Pac 10 Power Poll Week Nine

Hopworks Urban Brewery
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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.

Pac 10 Power Poll Week Eight

Evie and I
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Pac 10 Power Poll Week Eight
Sorry for the lateness this week has been tough, my work computer got infected with a virus on Monday and Evie has been sick with the flu. She is doing much better now which is a good thing since cleaning up vomit and or diarrhea at two in the morning is not my idea of a fun time. Was it really six days ago that the Pac 10 last played games, seems like much longer to me. Last week’s game of the week was surprisingly Stanford/Arizona which probably was an afterthought before the season started with the ASU/USC matchup on tap . With the win Stanford actually controls their own destiny for the Rose Bowl and does get to play USC at home. Stranger things have happened, Stanford is a well coached team who has now won 3 games in conference play and needs only two more wins to get to bowl consideration. The wheels have completely fallen off at Arizona State who is off on this week for a bye while they try to heal up for Oregon in two weeks, they got beat 28-0 at USC who played very flat themselves. Memo to Paul Wolff, don’t throw Mike Riley under the bus for running up the score. I am sorry your team is perhaps the worst the Pac 10 has ever seen but Mike Riley is about as classy and kind a person in sports you would ever run across. Have fun with USC in town this week, you have to wonder if Kevin Lopina is happy to be back from injury or not? The Oregon Ducks have frankly beat no one of any substance this year and that trend continued with the UCLA performance which outside of a great pass and catch TD from Masoli to Harper the passing game for Oregon was non-existent. Both the UO secondary and wide receivers need to learn how to catch the football. Too many dropped balls made the final score of UCLA/Oregon way closer than it should have ever been. This week looks like another set of dud games in the Pac 10.
1. USC (1) – Brought their C game and still won 28-0 versus ASU. The concern I see in USCland however is that Mark Sanchez doesn’t look that healthy to me since Nick Reed rolled up on his knee. Expect to see a lot of backups play major minutes in Pullman this week. No need to even bring Joe McKnight along for the trip.
2. Cal (2) - With Zona’s loss to Stanford this game lost a lot of its luster. The last time Cal played in Zona the Cats ruined Cal’s Rose Bowl shot. Jahvid Best should be back and it will be interesting to see how the QB situation will work for Cal this weekend. The Bears are the only undefeated team in conference play this year joining Stanford as the only schools who still control their own destiny for the Rose Bowl.
3. UO (3) – UCLA gave Masoli the run all night and he took it. Had the Ducks taken better care to actually catch the football and the Ducks could have made the game a laugher. I believe the return of Justin Roper will bring balance back to the Oregon offensive attack.
4. OSU (5) – Destroyed WSU and should destroy UW this weekend. The Beavs really should be 5-1 right now not 3-3. The Beavers have a very favorable schedule down the stretch and if they win out and Stanford losses a game they, not USC would be conference champs.
5. Stanford (7) – Was able to pull off a very important win versus UA and have kept their bowl hopes alive. I like what Harbaugh is doing down on the Farm. Stanford can’t afford a trip up to UCLA because they still have to play USC, Cal and Oregon down the stretch.
6. UA (4) – Just when you thought they might finally step out and be a contender the Cats blow a game they should win on paper. Not Arizona has to play Cal in a game that they must win if they have higher aspirations than the Vegas Bowl.
7. ASU (6) – In the words of Tommy Petty: “Free Fallin”. They have two weeks to get healthy for the Ducks – problem is the Ducks are magnificent after bye weeks and Justin Roper will be back.
8. UCLA (8) – Regretting that onside kick nonsense Neuheisal? UCLA was competitive against Oregon but the game would have gotten hand quickly if Oregon didn’t have hands of stone. UCLA can play spoilers this week to Stanford who has outside of the Washington game not played well on the road.
9. UW (9) – The best 0-5 team in America.
10. WSU (10) – Can it get any worse? Yes as USC is in town.

