Week 8 Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

For most of the season it has appeared that USC, Cal and Oregon were a step or two ahead of the rest of the conference, however with USC struggling to win close games, Oregon self destructing in Pullman and Cal needing overtime to beat a Husky team at home without it’s starting QB you have to wonder if the herd has caught up to the Pac. A couple of schools who were all but left for dead a few weeks ago, Oregon State and Washington State, have cashed in some big wins and are back in the bowl race while early favorite Oregon, ranked as high as 11th before the loss in Berkeley has seen their season turn in to one where the best likely scenario sees them spending some time right after Christmas enjoying all that Ciudad Juarez has to offer. Like in 1998 Oregon has taken too many hits on the injury front and the offense has come one-dimensional and turnover prone. Jonathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon have been quite disappointing the last three weeks and one has to wonder if Brady Leaf and Jeremiah Johnson deserve more playing time based on their performances in Pullman. Two gallant efforts in loses by UCLA and Washington seem to show me that their caches are taken their schools in the right direction though they need to learn how to finish, particularly in the case of UCLA. As for Stanford and Arizona basketball season is almost upon us.

1. USC (1) – Defeated BYE this week and in doing so got some much needed rest for a young and injury depleted team. Carroll and company hopefully used the extra practice time to find their offense which is performing at half speed compared to what we have seen since 2002. The Trojans face a resurgent Beaver team coming off road two wins, but I give OSU no chance in this game for a three factors. One being that Mike Riley teams don’t beat ranked competition. Two, the horrific on the bandwagon, off the bandwagon, on the bandwagon again, soon to be off the bandwagon once more if USC scores early fan base has made the Bean Dip a house of horrors for the home team. The Beavers could learn a few lessons from the fans of South Carolina who have supported their team year after losing year in a program whose bowl history is similar to Oregon State. Finally the most important factor is that Oregon State lacks the athletes of USC
2. Cal (2) – Not sure how a team forces 4 interceptions in regulation while throwing none of their own and still needs to go to OT to beat a team they are favored to beat by 18. Well last second scores in both halves made this game appear much closer than it ended up being but Cal definitely needs to worry about the secondary outside of Mr Hughes. The Bears are clinging to an outside shot at still having a BCS championship opportunity and need to play with a bit more conviction after two sub-par games versus the Washington schools.
3. Arizona State (4) – Arizona State at least on paper could win out. The key will be pass protection, basically if Rudy Carpenter gets the time the Devils have the weapons to beat any team left on their schedule and their two toughest match-ups with WSU and UCLA will both be in Tempe. Beating Stanford probably doesn’t tell us much about ASU but true to form Dirk Koetter wins the games he is supposed to and not much else. As ASU will likely be favored from here on out they have a distinct possibility to finish the year with 9 wins. Amazingly due to the terrible bowl arrangements that the Pac 10 has the conference could have 4 teams with 9 or more wins with only two of those losses being not against each other and still only get one bid. This will happen if USC beats Cal which will knock Cal out of the BCS in almost any scenario.
4. Washington State (6 ) – For the first time all year a member of the perceived “Big 3” has been knocked out of the perch (Oregon) and has been replaced by school who has lost to three teams in the BCS Top 11. Looking back the result of the Oregon game was pretty predictable. Eugene homeboy Ben Brink led the Cougars with grit and made only one mistake all game and it came so late it was all but meaningless while the Ducks offense under Dixon and Stewart became mistake prone, predictable and downright ineffective until Oregon brought in Brady Leaf and the Cougars went prevent. Due to tie breakers over Oregon WSU actually still has a legit shot at the Holiday Bowl if Cal wins the Pac 10, a scenario which is all but impossible for Oregon even though they could finish 10-2 and in the Top 15 in the final BCS. The Cougars can clinch up a bowl spot with a win at what has to be a mentally beat down UCLA in what is most certainly the Pac 10 game of the week.
5. Oregon (3) – This year reminds of the early Bellotti regime. A hot September filled with lots of offense and promise and then an October swoon. Luckily Oregon faces a de-facto bye-week versus Portland State to prepare for a much tougher than expected Washington who has likely been circling this game all year. The Ducks can’t continue to turn the ball over at the rate they have been doing. The main culprits in this sense have been Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart who needed to play smarter and with greater toughness. What was once a team with sky’s the limit national aspirations looks destined for a third tier bowl somewhere in the nations southwest region.
6. UCLA ( 5) – Great effort in South Bend came all for not when UCLA decided to run the prevent you from winning defense and didn’t pressure Brady Quinn on the final drive after hitting him upside the head the whole game which let Notre Dame score a late TD to win the game. You get so few opportunities to win games like that, UCLA, despite a great effort was let down by their coaching staff in my opinion. UCLA now will host a good WSU team at home in a game that Dorrell desperately needs to get to a bowl game.
7. Oregon State (7) – Won a second straight road game but now face a return to the unfriendly confines of Bean Dip Field. Will the fans and students turn quickly or Moore and Riley if USC scores early? The Beavers are on the cusp of a bowl but will need to win 3 more games this year to get there. USC will not be one of those three wins.
8. Washington (8) – In a very weird game Washington was able to take Cal to overtime before they were done in a foolish Carl Bonnell pass and the running of Marshaun Lynch. Kudos to Coach Willingham for getting his team up enough to take Cal down to the wire but frankly this team faces major issues at QB. Bonnell has to make better decisions to have any chance of winning and I wouldn’t count on any more Hailmarys to work this year. Give Washington’s defense major credit for keeping the score relatively low despite all the interceptions.
9. Arizona (9) – The loss to Oregon State may well have sealed Mike Stoops fate. This team is boring, beat up and dejected.
10. Stanford (10) – Put this horse to sleep. This team may go down as not only the worst Pac 10 team of the last 20 years but may be the worst BCS conference team since its inception. I just don’t see a win on the remaining schedule

