I have heard UO, UW, USC, and even OrST fans say the same things:
"No conference is as complete top-to-bottom as the Pac-12"
"We never have an undefeated, or 1-loss team because we beat up on each other too much"
"We actually play TOUGH non-conference road games, unlike the SEC and Big10" (there is actually some truth to this, but it's not the reason the Pac12 doesn't win more often)
"You never know who is going to win a conference game" (technically true, but mostly because the blue-bloods have sucked for awhile).
"We suffer from an east-coast bias"
I am positive that Ute fans are just regurgitating what they hear from the rest of the conference says as excuses for why they stink.
The actual reasons Pac-12 teams don't go undefeated:
- There is little fan support compared to top teams in the nation
- Top teams struggle to recruit/retain coaching and player talent
- They waste money on flashy coaching talent
- There is an overemphasis on winning titles in any sport than winning in the sports that people actually watch (conference of champions)
- They sell their players on "lifestyle" more than winning
- Many mid-tier teams have an overinflated view of themselves (Utah, ASU, Cal)
- Almost none of their sports are profitable and the vast majority of schools operate at a loss (except USC, UO, UW)