This is a hard year to pick how the Pac-10 is going to end up. It seems like lots of big name players are coming off of injuries and you just can’t tell if they can be counted on. Cal, UCLA and Oregon State are having a hard time picking their starting QB’s at this time. Other than USC being a clear first place pick, the rest of the Pac-10 is going to be a battle and the outlook could totally change multiple times throughout the season with injuries to key personnel.
Anyway, as you’ll see I took the time to go through every Pac-10 game and try to base my predictions on match-ups with a little consideration towards home field advantage, which part of the season the game is being played and I even hedged my bet on an injury or two.
Here they are in alphabetical order with some comments on each game:
Arizona
Wins: Stanford, UCLA, UW & Wazzu
Pac-10 record: 4-5
Breakdown:
UA vs. Stanford – Close game but UA’s defense holds & Stanford’s doesn’t
UA vs. UCLA – UA takes advantage of UCLA’s week secondary & offense
UA vs. UW – UA takes advantage of UW’s week secondary – Defense bends but doesn’t break against locker
UA vs. WSU – Cougs D is depleted by injuries at this point in the season – UA wins high scoring fest
UA vs. Stanford – Close game but UA’s defense holds & Stanford’s doesn’t
UA vs. UCLA – UA takes advantage of UCLA’s week secondary & offense
UA vs. UW – UA takes advantage of UW’s week secondary – Defense bends but doesn’t break against locker
UA vs. WSU – Cougs D is depleted by injuries at this point in the season – UA wins high scoring fest
Arizona State
Wins: Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, UW & Wazzu
Pac-10 record: 5-4
Breakdown:
ASU vs. UA – ASU defense holds Wildcats potent offense well enough that they can abuse UA’s D with an almost equally potent offense.
ASU vs. Stanford – This game is way to early in the season for Pritchard to be ready to take advantage of his decent receiving corp. Stanford’s D is able to keep this one from being a laugher though.
ASU vs. UCLA – UCLA’s inexperienced O-line gets worked. ASU too strong on both sides of the ball for UCLA. Laugher.
ASU vs. UW – One guy on UW’s D-line isn’t enough to keep Carpenter from abusing UW’s secondary. Locker runs past ASU’s LB’s occasionally but, just like last year, it isn’t enough. Laugher.
ASU vs. WSU – With Cougs D depleted at this point in the season and ASU’s Shaun DeWitty now feeling comfortable at running back the Cougs take a beating at Sun Devil Stadium. Laugher.
ASU vs. Stanford – This game is way to early in the season for Pritchard to be ready to take advantage of his decent receiving corp. Stanford’s D is able to keep this one from being a laugher though.
ASU vs. UCLA – UCLA’s inexperienced O-line gets worked. ASU too strong on both sides of the ball for UCLA. Laugher.
ASU vs. UW – One guy on UW’s D-line isn’t enough to keep Carpenter from abusing UW’s secondary. Locker runs past ASU’s LB’s occasionally but, just like last year, it isn’t enough. Laugher.
ASU vs. WSU – With Cougs D depleted at this point in the season and ASU’s Shaun DeWitty now feeling comfortable at running back the Cougs take a beating at Sun Devil Stadium. Laugher.
California
Wins: Arizona, ASU, Stanford, UCLA & UW
Pac-10 record: 5-4
Breakdown:
Cal vs. UA – Cal’s strong secondary outmatches UA’s offense even without pressure on Tuitama
Cal vs. ASU – Cal’s linebackers and secondary handle ASU’s passing attack. Without Herring, who aggravates his hip injury in the Georgia game the previous week, ASU has nothing to take advantage of Cal’s week D-line. Cal upsets ASU by a field goal 3-0.
Cal vs. Stanford – If this game was at the beginning of the season I might give it to Stanford. Stanford returns a lot of guys on D but they were awful last year.
Cal vs. UCLA – Damn I don’t know. UCLA’s week O-line makes Cal’s D-line look like hero’s.