Week Seven Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

This week was a painful one for starting QB’s. Washington lost their starting QB and arguably most important player to a season ending injury. Arizona is now looking at Kris Heavner starting as Willie Tuitama and Adam Austin are both hurt and Stanford now faces life without both Trent Edwards and TC Ostrander. As has been the case this year Cal, Oregon and USC are clearly the most talented teams in the Pac 10 and though they haven’t always won pretty they are winning all the games they should and I don’t see that changing. Washington really is in a world of hurt now in their attempt to get back to a bowl game. The offense was really based around the mobility of Stanback and either Carl Bonnell or Johnny Durocher will not provide the same sense of mobility that will keep opposing offenses at bay. Washington now likely has only one automatic win on the schedule meaning they will need to beat Stanford and hope they can defeat either ASU or WSU to get to a bowl. Oregon State on the other hand may have turned their year around and if they can win at Zona this week have likely gotten them-selves in position for a bowl game. Mike Riley just yet may save his hide. Same cannot be said for Mike Stoops if he loses this week to OSU. In other games Oregon faces their biggest challenge until the USC match-up. The Ducks usually have just enough to win in Pullman and I see that continuing. Washington will likely get crushed with a new QB on the road in Berkeley while I see UCLA just not having the horses to hang with USC. In the final game Stanford travels to Tempe and ASU will see their 3 game losing streak end post haste. In fact ASU could set themselves up for a nice win streak and end this year 9-3 which could get them to the Sun Bowl.

