Thought MDB might start this but he doesn't seem to be around, so here it is.

Opening weekend thoughts?

My week one rankings:

1. Cal
2. UCLA
3. Oregon
4. ASU
5. Washington
6. Oregon St
7. USC (come on! that's all the better they could do against Idaho?)
8. Washington St
9. Stanford
10. Arizona

GO DUCKS (they'll need it next week against Michigan)!
Rob

Oregon and Washington are both on the verge of significant, statement wins. Oregon's upending of Michigan is pretty big in my book, especially since nearly everyone, including Herbstreet and Corso, assumed Michigan would bounce back this week (e.g., "There's no way Michigan is going to start 0-2...").

I'm a bit more impressed though by Washington winning vs. Boise. Yeah, it's a home win for Washington, but that's a big deal to me. Washington beat Fresno State and UCLA at home last year. Washington also looks to have a tougher schedule: Ohio State and Hawaii are on the schedule, and conference tussles against UCLA and USC should receive some national attention.

Looks as though this is going to be a pretty exciting year for the Pac-10.

This weeks rankings IMHO:

1. Oregon
2. Washington
3. UCLA
4. Cal
5. ASU
6. WSU
7. Arizona
8. OSU

USC and Stanford did not play

Anyone predicting Nebraska over USC? UW over The OSU?

GO DUCKS!
Rob

Utah killed UCLA. Damn...

Oregon and USC need to win big now, I think, or the chatter about UCLA's *big loss* may very well call into question the strength of the conference.

I'm not as worried about W losing to Ohio State, although I would have loved for Willingham to have started 3-0 vs. Wiess's 0-3. Cal beating LaTech, which is looking like a done deal now, isn't much of an impact either. The Pac-10 really needs a supposedly "weak" Oregon team to win with style and for USC to shake off rust vs. a quality opponent in Nebraska.

The Cougs/Vandals game was close and interesting for awhile, until the Cougs opened up and blew it wide open. :-)

Play time is over. It's conference time!

Here are the MDG rankings:

(LW) This Week:

(1) 1. USC - Now that was USC! They have #8 WSU this week.
(2) 2. Cal - Easy win. #9 'Zona comes to town this week.
(4) 3. Oregon - The win against Fresno was surprisingly easier than expected. Jonathan Stewart had his first big game of the year. This week...chop down the tree.
(3) 4. UCLA - They have the conference's first big in-conference test game this week against the Fuskies.
(5) 5. ASU - Host the Beavos this week. It's a 4-5 match-up!
(7) 6. OSU - They romped this weekend. Granted it was Idaho State - May as well been Hooters University.
(6) 7. UW - Huskies looked good for a half. Unfortunately, it was the first half. Now they travel to Pasadena. Who knows how UCLAme will react after being humiliated by a Ute.
(9) 8. WSU - They didn't coug it against Idaho. Their reward? A trip to El Lay.
(8) 9. Arizona - Same old 'Zona.
(10) 10. Stanford - I think the Ducks will be running (waddling) wild & free on The Farm.

GO DUCKS.

I knew Fresno State would have very little left in the tank this week. After going 3 overtimes last Saturday on the road at Texas A&M (where the on-field temperature was measured at 140 degrees!), the Bulldogs looked very tired from the beginning at Autzen Stadium. I will be surprised to see the Bulldogs finish above .500 this year. With that said, I think this is Oregon's best team in quite awhile and I don't think anyone -- except maybe USC -- could have beaten them Saturday. I just hope the Ducks can keep it going. They always seem to start out strong but then wilt in October and November. Oregon is much better than the A&M team the Bulldogs played a week ago. I think the Stanford game could be more difficult than previously thought. The Cardinal whalloped and embarrassed San Jose State this weekend, and the Spartans aren't that bad.

Tell me about it me. The Cougar secondary just isn't the same w/o Jason David, Marcus Trufant, Karl Paymah, Eric Coleman, etc but hopefully our young guys will start to step it up.

My Cougs got #1 USC next week and I hope we keep the game within reason.

UW played a decent 1st half against TOSU, but couldn't keep up. Still, looks as though they'll end up higher in the standings than predicted. This week's rankings:

1. USC
2. Oregon
3. Cal
4. Oregon St
5. Stanford
6. Arizona St
7. Washington St
8. Washington
9. UCLA
10. Arizona

Predictions on UCLA/Washington? OSU/ASU? Anyone going to the Stanford/Oregon game?

GO DUCKS!
Rob

After week 4:

1. USC
2. Oregon
3. Cal
4. UCLA
5. ASU
6. Washington
7. Stanford
8. OSU
9. WSU
10. Arizona

Oregon/Cal predictions? What about USC/Washington - anyone feeling an upset?

