Thirty-three days remain until the beginning of college football season, which means the debates about which conference is the best have already started. Rating conference strength is based on many factors, but one of the prevailing ingredients in the mix is that of non-conference schedule. If that’s the case, the Pac-10 should do very well on the experts’ pecking orders this season.

Here’s a look, and a ranking of the Pac-10’s non-conference schedules this season..

1. USC Trojans - at Virginia, vs. Ohio State, vs. Notre Dame. The Trojans don’t have a lot of wiggle room with their schedule, since a date with Notre Dame is built in every season. But they also don’t screw around with the two open spots. They’ll start with a trip to Charlottesville to battle Virginia, a team that went 5-1 at home last season. Then its a much-anticipated matchup with most people’s preseason number one Ohio State, and a late-season visit from Notre Dame, a team that should be much improved from last season.

2. Washington Huskies - vs. BYU, vs. Oklahoma, vs. Notre Dame. The Huskies get half a minus point for not venturing outside Seattle on this season’s non-conference docket, but they’re not hosting any cupcakes. Oklahoma is ranked #3 preseason by Athlon Sports, and BYU comes in at #14.

3. UCLA Bruins - vs. Tennessee, at BYU, and Fresno State. - Rick Neuheisel jumps back into coaching at his alma mater, and doesn’t even have time to dip his foot in the pool first, as Tennessee visits the Rose Bowl in a nationally televised battle on Monday, September 1st. A trip to unfriendly Provo follows, as does a visit by the always tough Fresno State Bulldogs.

4. Oregon State Beavers - at Penn State, vs. Hawaii, at Utah - Oregon State deserves some props for really upgrading their schedule in the last couple of years. In 2006, their schedule “boasted” Eastern Washington and Idaho, now they’ll head to Happy Valley to take on JoePa’s Nittany Lions in addition to a tough trip to Salt Lake City to take on Utah. Hawaii visits Corvallis, and yes, coach June Jones and QB Colt Brennan are gone, but the UH offense is always a pain to prepare for.

5. Oregon Ducks - vs. Utah State, at Purdue, vs. Boise State - Utah State is not good, going 3-21 the last two seasons, and they’ll get rolled in Eugene, which is probably the most hostile environment in the Pac-10. But things get much tougher with a trip to West Lafayette to visit potent Purdue, and a home date against Boise State which is always an adventure.

6. Arizona State Sun Devils - vs. Northern Arizona, vs. UNLV, vs. Georgia. - The presence of Georgia, picked by many as a top 3 team this year, makes this schedule. The Sun Devils lose points, not only for not having a non-conference roadie (they’ve only had one in the last 3 seasons - at Colorado in 2006), but for being only one of two Pac-10 teams to schedule a FCS opponent. UNLV is 4-20 the last two seasons, but will be a nice tune-up for the Sun Devils date with Georgia.

7. Cal Golden Bears - vs. Michigan State, at Maryland, vs. Colorado State. - A pretty decent schedule for the Bears, playing teams from the Big Ten and ACC, although the Spartans and Terps aren’t the creme of their respective conferences.

8. Stanford Cardinal - at TCU, vs. San Jose State, at Notre Dame. - Everybody’s always arguing that Notre Dame should move into the Big Ten (11)…why not move the Irish into the Pac? They play 3 Pac-10 teams every year, it seems. Fort Worth is never an easy place to play, and a trip to South Bend is always difficult too. Stanford hasn’t been decent in recent memory, but the Cardinal always schedule pretty well.

9. Washington State Cougars - vs. Oklahoma State, at Baylor, vs. Portland State. - Nothing to write home about, but two games vs. the Big 12 is pretty respectable. The Cougars are the other team in the Pac with a date against a FCS foe.

10. Arizona Wildcats - vs. Idaho, vs. Toledo, at New Mexico. - This isn’t the Wildcats’ best schedule, to say the least. The ‘Cats are the only team who won’t play a game against a BCS-conference school or Notre Dame, which is a disappointment for a school that in the last few years has played the likes of BYU, Purdue, Wisconsin and LSU. The Wildcats’ lone road game, at New Mexico, is a revenge game for Arizona, as the Lobos upended the ‘Cats in Tucson last year.

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