1. USC (1) – Again playing with fire, this team continues to win ugly with a ton of young players. Thankfully the schedule has been amazingly favorable and I think the bye week comes at a perfect time giving Troy 2 weeks to prepare for what could be a bad weather game against a resurgent Beaver team.
2. Cal (2) – Offense didn’t roll as much as many may have thought in Pullman but again it wasn’t needed as Cal’s defense shut down the Cougar attack. The Bears have to be licking their chops at the thought of playing UW in Strawberry Canyon without a green QB.
3. UO (3) – Oregon rebounded in a game that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard showed. The Ducks have some major worries with regards to special teams, short yardage running and defensive depth. In typical Oregon fashion the Ducks were great in their first 20 offensive plays scoring 3 first quarter TD’s then once the plays weren’t scripted the offense sputtered. This trend needs to be reversed to beat WSU and USC.
4. ASU (7) – The Devils mounted a valiant comeback on the road at USC but just like so many before them came up a bit short. Now that the Murderer’s Row schedule of ASU is over the Devils have a legit shot to win out the rest of the year and on paper they should. If Dirk Koetter wants to continue to be the coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils I highly recommend he win every game he should on paper in reality. Playing Stanford at home should help Rudy Carpenter regain his confidence.
5. UCLA (6) – I am not sure what to think of UCLA other than that they play some very boring football. Unfortunately they have to play their second straight road game, this time versus a rested Notre Dame squad. It could get ugly early if this one turns in to a track meet.
6. WSU (5) – I expected a bit more from the Cougars offense last week against Cal. The quad still looks like they are online for a bowl game and you know they would love to ruin Oregon’s year after the close escapes that the Ducks have had in the second home field in Pullman. Not sure if it is a good thing for Oregon that they get WSU at home next as they last time these two squads met in Eugene Bellotti was handed his worst loss ever.
7. OSU (8) – Nice win on the road that not many expected and they can easily make it 2 in a row this week in Tucson which would leave the Beavs in prime territory to sneak in to a bowl game. I think the Beavs are more comfortable on the road right now due to the hostile treatment the coaches and players are receiving from the “fans” of Beaver Nation.
8. UW (4) – Not sure I have ever dropped a school four places this late in the year but the Dawgs just lost their heart, offensive MVP and team leader last week in the loss to the Beavers. Losing Stanback will make UW one dimensional on offense and with the task of having to play road games in Berkeley, Eugene and Pullman the chances for a bowl game for the formerly Purple Helmets just got bleak.
9. UA (9) – That win over Stanford deserved a ticker tape parade, oh wait, maybe not. Arizona really needs to win every game they have a shot in to keep Stoops around next year. Kris Heavner has started for Arizona in the past with not much success and the Beavs seem to have regained some heart. I think Zona loses this one at home but it will be close. Do they have another Pac 10 win on the schedule?
10. Stanford (10) – No where to go but up from here, too bad they are going to be the punching bag that gets Rudy his groove back in Tempe this weekend.

Week Six Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

This week saw no changes in my power poll standings, I may need to check my records but I don’t think that has ever happened. Now I understand it is quite obvious that from viewing games this year Cal is at this point of the season a better team at this point than USC. However I made a pledge to keep USC at #1 until they lose and the Trojans did managed to escape the suddenly tough Washington schools with two close victories. Oregon appeared to have been listening to the media a tad much and got mauled down in Berkeley by a Cal team that still has to be kicking itself for the huge crap they took on themselves in Knoxville. The two coaches with the first name Mike in the Pac 10 both had stakes all but planted in their hearts taken losses in what have to be considered at least winnable games on paper. Expect changes at both schools next year and if Dirk Koetter can’t right the ship soon (a visit to USC isn’t going to do much to help that) he could be getting a pink slip too. I won’t totally discount the idea that Walt Harris could get canned as going 0-12 no matter the talent level is not acceptable especially when the school put up over 100 million for a new stadium. Bill Doba has done enough to stay at WSU another year, they should have enough to get to 6 or 7 wins and go bowling. This week the big game on the slate is the Oregon-UCLA tilt, UCLA has traditionally dominated Oregon at Autzen Stadium (the Ducks have only beat the Bruins twice in the history of the stadium) but with UCLA facing it’s first top 20 caliber team and without Ben Olson I see the Ducks coming back strong. Cal needs to not look past WSU who have quietly (like UCLA) put up a nice season. Stanford has it’s best shot at a win this week with the Mildcats in tow and while USC looks to get healthy versus an ASU Sun Devil team that has had two weeks to think about their devastating loses to Cal and Oregon. Finally Washington can get to five wins and all but end any chance of a winning record in Beaverland with a match-up in Seattle.