Cal vs. UW – Cal will come into this one with 6 or 7 wins on the line and playing for a bowl. Cal’s O has enough to take care of UW’s week D.
Cal vs. UCLA – Damn I don’t know. UCLA’s week O-line makes Cal’s D-line look like hero’s.
Cal vs. UW – Cal will come into this one with 6 or 7 wins on the line and playing for a bowl. Cal’s O has enough to take care of UW’s week D.
Oregon
Wins: Arizona, ASU, Cal, Stanford, UCLA, UW & Wazzu
Pac-10 record: 7-2
Breakdown:
Oregon vs. UA – Oregon’s D shuts down UA & while their offense is good enough to beat UA by 2 touchdowns
Oregon vs. ASU – Oregon’s D outmatches ASU’s especially when UO’s running back combo of Johnson and Blount take turns making ASU’s linebackers look dumb. Oregon controls the ball and finishes up with a 10 point win.
Oregon vs. Cal – These two are actually pretty evenly matched but Cal, even though their young receivers are starting to figure things out at this point in the season, can’t do enough against Oregon’s D.
Oregon vs. Stanford – Stanford’s D matches up pretty well against UO’s O but Stanford won’t be able to score on Oregon. Look for a 10 point win for Ducks.
Oregon vs. UCLA – UCLA’s offensive line is going to lose a lot of games for them and this one is no exception. Laugher
Oregon vs. UW – First game of the season for both teams. Oregon’s week spot is their receivers but they aren’t as week as UW’s secondary. UW takes a federal prison-esque type pounding in Autzen.
Oregon vs. Wazzu – Let’s assume Wazzu is still healthy at this point. Wazzu’s mediocre line matches up with UO’s partially unproven O-line. Wazzu’s secondary is a push against UO’s receivers. Wazzu’s O-line could potentially handle UO’s D-line. With Wulf it’s not a giver that Cougs will get out coached. Too bad that’s just a dream but expect Wazzu to keep it close in Pullman.
Oregon vs. ASU – Oregon’s D outmatches ASU’s especially when UO’s running back combo of Johnson and Blount take turns making ASU’s linebackers look dumb. Oregon controls the ball and finishes up with a 10 point win.
Oregon vs. Cal – These two are actually pretty evenly matched but Cal, even though their young receivers are starting to figure things out at this point in the season, can’t do enough against Oregon’s D.
Oregon vs. Stanford – Stanford’s D matches up pretty well against UO’s O but Stanford won’t be able to score on Oregon. Look for a 10 point win for Ducks.
Oregon vs. UCLA – UCLA’s offensive line is going to lose a lot of games for them and this one is no exception. Laugher
Oregon vs. UW – First game of the season for both teams. Oregon’s week spot is their receivers but they aren’t as week as UW’s secondary. UW takes a federal prison-esque type pounding in Autzen.
Oregon vs. Wazzu – Let’s assume Wazzu is still healthy at this point. Wazzu’s mediocre line matches up with UO’s partially unproven O-line. Wazzu’s secondary is a push against UO’s receivers. Wazzu’s O-line could potentially handle UO’s D-line. With Wulf it’s not a giver that Cougs will get out coached. Too bad that’s just a dream but expect Wazzu to keep it close in Pullman.
Oregon State
Wins: Arizona, ASU, Cal, Oregon, Stanford & UW
Pac-10 Record: 6-3
Breakdown:
OSU vs. UA – Fortunately for Beavs UA has no proven running backs to take advantage of OSU’s week linebacking corp.
OSU vs. ASU – Beav’s are week at the linebacker position but ASU’s O-line is their achilles heal. Still, Riley has his offense clicking at this point in the season and OSU moves the ball with short routes and a good O-line opening up an occasional hole for whomever may be running the ball
OSU vs. Cal – Like I said before Riley’s offense will be going at this point in the season. Look for the Beav’s strong O-line to be the key to this win at home.
OSU vs. Oregon – Beav’s win this one in the trenches with a complete O-line out battling UO’s D-line that has a couple question marks.