Friends from USC are worried about Oregon. Having Cal and USC at home is frickin' awesome for Oregon. Guaranteed televised games. I want Oregon to beat Cal, but I want it to be a good game. I think Oregon has the game, too... Go Ducks!

I think that Oregon might take Cal

and I do think that USC will lose at least one game in conference

(1) 1. USC
(2) 2. Cal - Showdown in Eugene this week.
(3) 2. Oregon - Bring it on, Bears.
(5) 4. ASU
(4) 5. UCLA
(7) 6. UW
(6) 7. OSU
(8) 8. WSU
(10) 9. Stanford - went into halftime with the lead over the Ducks.
(9) 10. Arizona

HUGE game in Eugene on Saturday. ESPN Game Day will be there. The atmosphere will be electric. GO DUCKS.

The Trojans beter watch out for the Huskies. The game could be a trap. Husky stadium is not the easiest place to play. Huskies may be able to hang with the Trojans for a half, but I don't think they have the defense to stop the Trojans. The game is ripe for Jake Locker to use this game to elevate himself to god-like status among the Husky faithful.

I don't buy USC falling into any "trap" games -- their defense is too good. If they lose, it will be to one of the big boys.

Cal is getting screwed in Eugene. The personal foul penalty was ridiculous, the holding wasn't called and that field goal was good. I really hope the Bears can overcome this crap.

DeSean Jackson has had a Heisman showcase game ... 11 rec, 2 TD

Oregon fumbles the game tying TD out of the endzone ... Cal survives.

Still breathing hard after Saturday.... Hope Nate Longshore isn't hurt badly - that would really be bad for Cal. Hope this doesn't start a downward spiral for Dennis Dixon as it did last season.

After week 5:

1. Cal
2. Oregon
3. ASU
4. UCLA
5. USC
6. Washington
7. Arizona
8. Oregon St
9. Washington St
10. Stanford

My boss's husband used to have this saying, "There goes Oregon, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory." And that's when the team was pretty OK...

Agreed that Dixon needs to clear his head and get his sh!+ together - the Ducks lost to Washington State last year, so hopefully the close loss to Cal, the home field advantage, and the revenge factor will all be enough to tip the scales in the Ducks' favor.

Methinks the USC and now UCLA games are going to be huge for the Pac 10, not just Oregon. I can two Pac 10 teams in the Top 10 by season's end, and three in the Top 15...

just wanted to pop on and since there isn't much love, say to everyone... GO DEVILS! If we can get by Washington on Saturday, sets up a HUGE game with Cal at the end of the month. Its been a VERY interesting year in the Pac-10.

WOW!

Week 6 performances:

1. Stanford (obviously)
2. ASU
3. OSU
4. WSU
5. Arizona
6. UCLA
7. USC

did not play: Cal, Oregon, Washington

Any predictions for this week? Arizona/USC, Oregon/WSU, Cal/OSU, Stanford/TCU, Washington/ASU

Holy crap!!!!!!!! That might have been the dumbest play I've ever seen in a football game.

Another crazy weekend. I love it. Thought the Cal backup QB played pretty well - it was coaching errors that lost the game IMO. Still, if Longshore doesn't get back on the field, I don't see much hope for Cal beating UCLA or ASU. They might have a chance against USC, seeing as the game will be played at Cal. Keep waiting for Washington to pull out a big upset. Hope it's not this week against Oregon though. Oregon continues to roll. At this point, it looks as though Oregon and ASU will be fighting it out for the Pac-10 title and that it will be anyone's guess as to where Cal, USC and UCLA fall.

Last weekend's performances:

1. Oregon
2. ASU
3. Oregon St
4. USC
5. Arizona
6. Stanford
7. Cal
8. Washington
9. Washington St

UCLA did not play.

GO DUCKS!

My Cougs won a Pac-10 game and it feels so good. Finally we beat someone LOL. Nice to see the Huskies still winless in Pac-10 play.

WSU will take down a struggling CAL team next!!!

Gameday will be in Eugene, OR for an encore!!

ASU @ Oregon is huge!!!

can both ASU and Oregon lose?

just saying

Random thoughts and questions after an exhausting weekend of college/Pac-10 football:

1. It's nice to see the rest of the country giving teams in Pac-10 (besides USC) some attention and respect.

2. What's happening to Cal? Tedford seems to be having some sort of play-calling crisis. Why have they continued to go with an injured Longshore rather than giving Riley a chance to get the offense going again?

3. How schizophrenic can UCLA get?

4. Oregon State continues to be a great second-half-of-the-season team.

5. What direction is USC going? Will they lose 1 or 2 more games?

6. Can Oregon keep it up?

7. What are the chances of Stanford, UW, WSU or Arizona making it to a bowl game? I'm giving Stanford & Arizona a slim, I mean SLIM, chance. The Washington teams - forget about it.

I just want to say:

GO DUCKS!

