Err, What happened out west?

Opening weekend, and the Pac-10 wasn't all that impressive. The mountain west showed they were good at top, and perhaps made a good "rushed invite".

Cal and Stanford engaged in a bit of Bay Area vs. Sacramento football. Alas, the Sacramento reps are all I-AA, and the Bay Area dominated. Not much to say here. But, at least they are keeping their cupcakes local. Can't say the same about ASU with their win over Portland State.

Then we move on to the 'mid-major' cupcakes. Arizona had the guts to open AT Toledo. They also managed to show why the MAC doesn't get much respect. Oregon's blowout of New Mexico shows that the Mountain West has depth problems (and the New Mexico had made a horrible coaching hire.) However, before the PAC-10 can gloat, imagine what a TCU vs. Washington State game would have been like.
USC vs. Hawaii could almost be ranked as a disappointment. Sure USC won, but they
played no defense. A Hawaii team that was not supposed to have a chance was actually in it for most of the game.

Against the top of the mountain west, Oregon State lost a close one to TCU and Washington lost a close one to BYU. Neither was totally unexpected, but the Pac-10 did lose a chance to make a statement in the two biggest games. Both were essentially home games for the Mountain West teams. (Sure, Oregon State's Jerry-dome game was technically neutral, but it was only about 2000 miles closer to Ft. Worth than Corvallis.) All 4 teams expect to go bowling this year and could reasonably earn their conference championships (though only TCU is favored.) However, it was the MWV that did the impressing.
so
Against the Big-12, the Pac-10 also laid a goose egg (not so good for a conference they nearly destroyed.) Nobody really expected Washington State to do much against Oklahoma State. But Kansas State over UCLA? I guess UCLA was on the road. Maybe hald the team showed up at the wrong Manhattan...

Overall:
3-0 vs I-AA
0-2 vs Big-12
1-2 vs Mountain West
1-0 vs WAC
1-0 vs MAC

As for the Mountain West, Colorado State lost the Colorado rivalry game and UNLV lost to Wisconsin (though they were in the game until the third quarter.) New Mexico embarrassed itself at Oregon. The top 3 teams made great showings against BCS-AQ leagues, and all the rest beat up on I-AA schools.
Overall:
2-1 vs Pac-10
1-0 vs Big East
0-1 vs Big-12
0-1 vs Big-10
3-0 vs I-AA

The WAC probably had the best opening of the western conferences. Utah State nearly pulled off the huge upset over Oklahoma. This was not supposed to be close. Hawaii was also closer than expected in the USC game. Fresno did manage to take care of business vs. Cincinnati for the best win of the opening. San Jose State managed to get its paycheck in its body bag loss, and everyone else beat up on I-AA. We still have to wait for Monday for the big game with Boise State.
1-0 vs Big East
0-1 vs Pac-10
0-1 vs Big-12
0-1 vs SEC
3-0 vs I-AA
??? vs AC