Cliff: Pac-10 rankings Comments
The Pacific-10 Conference race goes down to the wire with the Civil War on center stage. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl.
Here’s a link to my Sunday story in the GT on the game, looking at what the Beavers learned from last year’s defeat.
Both the Oregon State and Oregon football teams are rested due to a bye week and a Thanksgiving break, which makes for an interesting matchup.
After them, it’s a jumbled mess with five other bowl eligible teams. One will have to talk its way into a game not affiliated with the Pac-10.
Here’s a look at my conference rankings headed into the final week of the regular season.
1. Oregon: Big-time offensive weapons, confidence and home-field advantage in the Civil War has the Ducks looking good to head into the Rose Bowl. Can the defense hold up?
2. Oregon State: Expect a shootout in the Civil War. The Beavers will bring the offense. This year the defense will be more prepared. The game could go either way.
3. Stanford: Out-pacing Notre Dame to end the season was good for the rankings, but did little in terms of the postseason. The Cardinal must wait to see how the final games shake out.
4. California: One more game remains against Washington for the Bears to state their postseason case. They’ve done well but have been overshadowed by others in the tight conference race.
5. Arizona: Beating Arizona State shouldn’t have been that hard. Now the Wildcats have to win at Southern California to stay in the Holiday Bowl race, or drop to the lower tier.
6. USC: The Trojans must beat the Wildcats to stay in Holiday Bowl consideration. If not, they could be headed to the Poinsettia Bowl. Being at home, they should take care of business.
7. UCLA: That wasn’t a good showing against rival USC. The Bruins don’t have the horses just yet to compete, but things are looking up in the near future.
8. Arizona State: The season ended with a close loss to Arizona. There’s a lot of things to fix in the offseason to be competitive next year.
9. Washington: The new regime at least got a win over the rival. And there were some highlights during the season. One more game remains to work for the future.
10. Washington State: The season is over, and it ended with a thud being shut out in the Apple Cup. Poor Cougars. Since we look at them in the Pac-10 all the time, you hope they can get it together.
Related posts:
