Week Nine Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

October 28th will be forever remembered in not only Corvallis but in locales across the West Coast. It was the day that the Pete Carroll USC dynasty officially ended. It is an old adage that if you win the turnover battle and you will usually win the game. Oregon State managed to force 4 turnovers while turnover prone Matt Moore and his mates surrendered none. Oregon State while certainly not the better team nor the more talented team was better for one day in a game that proved what college football is about. On the other hand I wonder how many Beaver fans have decided to bag out on hunting season now and go to the Civil War. What was an empty bandwagon has been filled once more. Mike Riley deserves credit for keeping him team together, I hope that the students and alumni who were calling for his head on a plate and called for the premature ending of the Matt Moore era enjoyed some crow last Saturday. The Pac 10 race is now Cal’s to lose and it appears that all chances of a 2 BCS Bowl season for the league are over along with the extra 400K in the coffers of each school’s budget. Now it will come down to Cal and USC for the Rose while the remaining schools, except for Stanford and unless they pull out a miracle Arizona, will fight to get to the remaining bowl games. Six wins gets you a chance (but all 7 win schools nationally get first bid on bowls) so 7 will be the magic number to guarantee one a spot.

Power Poll

1. Cal (2) – This week marks the first time USC has not been leading my poll since it debuted last year. Cal has not played a solid game since the Oregon game and one has to believe that the Fighting Tedfords enjoyed their bye-week and got healthy. I don’t see Cal having much problem from a reeling UCLA in Strawberry Canyon this week though UCLA’s defense should at least keep Cal from breaking the 40 point barrier.
2. USC (1) – The mighty giant was finally knocked off, that USC lost was not a surprise though I don’t think many folks predicted it would have been by the now resurgent Beavs who have won 3 straight league match-ups. USC now will need to beat Cal and not fumble up against Stanford, UCLA or Oregon to have any greater hopes than the Holiday Bowl, a game which they have never actually played in. USC will start a new streak this week as they will be down on the Farm against hapless Stanford in a game that could see USC put up 50+ points.
3. WSU (4) – The Cougars now find themselves in the Top 25 after beating down UCLA who has watched their once promising season go down the tubes. Arizona shouldn’t present much of a problem for WSU who has been playing as well on offense as anyone in the conference the last two weeks. Special team injuries may be a concern but do you really need a punter and kicker for Arizona at home?
4. OSU (7) – You beat USC and you go up the charts. OSU will now go for 4 in a row with the match-up versus ASU down in Tempe. Typically after a huge upset such as the one the Beavers pulled off there is a letdown, I will predict that ASU ends up defeating the Beavers in Tempe in a game where the winner has a good shot at going to the Sun Bowl. In addition, Mike Riley has saved his job as OSU coach for all extensive purposes, save for losing out this year.
5. ASU (3) – Won a tough game on the road against UW but another injury on the line will hamper ASU as they host the suddenly hot Beavs. Normally I wouldn’t drop a team that won a road game two spots but the great efforts of WSU on the road and OSU against USC trump ASU beating an injury depleted UW in OT.
6. UO (5) – Yes the Ducks won last week and yes they are 6-2 right now but this team is a shell of what is once was due to injuries. That UO is 6-2 right now is a coaching miracle with the extent of injuries suffered by Oregon and with the turnover ratio. Oregon looks headed for the Vegas or Emerald Bowl and will have a tough time winning any of the remaining two road games on the schedule. For the Ducks it is 1998 all over again in terms of how the year may play out.
7. UW (8) – UW played just well enough to lose and now likely faces another losing season with two remaining road games against fierce rivals Oregon and Wazzu. Washington should have enough left in the tank to beat Stanford and give the Ducks a game but Husky fans will look back all year at the hiccup they faced with OSU and the injury to Stanback in that game. All in all the season has been a minor success in Montlake but not what it looked like it could have been a month ago.
8. UCLA (6) UCLA faced an easy early schedule but is now in freefall mode. The likelihood of a bowl game looks pretty glim now for coach Dorrell and I wouldn’t discount the chance that UCLA will not win another game this year. This has to be looked at as a huge step back for a program that won 10 games in 2005.
9. Arizona (9) – At 3-5 a bowl game is still a mathematical possibility but in all reality the season is over. AD Livengood says Stoops is not in any danger, is this the dreaded vote of confidence or will Stoops get another shot?
10. Stanford (10) – And the hits just keep on coming. The Trees get to host an angry Trojan team and even having a bye will not help them keep the Trojans from scoring less than 40.