Week Thirteen Power Poll

Phuket Sunset
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

1. USC (1) - Lack of offensive fire power will, baring a miracle, keep USC out of the BCS Championship game
2. OSU (2) - Two games from the unthinkable
3. UO (5) - The tale of two halves no playing a role they haven't played in the Civil War, since?
4. Cal (3) When it comes down to it not a good team on the road at all.
5. UA (4) Haven't lost at home all year but if they don't win out it is another 6 win season but this year a bowl will happen no matter what. Needs much better defense to beat the Beavs than they got in Eugene last week.
6. LSJU (6) Played USC tough, win the Big Game and they are bound for Hawaii or Emerald Bowl
7. UCLA (7) - Nice performance in Seattle, should show a lot of improvement in 2009.
8. ASU (8) - Nothing like WSU to break a slump.
9. UW (9) - This better be the week
10. WSU (10) - Lowest attended Apple Cup since?

Power Poll Week Twelve

Halloween
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

1. USC (1) - Still on the outside looking in for the BCS championship but I would love to see them against Florida in the big game if that somehow could occur.
2. OSU (3) - With Moevau back they should have enough to outlast the Bears in Corvallis.
3. Cal (2) - Only road win this season is versus Wazzu.
4. UA (5) Have to be a bit worried about giving up 28 points to WSU but they get the Ducks in a vulnerable state.
5. UO (4) On target for the typical Oregon November fade
6. LSJU (6) - Lightning won't strike twice
7. UCLA (7) - UCLA hasn't won on the road, UW hasn't won something has to give
8. ASU - Nothing like WSU to end a 6 game losing streak
9. UW - Could this be the week?
10. WSU - Are they the worst team in 1-A?

Power Poll Week 11

Cannon Beach Weekend
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

No notes just rankings this week:

1. USC (1) - Drops in the BCS despite posting 3 shutout in 4 weeks. Last real shot at a loss is this week but I highly doubt Cal has the horses to win in LA.
2. Cal (4) - Part of the sloppy play can be blamed on whether but if they turn the ball over 4 times versus USC they will get blown out.
3. OSU (3) - A very average team without Moevau at QB. Does their Rose Bowl dream end in Pasadena?
4. UO (2) - Clearly this team can only beat teams with a noticeable talent gap if they stay one-dimensional.
5. UA (5) - This week's game at Pullman means the Cats will be bowl eligible.
6. LSJU (6) - I'd have to scan the history books to see if Stanford has ever beat a conference foe by more than 58. Oregon is likely the best shot at a win need to get to bowl eligibility.
7. UCLA (7) - Seems to have OSU's number a win and they keep their slip bowl chance alive.
8. ASU (8) - Are they team who gives UW its first win? Showed some spunk versus OSU but still on a 6 game losing streak.
9. UW (9) - Bye Bye Ty.
10 WSU (10) - I think they've sewn up the title as worst team in the Pac 10 ever, now have to wonder if they are the worst BCS conference team ever. Rutgers 2001 perhaps?

Pac 10 Power Poll Week Ten

Cristom
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

With the loss suffered by Arizona to USC only one Pac 10 team now can state they control their own destiny for the Rose Bowl and that is the Oregon State Beavers who ironically lost the first game of the season to a fellow Pac 10 team. Interestingly enough Oregon State could win the Pac 10 but find themselves barely in the Top 25 as they have three losses. Not surprisingly the Ty Willingham era officially will end at the final gun of the Apple Cup. It will be interesting to see who ends up taking that job. As for Coach Ty I think he will go one of two routes: NFL assistant or taking the next Ivy League/high academic standing (like a Colgate, Holy Cross etc) 1-AA job that comes along. Oregon and Cal had excellent offensive performances in beating free-falling ASU and UCLA while Washington got punked at home by Notre Dame. As for this week you can consider the Cal/Oregon game as a playoff game in a way. The loser is looking at likely maxing out at the Vegas Bowl while the winner stays in the Pac 10 race. With the exception of one meeting Tedford-Bellotti matchups have been typically very close affairs.
1. USC (1) – The defense is the best that Carroll has had at USC in my opinion but the offense is lackluster. They need to hope for someone to knock Penn State off they don’t have the best resume if it comes down to computers and voters versus a won loss SEC or Big 12 team for the BCS title. Cal is the only remaining challenge on the schedule in my opinion.
2. OSU (3) - Didn’t need two weeks to prepare for ASU who they should beat to a pulp in Denny’s first return game to Corvallis.
3. UO (2) – Usually you don’t blow a team out on the road and go down but the more I think about it the more I think Oregon State would beat Oregon on a neutral field right now. The Ducks still aren’t the balanced team they need to be to beat top level Pac 10 teams. Oregon’s best win this year is probably UCLA, that isn’t saying much.
4. Cal (5) – They can’t afford to look past Oregon to USC as the Ducks have had this one circled for awhile. Cal should be able to throw on the Ducks but the game will likely be decided by the matchup between Cal’s secondary and Oregon’s passing game. They should look at tape of what UCLA did to Oregon and make Masoli try to win the game with his feet.
5. UA (4) – Great defensive performance but not enough O. Mike Stoops should be kicked in the junk for punting in USC territory on 4th with 3 minutes left. Give your team a chance to win the game, odder still the drive before in worse field position he went for it!
6. LSJU (6) – The Cardinal have their second straight bye week. Out wait the Cougs are in town.
7. UCLA (7) - Played Cal tough for 3 quarters but much of that was done with mirrors. How many points has Craft surrendered this year with stupid picks?
8. ASU(8) - Not many would have thought Denny Erickson would be working on a 5 game losing streak ever at the college level, it will soon be six.
9. UW(9) - The end of the Willingham era should come as no surprise to anyone. Good luck in South Central fellas.
10. WSU(10) – At this point why waste your freshman QB’s redshirt year?

Pac 10 Power Poll Week Nine

Hopworks Urban Brewery
Originally uploaded by pete4ducks.

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.