Oregon and Auburn squared off the national championship last season. Photo by Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

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Oregon vs. LSU is the premier game of the glorious first week (aren’t they all?) of college football, picking up where last season left off.

The SEC vs. the Pac-10 … or, as we should say now, the Pac-12.

The conferences don’t often play against each other, magnifying the bragging rights for each such matchup. Last season’s BCS national championship game between Auburn and Oregon was the first time the leagues had played in the postseason since the 1989 Freedom Bowl.

Starting with the 2000 season — isn’t that a large enough sample size? — there have been a smattering of regular-season meetings, including five pitting ranked teams against each other (plus the BCS title game).

The biggest regular-season game, by the rankings: No. 8 USC at No. 6 Auburn to start the 2003 season. The Trojans won 23-0 and went on to win the AP national championship.

This week’s game is bigger: Oregon is ranked third, LSU is fourth.

Who has fared better in the head-to-head matchups between the leagues?

Probably to the surprise of those in the South, the correct answer is the Pac-12.

There has been a disconnect between perception and reality when it comes to the two leagues. They have met 22 times since 2000, with the Pac-12 winning 12 of them.

Let’s look deeper.

The SEC was favored to win 13 of those 22 games … but won only nine times as the favorite.

Overall, the Pac-12 is 14-6-2 against the spread in its last 22 games against the SEC.

Head-to-head or against the spread, the Pac-10 comes out ahead.

Here is the breakdown of those 22 games:

When Oregon lined up at Tennessee earlier this season, the Ducks ended up routing the Vols.
Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

The BCS national championship game between Auburn and Oregon should be a dandy. Dynamic offenses. Played at a fast pace. Star players, including Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton of Auburn.

And it’s the SEC vs. the Pac-10.

This is a rare postseason clash for the leagues at any level. The last time an SEC team played a Pac-10 squad in the postseason it was 1989. Washington beat Florida 34-7 in the Freedom Bowl.

The SEC vs. the Pac-10: You know which conference is going to get the benefit of the doubt in this matchup.

The SEC deserves whatever praise it gets. It’s the best football conference in the country. The most elite teams, the biggest stadiums, craziest fans, highest salaries …

The Pac-10? Dadgum, they sure do play some cute football out there in the West …

But there has been a disconnect between perception and reality when it comes to the two leagues. They have met 21 teams since 2000, and here is the scoreboard:

The Pac-10 is 12-9 in those games.

OK, you say. The matchups probably favored the Pac-10. After all, if USC played Vanderbilt 20 times, the Pac-10 would be 20-0 against the SEC.

Let’s look deeper.

The SEC was favored to win 12 of those 20 games … but won only eight times as the favorite.

Overall, the Pac-10 is 14-6-1 against the spread in its last 21 games against the SEC.

Head-to-head or against the spread, the Pac-10 comes out ahead.

So, yes, Auburn is about a three-point favorite against the Ducks for Monday night’s game. But remember that public perception almost always tilts too heavily in favor of the SEC when it plays the Pac-10.

Here is the breakdown of those 21 games (per the first comment on this story, I have changed the numbers on my original post to reflect the 2008 Arizona State-Georgia game):