Pac-12 notebook: Conference just 4-7 vs. BCS teams

SALT LAKE CITY — On the surface, it looks like the Pac-12 is having a pretty good season with eight winning teams right now and another at .500. Only three teams have losing records heading into the fifth week of the season.

However, BCS conferences like the Pac-12 are supposed to have a lot of winning teams right now. Most of the nonconference games are over and losses will start to pile up as conference foes play each other most of the rest of the way.

Checking out the rest of the BCS conferences, the Big 12 and the Big East have no losing teams, while the only team with a losing record in the SEC is Mississippi at 1-3. The Big Ten has two losing teams in Minnesota and Indiana, while the ACC has three in Maryland, Miami and Boston College.

The Pac-12's losing teams are Oregon State (0-3), Colorado (1-3) and Arizona (1-3) with UCLA at 2-2.

Overall, the Pac-12 has a 20-10 record against non-league competition, but against fellow BCS conferences it is only 4-7. The Pac-12 has piled up most of its wins against FCS schools (7-1) and the Western Athletic Conference (6-0).

Pac-12 schools still have a few chances to improve their records against BCS schools as Utah plays at Pitt, USC and Stanford both play Notre Dame, while Oregon State plays BYU, a non-BCS school.

PAC NOTES: After averaging 60 points the past three weeks, Oregon gets to rest its offense with a bye this week. … With his 288-yard rushing game last week, Oregon's LaMichael James moved ahead of Utah's John White as the league's top rusher with a 153.2-yard average. White is second at 126.7. … James was the obvious choice for offensive player of the week, while Arizona State's Shelly Lyons is the defensive player of the week after returning an interception for a touchdown and Oregon State's Jordan Poyer is special teams player of the week after getting 156 yards on returns, including an 85-yard TD on a punt return. … Despite his team's 1-3 record, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles is the Pac-12 total offense leader and has completed 70 percent of his passes without an interception. … Colorado running back Rodney Stewart moved into third place on CU's all-time rushing list and surpassed the 3,000-yard mark last week and now has 3,022 yards for his career. … While taking a bye week, Stanford dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 in the AP poll, but moved up from No. 5 to No. 4 in the coaches poll. Go figure. … In the win over USC, Arizona State's Jamal Miles got his 135 all-purpose yards in four different ways, by rushing, receiving, kick returns and punt returns. … Washington State quarterback Marshall Lobbestael, who has filled in for injured Jeff Tuel since the first game, leads the league in pass efficiency and is sixth nationally at 180.17. … USC's Marc Tyler, who was suspended for the first game, had his second 100-yard game of the year, rushing for 149 yards against Arizona State.

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