Cliff: Pac-10 rankings Comments
Last week it was stated that the Pacific-10 Conference was starting to settle into what the final look might be. That’s reiterated this week since there was no change in my rankings.
Seven teams played with Arizona, Stanford and Washington on bye weeks, and the results were what I expected. Here’s a look at the conference this week. And for a closer look at Oregon State, check out my Monday story in the GT.
1. Oregon: The Ducks control their own destiny to the Rose Bowl with a two-game buffer on USC. They need to get by Oregon State at home and Arizona on the road. They should do it.
2. USC: Barring a collapse of the Ducks, USC is not going to a top-tier bowl. Trojans have Arizona at the end of the season, so they can salvage the year at the Holiday Bowl.
3. Arizona: This is a pretty good team. However, the end of the season is a killer with a trip to USC and a home game with the Ducks. It will be interesting to see if the Wildcats have what it takes to move up.
4. Oregon State: The UCLA scare should help focus Beavers to finish off lesser opponents earlier. There’s one more game like that with Washington State. But are they good enough to spoil Oregon’s dreams in the Civil War?
5. Washington: To reach a bowl game the Huskies have to win three of the last four. Two are likely to win with UCLA and Washington State. Then they need to take out Cal or Oregon State, which is possible but tough.
6. California: After such a promising start the Bears have the claw for each yard of success. This is a low ranking for a six-win team at this stage. A win over OSU this week shoots them up.
7. Stanford: The week off was good for a team that has a brutal stretch run of Oregon, USC, Cal and Notre Dame. The Cardinal many not reach a bowl game.
8. Arizona State: How sloppy games get is a bad indication of where this team is headed. At 4-4 with Oregon, USC and Arizona left it doesn’t look good.
9. UCLA: The team is in the stage of playing tough and losing close ones. Bruins should turn it around in a year or two. They are good enough to be a spoiler.
10. Washington State: Stepping out of the conference didn’t help with a big loss to Notre Dame. Cougars just have to keep working and hope for a better future.
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