Pac 10 Power Poll Week Nine

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This has not been a banner year for the Pac 10 conference as USC is now the only team in the Top 30 of teams getting votes in the coaches poll. Unless Oregon State or Arizona somehow wins out it seems highly unlikely that two Pac 10 teams will make it to the BCS and the conference as a whole is going to have a very hard time getting enough teams even bowl eligible to fill all of its spots. The big winner of the week was probably Arizona, however you could make the argument that Oregon was the big winner by not having to play. The Cats by beating Cal kept themselves alive as one of only two teams (other being Oregon State) that still control their own destiny in terms of the Rose Bowl. Obviously the odds are long for Arizona but along with OSU the possibility still exists. The Cats showed up enough on defense to stymie the Cal Bears and now get to take on USC. Going in to the year I thought that USC’s best chance at a loss was the Arizona game and the possibility of the Cats winning in Tucson this week can’t be overlooked. Financially the conference is hurt if USC losses here because it takes them out of the BCS Championship hunt but for the remaining contenders a USC loss would do a lot to make a Rose Bowl a possibility. USC was dominant against WSU but that means nothing, Oregon and Cal dominated the Cougs too and then were disappointing in their next games. In what has become a yearly trend Oregon State is starting to become a dominant team towards the end of the year and ran their winning streak over UW to 5 games. Who could have imagined in the early 1990’s that the teams from Oregon would go five years without a loss to the once mighty Huskies? Finally Stanford dropped a heartbreaker to UCLA which really hurts their bowl chances. The Cardinal, assuming they beat the Cougs in two weeks would need to win 2 out of 3 from UO, Cal and USC just to get to 6 wins overall, the road to 6 is possible but daunting.
1. USC (1) – Nothing went wrong for USC save for a blocked punt. No Pac 10 team should have a 41-0 lead in a conference road game, USC looked like they were playing a mediocre Big Sky conference team which is probably what WSU is at this point. USC faces its last big hurdle in my opinion when they travel to Tucson this weekend. Win that one and I give them a 50/50 shot of playing in the BCS championship game as the SEC and Big 12 beat each-other up.
2. UO (3) – Won by not playing and gets moved to the 2 spot by default. The Ducks should be better off with Justin Roper in the lineup since he can actually throw the ball down the field. The receivers need to become a factor again for the Ducks both for this year and for recruiting of future receivers.
3. OSU (4) – Did what they were supposed to and that is beat UW on the road. The Beavs face ASU at home in 2 weeks and pending Oregon beats the Devils the Beavs should extend ASU’s string of defeats to 6 games.
4. UA (6) – Nice win for UA over Cal and at 5-2 Arizona looks in good shape for a bowl game with WSU and ASU still on the schedule. Mike Stoops, pending a complete meltdown should do enough to save his job thus year which I think is good news for other programs around the league.
5. Cal (2) - With what has happened with some other Cal teams the last few years you have to wonder if Tedford’s guys will fold their tents again after a tough loss down in Tucson. Getting UCLA at home is nice for Cal because UCLA is a terrible road squad. The qb play was poor at Arizona but the defense was terrible and that could spell trouble down the road with Oregon and UCLA looming on the schedule.
6. Stanford (6) – Very disappointing loss to UCLA for Jim Harbaugh and company that hurts the chances of getting to 6 wins a great deal. Stanford just can’t seem to get over the hump on the road, this seems to show that they are one year away from being a team that should be able to get to a decent (ie Sun or Vegas Bowl).
7. UCLA (8) – at 3 and 4 still has a minute chance of getting to 6 wins but with USC, OSU and Cal still on the schedule that will be a tough task. This is a team that will improve a great deal from this year to next in my opinion.
8. ASU (7) – This is Rudy’s last stand. For some reason Oregon was very generous and moved this game a week back at ASU’s request. ASU needs to find a way to protect Rudy Carpenter who is still gimpy. If he can throw deep early and burn the Ducks (who will be blitzing early to try and rough up Carpenter) ASU has a shot. If not they are looking at 5th straight loss with a almost certain loss next week in Corvallis coming up.
9. UW (9) – Got plastered again at home versus Oregon State but I think that Fouche has a shot to be a decent throwing Qb and that the Dawgs might be better served moving Jake Locker to linebacker or safety. I don’t think he has a NFL future at QB and this may work out best for everyone. That will be the new coaches call however and we don’t know who that will be.
10. WSU (10) – Well when you think things can’t get any lower they do 69-0 being the proof. Thankfully for the Cougs they have a bye this week.