is not the general feeling with Tennessee.
UCLA losing to BYU or Fresno State will be an edgy story on CollegeGame Day (perhaps a BCS-Buster angle). UCLA losing to Tennessee will not.
My guess is there's a decent chance UCLA loses all three games. Neuheisel inherited a flawed team that has had horrible injury luck over the past few months.
But UCLA fans will feel far more diminished by losses to Fresno State and BYU than they would to Tennessee.
Reasonable or not, they will be embarrassed.
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