I won't be able to watch the ASU game, but I will be checking the score via my phone on Saturday.

Go Ducks!
Hell yeah I was at both USC and ASU game! Great wins

Predictions for the weekend? I'm going with:

ASU over UCLA (what's with UCLA's collapse?)
USC over Cal (what's with Cal's collapse?)
OSU over UW
Stanford/WSU - anybody's guess - probably WSU

I wouldn't call UCLA's recent play a 'collapse'. UCLA is the Michigan State of the Pac 10 -- they can beat or lose to anybody. Cal's collapse isn't surprising, I predicted 8-4 after the OSU loss and it might even be worse.

Interesting comparison - I think you're right.

Seems Oregon is now the UCLA of the Pac-10. You'd think a school with aspirations of being a perennial football power would have a backup quarterback who could run the offense.

I don't think that's fair. Brady Leaf was not recruited to play in that kind of offense and the guy he replaced was the Heisman frontrunner.

Well, it's official. Dixon is lost for the season and set to undergo surgery. They are saying he tore his ACL in a game Nov. 3, but decided to play against Arizona on Thursday. Is he f'ing nuts? Who in their right mind tears an ACL and decides to play on it less than two weeks later?

That's tough. I was rooting for the Ducks to win it all.

Wasn't bashing Leaf. It can't have been easy for him to sit back while Oregon changed offenses/offensive coordinators twice during his four years at Oregon, and to see that what Oregon ended up with wasn't going to suit his strengths very well. Leaf had some good moments last year and the year before when he stepped in for Clemens and Dixon. I hope he does well the next two games. It would be nice to see Oregon go to the Rose Bowl and play Ohio St, or maybe the Fiesta Bowl and meet Kansas or Missouri.

GO DUCKS!

Grrrr, ASU vs. USC is up against Atlanta vs. Indy. So, of course, I'd normally be watching ASU/USC, as it's the better game, but I've got a ton of fantasy players in the NFL game. Did see USC start strong tonight, though... and just clicked back to see that the college game is already at 17-7, in USC's favor! D'oh!

Oh, the pain...

Go Ducks?

Oregon went from a potential national champion with Dixon to a team that probably isn't even a Top 50 team now without him. That game against UCLA was just sad.

Any thoughts on why so many QBs in the Pac-10 got injured this year. Coincidence? At both UCLA and Oregon the 1st, 2nd and 3rd string QBs were injured, not to mention injuries to the UW, USC, Cal & Stanford QBs. Not enough protection? Trying to hard? With all the injuries at Oregon, it seemed as though Dixon was trying (or, perhaps expected) to carry the offense by himself.

Probably just coincidence.

The Civil War has gone into overtime, w/ Oregon squandering TWO opportunities to win during regulation on field goals. Argh...

Stanford is leading Cal. Dunno how I feel about that. Cal was highly ranked, a real contender, and Stanford lost to Notre Dame (cueing the inevitable Boy Doesn't the Pac 10 Suck After All... talk).

Pac-10 is 0-2 so far. ASU looked terrible last night.

Headed to the Emerald Bowl this evening to root for the Beavers, unless it is raining too hard.

GO DUCKS!

ESPN is reporting that UCLA has hired Neuheisel. As said earlier, I think this is a good hire for a school that needs someone flashy to compete with the (talented) circus act that is USC. Hopefully he will have some respect for his alma mater and not leave it in the condition of his earlier programs.

Link on UCLA's hire:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071229/ap_on_..._ucla_neuheisel

Looks like UCLA has been able to hold on to their defensive coordinator and a couple of other defense coaches. That's a great sign!

I'm already looking forward to the Tennessee game next fall.

--BB

Pac-10 wrap up, or the season that might have been...

The Pac-10 made a strong showing in bowl games; still it has to be viewed as a disappointing season overall. If injuries had not sidelined so many QBs, the Pac-10 might have had 4 teams in the final top 10 rankings, including a national champion. So much for that fantasy...

Highlights:

1. Cal's win over Tennessee

2. Stanford's win over USC (tied with App St/Michigan for game of the year)

3. The first 1/2 of Oregon's season and Dennis Dixon's astonishing improvement over last year

4. Oregon State's strong finish

5. Bowls wins for USC, Cal, Oregon, Oregon St.

Low moments:

1. Cal's meltdown

2. QB injuries at USC, UCLA, Cal, Oregon, Washington

3. The second 1/2 of UCLA's season

4. USC's loss to Stanford

Next season? No predictions at this point, but I'm thinking the conference championship is up for grabs. I'm guessing that no team with have fewer than 2 conference losses.

This is setting up quite nicely for Fresno State, UCLA's opponent the week before Tennessee. Hopefully the Bruins' team will be looking past the Bulldogs too.

I hope my Cougs do well and make a darn bowl game in 2008!