Pac 10 Power Poll Week Seven

Evie
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Pac 10 Power Poll Week Seven

The anticipated matchup of the week was Oregon-USC but that ended up turning in to mauling where upon USC put up 44 unanswered points. UO has some major concerns one being the lack of a passing game and the inability of the defense to defend against the pass, particularly the play action pass. One wonders if these factors might be related. Oregon has had the most trouble this year against the two teams they played (USC and Boise State) that had the most traditional Pro-style offenses. Perhaps the defense, while practicing against the Oregon offense has adapted to shutting down the spread but can’t handle a good Pro-style set. Makes for an interesting argument, many people in Duck land are calling for Nick Alliotti’s head but again I would be much more surprised to see him not in Eugene next year than I would Chip Kelly. Oregon can still finish 10-2 but I think 8-4 is more likely with the two losses coming to a combination of Cal, Zona and OSU. ASU played Cal a little closer than I would have thought but again the Bears physically beat up on ASU and it looks like Rudy is out for the USC game. Probably a good plan, ASU has no shot at UCLA and will then get a bye week to rest for Oregon with what should be a somewhat healthy Rudy Carpenter. In other games Arizona not shocking destroyed Washington. Too little too late for Stanford who played just well enough to lose to Notre Dame. Oregon State had Utah on the ropes then lost at the end, now the Beavers look like they can go on a 4 game winning streak with the Washington schools, UCLA and ASU on the schedule, they better because with a 1-2 OOC record and the loss to Stanford they would need to finish the Pac 10 schedule 5-3 even to be in the bowl discussion and would need 6-2 to secure a bowl. I won’t even bother discussing the WSU-UCLA game other than I sort of watched it while licking my wounds from the USC/Oregon blowout.\
1. USC (1) –UO played well early but had a series of foolish coaching decisions and bonehead plays on offense and defense that gave the Trojans their mojo back. USC if they can get by the hurdles of Cal and Zona still has a shot at the BCS championship game but clearly needs help with the disappointing play of the Pac 10 in OOC games this year. ASU will present no problem to USC this week at all expect lots of pressure on Danny Sullivan from the USC front seven.
2. Cal (3) – I think Cal stuck the final stake in ASU’s season. The Bears on the other hand have the inside track on the Holiday Bowl with Oregon suffering the USC loss while the Bears will get to play Oregon in Strawberry Canyon. Cal gets a week off to prepare for Arizona and hopefully get their QB situation figured out along with Jahvid Best back in the lineup.
3. UO (2) – It could be argued that Oregon is winning with mirrors. They have yet to beat a quality team this year and struggled with a clearly subpar Purdue team. However UCLA and Slick Rick are back in Eugene this week and UCLA has shown no sign of having an offense on the road this year. If Oregon doesn’t blow UCLA out there is an issue.
4. UA (6) – At Stanford is a huge game for the Cats, win it and they keep themselves in the position of being the team with, based on schedule, with the best chance of dethroning USC as league champs. Arizona has had a very easy schedule so far and the only blemish is the New Mexico loss but they frankly should be 5-0 at this point. Stanford is a tough team and is way more battle tested than Arizona is.
5. OSU (4) – The schedule eases up for the Beavs and that is needed. At 2-3 they can’t afford to drop more than 1 of the next 4 games if they want to be over .500 this year. Erase a few bonehead plays versus Stanford and Utah and the Beavs are 4-1 with only a road loss to a Top 10 team and in control of their own destiny for Pasadena.
6. ASU (5) – In the midst of a now 3 game losing streak the wheels on the bus are falling off for ASU. With USC a bye then Oregon the streak should be five games by months end.
7. LSJU (7) - Play Notre Dame tough but couldn’t pull out a must needed win. Now they need to go 4-2 from here on out to get to secure a bowl game and 3 to be eligible, losing to Arizona would make that all but impossible with Cal, USC and Oregon still on the schedule.
8. UCLA (8) – Not sure what beating WSU shows at this point, will face an Oregon team that is looking to get back in the swing of things and has Justin Roper so the Ducks should be able to throw down the field again.
9. UW (9) - Got mauled by the Cats, the Dawgs get a week off to prepare for Beaver Nation.
10. WSU (10) – Was at least marginally competitive versus UCLA now face a 30 point spread in Corvallis. I’d be surprised if Oregon State has ever been a 30 point favorite in a Pac 10 conference game.