1. USC (1) – Haven’t really played a complete game since Arkansas. The defense has played well but isn’t forcing turnovers. If ASU was in a healthy state mentally I’d think they could beat the Trojans however healthy mental state and ASU Sun Devils are not two phrases that should be connected at this junction of the season. USC now has the chance to get a bit healthy before the schedule stiffens up.
2. Cal (2) – Cal flat out damaged Oregon, they outplayed Oregon in all aspects of the game and now just need to avoid a letdown at WSU. The Bears have to be considered the favorite now to win the Pac 10 championship however by the time they do play USC expect the Trojans to have regained some of their mojo.
3. UO (3) – The Cal game was over after the first play. Oregon must re-establish the running game and forget about the past week to get by always pesky UCLA. I was quite disappointed with some of the player antics seen on the field versus Cal. Without a doubt the worst performance by Oregon with Gary Crowton at OC.
4. UW (4) – The Huskies proved they are for real even in a loss at USC. No longer can anyone on the home or on the road look past the team in Purple. Please note this Oregon Ducks for your match-up with the Dawgs looms in a dangerous spot of the schedule sitting right before the big game versus USC.
5. WSU (5) – The Cougars beat everyone who they should, that should get them to a bowl game, however this week they face an amazing opportunity to get themselves in the Pac 10 race if they can beat Cal at home. I don’t think WSU has the horses to do it but watch out for Mkristo Bruce to attempt to take Nate Longshore out of his rhythm with some early heat.
6. UCLA (6) – UCLA has faced only one quality opponent this year in what has been the Pac 10’s easiest schedule. UCLA can’t get in a track meet with Oregon, to win this game the Bruins can’t give up more than 21 to the Ducks and I just don’t see that happening. UCLA faces 4 very tough games in the next 4 weeks, the easy slate of the schedule is over. They will need to win at least one of them to have a shot at getting to a bowl this year.
7. ASU (7) – Well ASU is at the crossroads. They need to show something against USC, a win is not needed to salvage this year but getting the passing game back and putting in some effort is a must. ASU could still easily recover and win 7 or 8 games this year as after the USC game they face all winnable games. I just have the feeling that ASU will throw in the towel and things could get very ugly in Tempe.
8. OSU (8) – More Beaver fans than normal seem to have taken up hunting. Oregon State might as well end the Matt Moore era and play for next year. Problem for Mike Riley is that he wants to continue having a job and needs to get some wins to save himself. Basically the mood in Corvallis is really getting ugly and I think that the coaches and players will actually be happy to have a road game up in Seattle. I don’t see the Beavers keeping this one within 10.
9. Arizona (9) – Arizona has no offense which makes it very hard to win games, that their D let down and let UCLA score 27 is a sign that Mike Stoops may have lost this team. If Coach Stoops loses to Stanford I could see him getting fired after the game. The Cats will be favored the next two weeks and then get a bye before they play up in Pullman. This is truly Mike Stoops last stand, look for him to be coaching somewhere on the Oklahoma defensive staff next year.
10. Stanford (10) – The Cardinal actually showed a bit of a pulse in South Bend. If they repeat that effort they will beat the Arizona Wildcats and give the New Stanford Stadium its first win.

