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At least Rich Rodriguez is honest, if not eloquent.
The Arizona coach is 4-0, with a new running back and a freshman quarterback. Over the weekend, the Wildcats had the play of the week — possibly the year — with a last-ditch 47-yard Hail Mary to beat Cal.
Rodriguez has every reason in the world to be floating on the clouds, except one. After a bye this weekend, Oregon is waiting. Then USC. And more dangerous teams linger in the shadows of the future, and maybe Arizona has to worry about using up all of its luck right at the beginning of conference play.
"Let's be honest, I don't like all these tough games" he said, when asked if he'd rather be an average team in the Pac-12, or a powerhouse in a weaker conference. "It's too hard to beat all these tough teams. I'd rather be a really, really good team in a crappy league. But we're in a good league, so that ship has sailed."
There's at least one top-tier program in the Pac-12, with 4-0 Oregon seeming to have a date with destiny in the College Football Playoff. At least so far. But even the Ducks were scrambling last weekend to escape the Cougars in Pullman, squeezing by in a 38-31 thriller on ESPN.
There are no sacred cows in the Pac-12.
"Every game is scary," Stanford coach David Shaw said, using the Cal-Arizona game as an example. "You look at the yardage in that game. No one had any expectations for Cal this year, and Arizona maybe moderate expectations because they lost a great running back. But you turn on the game tape and just say, 'Wow.'"
There's seven unbeaten teams in the league. One of them is Utah. One of them is Oregon State. None of them are Stanford or USC. It's an interesting sort of chaos which will soon be set in order as the unbeatens play each other.
Pac-12 coaches are quick to say the league is better, which has a ring of truth to it. But the league also may be more tightly packed: The difference between Cal and Stanford doesn't appear to be the gulf it was last year.
In the end, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said, every team is made up of 18- to 20-somethings who are still maturing in terms of how they prepare for each game.
"I kind of go with what Lou Holtz said, that you're playing with a different team every week," he said. " You've got to get those kids motivated and dialed in, and that can be hard."
Here's a tip: Keep an eye on the so-called "bottom half" of the league.
Yet, so much is unknown and the pecking order doesn't appear to be as distinct. It's only a matter of time before the Cals, Colorados and Washington States of the world are Goliath-beaters for one week.
Utah did it last year, knocking off then-unbeaten Stanford in its signature win of the season. There's going to more this year.
And everyone in the top half? Well, they just have to stay on their toes. Next week, no matter who they're playing, will be a challenge.