Pac 10 Power Poll Week Six

The big story of the week was no doubt Cal’s ending of the Mountain West’s domination over the Pac 10 by beating Colorado State in Berkeley. Oh whoops, I guess there was a big event that occurred in Corvallis last Thursday that needs to be mentioned first. Kudos to the Oregon State Beavers for making the winning streak over USC in games played in the state of Oregon to 3. This means that USC has not beaten an Oregon school in the post Leinart/Bush era on the road and that has to be a bit disturbing to Pete Carroll who has other than that only dropped two other games in that time frame both in Los Angeles. Oregon State did something which I haven’t seen any team do since the 2001 Vegas Bowl and Utah and that is dominate USC completely on both sides of the line for an entire half. OSU was physical and played it straight up with USC and it proved to be the correct game plan. When it looked like USC was going to come out in the 3rd and dominate the Beavers didn’t panic and kept getting first down to extend drives even if it didn’t mean scoring points. This was key because it killed clock and kept their defense fresh. Now what does this all mean, well # 1 USC is not the dominant squad we imagine they would be and a bit of the luster is coming off of Pete Carroll but with the losses sustained in the SEC last weekend I think USC still has a punchers shot to make the BCS championship game if the dominoes fall their way. Second it opens up the Rose Bowl chances for just about everyone except the Washington schools and UCLA, beat USC and win out and you’ll go to the Rose Bowl. This makes the season a bit more interesting for teams like Oregon and the Cal/ASU winner, while Arizona, due to the fact that of the legit contenders without a conference loss left, are the only to get USC on their home field. This means they might have the best shot at being the first non-USC squad to represent the Pac 10 in the Rose Bowl since the 2002 Cougs if they can survive the rest of their schedule with only one additional loss. In other new Washington missed their likely best chance at a win until the Apple Cup with a home loss to Stanford and to add insult to injury the loss of Jake Locker for up to 8 weeks. Ryan Fouch actually showed some better promise as to throwing the ball than Locker but with time to adjust game plans I’d expect to see UW opponents drop a lot of players back in to coverage and try to force UW to beat them on the ground which will not be successful. The Willingham era is over in all but the official sense. He will likely coach out the rest of the year but resign after the Apple Cup. UCLA did score some points in the home loss to Fresno but the Bulldogs are a terrible defensive team, luckily they get to play WSU this week. Cal and Oregon had dominant performances against bad opponents, the only newsworthy item of those two games was the injury to Jahvid Best who now looks to miss the ASU game this week.
1. USC (1) – Typically you lose at #1 and you drop but I can’t see this happening this week due to the lack of strength among the other contenders. The gap is smaller but on a neutral field I still like USC way more than any other team in the conference. USC will be angry and wants to take it out on Oregon. USC is very much alive in the national championship race, and Oregon, with a win here could become in the discussion as well.
2. UO (2) – Total domination by Oregon, it makes them really have to look back at the cheap shot that knocked out Jeremiah Masoli against Boise State and wonder what if. The Ducks now have no margin of error from here on out. They can’t spend half the game with the wheels spinning like what occurred with Purdue and Boise State to have any chance to pull off the win.
3. Cal (3)- Cal was able end the Pac 10’s losing streak to Mountain West teams and seems to have recovered from the debacle at Maryland. The Bears can all but stick a fork in ASU with a win this week but won’t have Jahvid Best so expect more of an aerial assault from Cal
4. OSU (6) – The Beavs beat a number one team for the first team since 1967 which quite the accomplishment but they can’t rest on their laurels as they are venturing in to a hornet’s nest in Salt Lake City. The Beavs have to be seriously regretting the Stanford loss as they would be in all effects two games up on USC in the battle for the Pac 10 championship.
5. ASU (4) – ASU is in the middle of a gauntlet schedule that could very likely lead to season killing 5 game losing streak. The last time Rudy Carpenter played in Berkeley he was physically beat up by the Bears D-Line. Expect lots of pressure and a Devil loss.
6. UA (5) – Arizona hosts Washington and should quietly wait in the weeds with an easier early part of the schedule in league play before they host Cal and USC later in the month.
7. LSJU (7) – Got a road win in Seattle now must go to Notre Dame. Stanford could win this one which would do the nation a favor and eliminate any chance of Notre Dame stealing a BCS bid.
8. UCLA (9)- The question is whether the offense is back or whether it was just a poor Fresno defense that allowed UCLA yards and points. I’d aim with the poor defense by FSU. UCLA can’t afford a slip up to WSU at home.
9. UW (8) – Jake Locker is effectively out for the year not sure how much more this team can take.
10. WSU (10) - WSU could be a first division team, in the Big Sky.

