People always say the Pac-12 sucks when they are in conference, which makes no sense to me. Shouldn't it say more about a conference if the top teams are losing to conference rivals?
The Pac-10 was a good conference, but the additions of Colorado and Utah have really watered it down. Still, it's an above average conference that is usually one of the two or three best conferences every year in number of top 25 teams. When USC was dominating under Carroll, everyone said that they had it easy, but they were wrong. It's just as wrong today with Oregon.
That said, Oregon honestly hasn't played anybody special yet, but that is about to change.
Fun fact: Oregon's defense ranks #2 nationally behind Alabama in Football outsiders advanced metrics*. Granted, they haven't played a tough schedule, but they made Matt Scott look human and shut out Arizona who otherwise averages almost 40 a game. That is a seriously nasty defense, coupled with an elite offense. I haven't watched K-state, but I have a hard time believing they have a better combination of offense and defense. Chip Kelly might be the smartest coach in the college ranks.
*UW is 20th nationally. Haha Nick Holt.