Week 5 Review and Pac 10 Power Poll

Two weeks in to the regular conference schedule and already it appears as if the Pac 10 is a three tier league. Let’s call it the Good, the Decent and the Ugly. Many folks expected ASU to beta Oregon if not at least make it a shootout. Instead in the performance of the week not only in the conference but in the nations the Ducks dominated on both sides of the ball and all things considered 10 of the 13 points scored by ASU were due to the sloppy play of the injury depleted Ducks special teams. Unfortunately for Oregon, who with a healthy defense I would likely have as a Top 5 team nationally, they will face a great running team in the Cal Bears on the road this week. The winner of this game will likely find themselves in a BCS bowl and will have chance to win the Pac 10 with a win at USC later in the year. The loser is looking at the Holiday or Sun Bowl. In other action I have to give kudos to UW for beating Arizona on the road, WSU for hanging tough with a Jarrett-less USC and UCLA for what it is worth shutting out a Stanford team that would be struggling to compete in the Big Sky right now. Right now there is a lot of pressure on 4 coaches in this league with respect to their job security for 2007 (coaches Koetter, Stoops, Riley and even at this point I’d have to say Walt Harris) and if the WSU fade down the stretch I’d add Bill Doba to that list. What this means is that 2007 will a ton of new faces and if the rumors out there are true there could be possible returns to the Pac 10 of Dennis Erickson and Rick Neuheisel.

1. USC (1) – I will keep my vow to keep USC number one until they lose but the gap between them and Cal and Oregon is very small and USC will have trouble finishing this year with zero losses. In their favor they play much better at home than on the road and they just played their last losable road game outside of Los Angeles and escaped the pesky Cougars. USC will now get to see if Washington is for real. I don’t know if Stanback will be as effective against the quick USC defense as he has been against team likes Arizona and UCLA. I figure the Dawgs may keep the game close for a half and then get run in the second half.
2. Cal (2) – The Bears crushed the Beavers in Corvallis. The question this week will be if the Bears can stop the Oregon offense. If I am Cal I want to make sure I get the ball first and try to break off an early lead with a grinding drive that eats up 5+ minutes and attacks the Oregon D-Line. If the Ducks can turn this game in to a track meet and force Cal to play from behind they will likely win as the Longshore is more prone to making mistakes than Dixon at this point. The difference in the talent level between these two teams is minute and if the Ducks were playing with a full deck off cards on defense I would say Oregon would be the favorite.
3. UO (3) – Only injuries can stop the Ducks now. The offense is about as efficient as any in the nation right now and the defense is hard hitting and was all out dominant against an ASU team that had thrown on almost everyone in the last few years. The Ducks followed Cal’s game plan and crushed the confidence of Rudy Carpenter.
4. UW (5) – The Dawgs deserve a load of credit and can earn some more kudos for coach Ty if they can stay competitive versus the Trojans in Coliseum. Two more win and the Dawgs are bowl eligible. For that accomplishment the Pac 10 coach of the year award should be Willingham’s unless Mike Bellotti can take the Ducks to an undefeated season.
5. WSU (6) – The Cougars had a legit shot to beat USC but Steve Smith decided to pick Saturday to have the game of his life. I think WSU will win enough games to go to a minor bowl but the chance for a special season slipped away last Saturday night in Pullman.
6. UCLA (7) – Still not sure how good this team is as they have played a very easy schedule which continues this week with the Mildcats coming to town. UCLA still has to be kicking themselves for losing to Washington. UCLA needs to mix in a play-action on first down just like ex Bruins coach Bob Toledo needed to mix in a salad for dinner a few times a week. Defenses are completely keying on UCLA to go conservative. Martyball doesn’t work in the Pac 10 in the 2000’s. This weeks games looks like it will be a 6-3 thriller with two offenses that are about as exciting to watch as teams running the Wing-T formation in the 1930’s.
7. ASU (4) – Somewhere in a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska you have to believe that Sam Keller is enjoying a beer and a laugh at Dirk Koetter’s expense. ASU played about as bad a game I can imagine and lucked out in that the score was as close as it was. The Ducks tore away whatever confidence Rudy Carpenter had left. ASU needs to use the bye week to recover their Mojo or a losing season is in the cards and some rich ASU alum will be buying out Dirk’s five year contract extension
8. OSU (8) – Just like Dirk Koetter Mike Riley led teams seem to be unable to beat Top 25 schools. The last win for Mike Riley versus such a team was the 1998 defeat of the running-back depleted Oregon Ducks. Lots of the Beaver fans, at least though that attended the game in the sellout-less Bean Dip were calling for the fire of Riley. All that can probably save Mike Riley is a defeat of either USC or Oregon at home later this year. The Beavs play a possible coach elimination at the end of the year game this week versus the Cougars. Expect lots of Beaver fans to miss the game this week to go hunting.
9. UA (9) – A year filled with lots of promise has all but circled the drain for the Wildcats though a win at UCLA would put them back on track for bowl contention. Hopefully Bob Stoops needs an assistant coach next year.
10. Stanford (10) – That Stanford is bad this year does not shock me. The historical badness of this year’s Stanford team is what is shocking. What better than a trip to South Bend add to Stanford’s pain and suffering. Before this year I would have considered Walt Harris to be safe no matter what happened this year, now I am not so sure. The problem is that Stanford has only been competitive in one game this year and even that was to Division 1-A doormat San Jose State who likely gained a year or two reprieve from being shutdown as a program with the victory over the Trees. I think Stanford would have trouble finishing .500 in the Big Sky this year. That is Joe Avezanno/Jerri Pettibone bad.

