Pac-10 Preview - Week Thirteen

November 27, 3:33 PMWashington State Cougars ExaminerLew Wright

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Four Pac-10 football teams will complete their regular season schedule Saturday. Once again this season, the conference has cannibalized their own. In other words, having to play week after week against the best teams in college football will put a hurt on your season record.

Thirteen weeks ago there was expectation Coach Pete Carroll USC would be in the hunt for another national championship. Thanks to conference opponents, that won’t be happening this season. Heck, the Trojans have plummeted to No. 20 in the nation and sport a 7-3 record overall. Suddenly the mood of Coach Carroll has shifted from the personable smile to a furrowed brow.

Those same online sources of Pac-10 chatter anticipated the Coach Jeff Tedford's Cal Bears to be the one team capable of dethroning the might men of Troy. Instead of marching to the top of the conference standings, Cal has followed in the footsteps of USC being knocked off three times in Pac-10 play and tumbling in the conference standings.

Will the Pac-10 continue to require all teams to schedule all nine other schools in the foreseeable future?

Perhaps there will be a second look at the concept of “ducking” teams all other major conferences follow. If nothing else, that topic should make for something to write about over the off-season!

There will be three outstanding rivalry games this week and a very interesting non-conference game for Stanford.

Here's a view of the four games involving Pac-10 teams tomorrow.

Arizona vs. Arizona State

Coach Dennis Erickson hasn’t seen his team win a football game in more than a month. ASU has lost five consecutive games. Who would have expected Arizona State to dive toward the bottom of the conference like a kamikaze pilot? Part of the problem the Sun Devils have faced during that span was four of those five opponents have been nationally ranked over the course of this season. Coach Mike Stoops envisioned his team fighting for Rose Bowl contention up until the last two weeks. Back-to-back losses have dashed the possibility to earn a conference championship. Neither of these teams have done well playing on the road this season, giving the Sun Devils a distinct advantage. The offensive struggles for ASU this season negates that advantage. Both squads play solid defense and will likely keep the game close going into the final quarter. PICK: Arizona 24 - ASU 17

UCLA vs. USC

The Battle for the Victory Bell will be played Saturday night in the Los Angeles Coliseum when UCLA takes on USC for bragging rights in the City of Angels. One of the truly high profile rivalry games, there is every reason to expect this one to be another epic game. Good news for the Bruins. USC has been beat at home this season. Prior to this year, the Trojans losing a football game in the Coliseum was considered to be as commonplace as a viewing of Haley’s Comet. Both teams feature freshmen quarterbacks with Kevin Prince for UCLA and Matt Barkley for USC. Offense won’t be the difference maker in this game. The play of defense will determine the winner. Hard as it might be to believe, UCLA has the better defense. PICK: UCLA 24 - USC 21

Notre Dame vs. Stanford

Coach Charlie Weis will likely be making his final flight for a road game on the team charter as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. If the rumor mills are spreading the inside scoop, a decisive win over Stanford at The Farm will be meaningless to everyone back in South Bend except the players on the football team. And what do they know? Toby Gerhart will have an exceptional national stage to play on in this game. It might not be the opportunity he’d hoped for. Notre Dame has more than enough size in their front seven on defense to blow up Cardinal blocking schemes and slow down Gerhart. Will this game feature an aerial circus for Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate? Don’t expect that to happen. Look for Stanford’s Andrew Luck to steal the show throwing darts to a nice corps of receivers. If you like scoring, this should be your kind of game. PICK: Stanford 45 - Notre Dame 35

Washington State vs. Washington

The Apple Cup. This is the game which defines the label “rivalry game”. No matter whether either team is loaded with talent or not, these games are hard fought for a full 60 minutes. When the Cougs and the Huskies play for The Apple Cup, expect players to rise to unexpected levels of performance. In recent years, WSU has held the advantage but both schools have football programs being rebuilt from the ground up. Though Washington will have the two best players on the field in Jake Locker and Chris Polk. Advantage Huskies. The WSU roster is loaded with very young players who come into the game with nearly a full year of experience and consistent improvement. This will be the first Apple Cup for UW Coach Steve Sarkisian and the sixth for WSU Coach Paul Wulff as a player and coach. Advantage Wulff. Washington has seen demand for tickets to this game at an all-time low. That won’t have any effect on the level of play. This will be a great football game. PICK: WSU 38 - UW 35 in OT

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