At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a Pac-12 fan could have looked at the season-long scoreboard and seen the following: a 6-4 record against Division I-A teams, one loss to a Division I-AA team (Colorado to Sacramento State) and squeaker wins against two more Division I-AA squads.
Pac-12 teams had already lost to second-tier Western schools Nevada, Colorado State, BYU and Utah State this season. In Week 1, Arizona needed overtime to beat Toledo, and Stanford topped lowly San Jose State by a mere field goal.
Only one Pac-12 team had covered the point spread against a Division I-A team - an indication, at least, the league's early performance was not meeting national expectations.
And then the conference had one of the best eight-hour stretches in its history.
Three Pac-12 teams knocked off Top 25 opponents on the same day for the first time since Jan. 1, 1985.
"It was I thought a great weekend for our conference," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said.
"It's kinda what I both was aware of and nervous about: This conference is probably at an all-time high."
Riley's Beavers topped No. 13 Wisconsin, UCLA beat No. 16 Nebraska, and the Arizona Wildcats stunned No. 18 Oklahoma State.
Arizona State and Stanford combined to beat BCS foes Illinois and Duke by a combined 68 points.
Sure, all of those games were at home. And Washington, considered a top-half Pac-12 team, was thumped by 38 at LSU.
Still, compared to recent history, Saturday afternoon and evening was a revelation.
"I think it's good that we get some nonconference wins in some high-profile games," Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said. "At the end of the day, those types of wins tend to add up."
They hadn't lately.
Throw out six wins in as many tries against the Western Athletic Conference last year, and Pac-12 teams went 10-10 against Division I-A teams in regular-season non-conference play.
The bowl season was even worse - Pac-12 teams went 2-5.
Washington State coach Mike Leach called the first three games of every season "the most erratic, volatile" of the season, but said they help nonetheless.
"It's early in the season," Leach said about the success. "It doesn't surprise me.
"I thought the Pac-12 was good to begin with, but I wouldn't put a ton in it."
Jeff Tedford called it a "great weekend," but nothing more than that.
"As the season wears on and you go to bowl games and compete for national championships, that has a lot to say about conference play," the Cal coach said.
"Even though we had a great week this last week as a conference, there's a lot of season to play."
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