Pac 10 Power Poll and Week 4 Review

This week we learned that Arizona has a tough defense but no offense, USC has a dominating defense but some questions on offense, the Huskies are 3-0 versus the State of California on what looks like a possible return to a bowl game this year, Cal and Nate Longshore are grasping the spread offense and ASU and Dirk Koetter still can’t figure out how to win a regular season game in the state of California. It was a pretty sub-par slate of games nationally this week and ASU-Cal match-up was one of only two battles between Top 25 schools in the country this week. This week will mark the first week of Pac 10 teams playing only each-other and the two remaining undefeated squads in the Pac 10 both face road tests. I know it is early to talk BCS but the worst news for the Pac 10 was Michigan State choking away a late lead to Notre Dame and unless there is a shocker out there (most likely candidates in this order are Air Force, UCLA and Navy) the Irish will be going 10-2 this year or 11-1 if they can beat USC and thus force snagging one of the BCS at-large bids, with the loser of the Louisville-West Virginia both likely to be ranked ahead of say a 1 loss Cal (who the media has written off due to the Tennessee game) or Oregon (who will get penalized through no fault of their own as already having one loss on their slate from the Oklahoma debacle) squad the Pac 10 is likely destined for only one team in the BCS unless the Pac 10 champion is not the USC Trojans. A possible undefeated season by TCU would throw a wrench in to this as well further hurting the Pac 10’s hope. The hope is now likely on UCLA and USC to defeat the Irish to keep the Pac 10 in line for one of the now 10 BCS bids.