Power Poll Week Five

Well the PAC 10 is now down to one undefeated team and for the 7th time in the last 9 games Oregon had it’s starting quarterback injured. This time Jeremiah Masoli was speared on a late hit that really should have led to an ejection but didn’t. For some reason Oregon stubbornly kept running the ball with Chris Harper when everyone in the entire stadium except for Chip Kelly seemed to know that a run was coming every play. Finally in the third quarter Oregon put in Darron Thomas who led the Ducks to 3 touchdowns via the air but it was just not enough. The Ducks have to look back and kick themselves and the loss just added to the fuel of it being USC and the Seven Dwarves. In the AP no Pac 10team is ranked outside of #1 USC. In other news Stanford got a win versus Bay Area rival San Jose State which should have been no surprise. Give Harbaugh credit for not overlooking this rival who has beat the Trees a fair amount of times over the last decade. UCLA was pretty much throttled on their home field by Arizona making it seem even more and more that the Bruins win over Tennessee was a complete fluke. The Bruins have 2 and 10 or 3 and 9 written all over them while Arizona got a big road win it its quest to finally make a bowl game again and maybe save Mike Stoops job. Arizona State showed that the Pac 10 outside of USC in not anywhere near the level of the SEC this year, the Devils weren’t really in this game from the get go and can now mark down 2008 as a likely lost season. Finally the Washington State Cougars found a team they could actually beat, too bad that said team is a mediocre Big Sky team and the Vikings at the same time knocked out the Cougars top two quarterbacks. Gary Rodgers it appears has now played his last game and the Cougs have won their last game unless they catch UW or UCLA on a really flat effort day.
1. USC (1) – Should roll tonight in Corvallis, the only thing that might derail a BCS Championship appearance by USC is having undefeated BIG 12 and SEC teams jump ahead of USC in the final coaches poll then the numbers would be very close and a ton of controversy were occur. This in the end may end up being Carroll’s best squad ever. He’s shown he can recover from the many losses of assistant coaches over the last 5 years that have used USC as a springboard to other jobs.
2. UO (2) – I’d rank them lower if I could, not sure there is much difference between Cal and Oregon right now but even though the Ducks lost they were playing with their 4th and 5th string true freshman quarterbacks most of the game. I’d imagine any team in the country might have struggled with BSU with the same scenario
3. Cal (3)- Cal has a chance to end the Mountain West’s five game advantage against the Pac 10. Absolutely a game Cal cannot drop after a bye week.
4. ASU (4)- The Devils were overmatched versus Georgia and now get a week off before going to Strawberry Canyon in a key game for the Devils to have any shot at the Holiday Bowl. With a game at USC the week after that before hosting Oregon, ASU could find itself with a 5 game losing streak that would likely mean the end of the Carpenter era.
5. UA (6)- Arizona is probably one more road win away from all but locking up a bowl appearance. They get two weeks to prepare for Washington at home.
6. OSU (5)- Oregon State is likely going to be 1-5 after the next two Thursday games. No criticism for losing to USC but I think they over scheduled themselves with having to play Penn State and Utah on the road in the same year. Boo on the fans for not even selling out Bean Dip for USC on national tv. If it weren’t for Duck fans buying up seats the crowd would be even less for this one. Here’s a clue, you’ve known for 8 months the game would be on Thursday, take a half or full day off from work and then all of Friday and make it to the game Beaver County.
7. LSJU (7)- Did what they needed to do and that is beat San Jose State. They have likely their best shot at a Pac 10 road win this week in Seattle, a win is completely needed to keep the bowl hope alive.
8. UW (8)- The Dawgs are the only winless team in the conference and have to be still smarting from the whooping that the Sooners laid on them. Willingham is dead man walking and has been for over a year but a loss here and the walking papers may come Saturday night.
9. UCLA (9) – Have frankly played dreadful offensive football for all but 1 quarter this season. Slick Rick and Nor Chow will need to wait to 2009 to get this baby back on track. Look for Fresno to come in to the Rose Bowl with a ton of fans of rough up a Pac 10 team further negating the value of the conference in the eyes of the nation’s fans and media.
10. WSU (10) – In the battle of 3rd string quarterbacks Washington State is overmatched big time against Oregon. Look for the Ducks to go over 350 yards rushing in a contest that will be decided by the mid second quarter.