Power Poll

1. USC (1) – The Trojans showed that they have some vulnerability to tough hitting defensive squads and the loss of Dwayne Jarrett takes away John David Booty’s security blanket. This USC squad probably is mentally tougher than last year’s who tended to coast a bit and the defense is quite improved. However the questions begs is how USC will fare against a tough hitting team that actually has an offense. Again to the Trojans favor they get to play Oregon and Cal in the Coliseum. The schedule gods love USC, they face a relatively under the radar WSU team in the Palouse who were crushed in Auburn but have rebounded against 3 bottom barrel I-A opponents in Idaho, Baylor and Stanford. Normally this could be a huge bear trap game for USC but they luck out and get to play WSU in the year that weather shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think the Cougars defense is good enough to keep USC under 30 points and with the improvement of the USC defense this will be more than enough for the Trojans to get the win in what actually looks like it could USC’s hardest remaining road game.
2. Cal (3) – The Bears seem to be grasping the spread offense and I think have improved as much as any team in the country since week one. Their defense is starting to make plays and Longshore has avoided the mistakes that plagued him against the Vols. The Bears will face a hostile crowd in Corvallis but have much better athletes on each side of the ball to lose to the Beavers. Cal will hope to avoid any major injuries before a likely BCS elimination game with Oregon the following week.
3. UO (2) – Had to drop the Ducks not because of anything they did but because of the way Cal handled ASU. Oregon needs to avoid the mistake of previous Oregon teams of getting too confident after a big win. I think the bye week came at a perfect time and I hope that the players have put all the media attention of the Oklahoma game behind them. The question is whether ASU will have anything in the tank after the Cal game or if they are pulling their annual mid-season el-foldo after losing to a highly ranked opponent. Oregon has some major depth issues at the linebacker but will be buoyed a bit by the return of some guys in the defensive two-deep from injury and having a close to 100% Jonathan Stewart and Jeremiah Johnson. I like the Ducks chances to defeat ASU before the big game in Berkeley in two weeks which will likely define both schools seasons.
4. ASU (3) – I thought ASU would be better able to throw on Cal then they did and the disappointing performance of ASU against Cal could send this season in to a tailspin. I think the fans and many of the players were just looking for a reason to give up hope and having Oregon come in after a bye week is bad news for Koetter and company. Hopefully for them Rudy Carpenter will have licked his wounds from all the shots he took from the Cal defense. I think the gap between the Top 3 of this conference is huge this year, ASU is the best of a mediocre bottom 7.
5. UW (7) – Hats off to Ty Willingham who has the Dawgs believing again. I actually saw people wearing UW hats on TV at the Seahawks game yesterday and even saw a chap in Safeway in Portland wearing one too. I am glad that the Purple Nation is again unafraid to support their team in public. I have to give the Dawgs major kudos for coming back from 17-0 to win 29-17 against UCLA. The Dawgs don’t have quit in them and face a winnable and likely very low scoring game in Tucson this week.
6. WSU (6) – The Cougs did what they needed to do and won in Stanford in what should have been a larger defeat than the score showed due to some offensive mistakes in the first half by the Cougars. A win over USC would be a defining moment and could put the Cougs on route to another magic season but I think hey lack the athletes that the 2002 team had who was the last team outside of Cal and Texas to beat USC.
7. UCLA (5) – I have yet to UCLA play this year so it is a bit hard to judge them but they suffered a huge second down let-down versus the Huskies. The Dawgs obviously made some excellent second half adjustments. UCLA should recover nicely with Stanford on the slate this week but looking back at the end of the year UCLA will circle the collapse against UW as perhaps their biggest lost opportunity. Since UCLA faces perhaps the toughest second half schedule in the country they couldn’t afford to let this one slip them by.
8. OSU (8) – The Beavers shout out a very bad Idaho after a bye week. I am not sure this shows much other than that Beavs didn’t make any major gaffes in this game. Mike Riley needs a defining win in his second tenure in Corvallis and hasn’t had one yet. It will not come this week with Cal in tow.
9. UA (9) – The good news is that U of A played good enough defense to beat USC and even forced two turnovers from a team that was +6 in that category going in to the game, the bad news is that Arizona’s offense looks like it has the team speed of a glacier and Willi Tuitama is going to end up being hurt at the rate he is taking abuse from blitzing defenses. Stoops needs to beat UW, that is not the kind of game he can afford to lose if he wants to do anything more than rejoin his whining brother Bob on the Oklahoma staff next year.
10. Stanford (10) – This Stanford team might go down as the worst Pac 10 team since the early 1980’s Beavers. Looks like 0-12 is the likely scenario though Tree fans can hold out hope for October and November home match-ups with the Beavers and Wildcats.