OSU vs. Stanford – First game of the year for both teams. Look for the Beav’s inexperienced running backs to get a lot of carries right off the bat with BIG help from a good offensive line. Beav’s eek this one out in Palo Alto.
OSU vs. UW – Pissed off after a loss to Wazzu, this will be the first game of a strong finish to the season for the Beav’s. Again the Beav’s O-line takes advantage of another lackluster D-line.
OSU vs. ASU – Beav’s are week at the linebacker position but ASU’s O-line is their achilles heal. Still, Riley has his offense clicking at this point in the season and OSU moves the ball with short routes and a good O-line opening up an occasional hole for whomever may be running the ball
OSU vs. Cal – Like I said before Riley’s offense will be going at this point in the season. Look for the Beav’s strong O-line to be the key to this win at home.
OSU vs. Oregon – Beav’s win this one in the trenches with a complete O-line out battling UO’s D-line that has a couple question marks.
OSU vs. Stanford – First game of the year for both teams. Look for the Beav’s inexperienced running backs to get a lot of carries right off the bat with BIG help from a good offensive line. Beav’s eek this one out in Palo Alto.
OSU vs. UW – Pissed off after a loss to Wazzu, this will be the first game of a strong finish to the season for the Beav’s. Again the Beav’s O-line takes advantage of another lackluster D-line.
Stanford
Wins: Probably not
Pac-10: 0-9
Breakdown:
Stanford isn’t going to be as bad 0 wins sounds
UCLA
Wins: OSU, Stanford, UW
Pac-10 record: 3-6
Breakdown:
UCLA vs. OSU – On paper this looks as even a matchup as any game in the Pac-10 this year so I’ll say UCLA wins with the home field advantage.
UCLA vs. Stanford – Thanks to Stanfords suspect D-line, UCLA’s bad O-line won’t be a factor and Chow’s offense will be affective.
UCLA vs. UW – Other than a push at UCLA’s O-line against UW’s D-line, UCLA out matches UW in every category.
UCLA vs. OSU – On paper this looks as even a matchup as any game in the Pac-10 this year so I’ll say UCLA wins with the home field advantage.
UCLA vs. Stanford – Thanks to Stanfords suspect D-line, UCLA’s bad O-line won’t be a factor and Chow’s offense will be affective.
UCLA vs. UW – Other than a push at UCLA’s O-line against UW’s D-line, UCLA out matches UW in every category.
USC
Wins: All
Pac-10 record: 9-0
Breakdown:
USC vs. UA – Without a good running back and an even offensive attack the Cats don’t have a chance to score enough points to make up for their D that has no bright spots. Laugher.
USC vs. ASU – With Herring still out this game, with USC’s nasty secondary and linebackers and with USC’s running backs against ASU’s slow linebackers this one is a comfortable win for USC.
USC vs. Cal – Any signs of improvement Cal’s offense has made to this point in the season don’t make a difference. Cal gets overwhelmed by USC’s D.
USC vs. Oregon – Oregon just doesn’t have the offensive weapons to pick apart USC’s D.
USC vs. OSU – by no means will OSU’s offense have it’s act together at the 4th game of the season to be effective against USC’s D.
USC vs. Stanford – Umm… you’re not gonna see what you saw last year. This will be the same type of whooping that you would see if Don Imus showed up at a Public Enemy concert.
USC vs. ASU – With Herring still out this game, with USC’s nasty secondary and linebackers and with USC’s running backs against ASU’s slow linebackers this one is a comfortable win for USC.
USC vs. Cal – Any signs of improvement Cal’s offense has made to this point in the season don’t make a difference. Cal gets overwhelmed by USC’s D.
USC vs. Oregon – Oregon just doesn’t have the offensive weapons to pick apart USC’s D.
USC vs. OSU – by no means will OSU’s offense have it’s act together at the 4th game of the season to be effective against USC’s D.
USC vs. Stanford – Umm… you’re not gonna see what you saw last year. This will be the same type of whooping that you would see if Don Imus showed up at a Public Enemy concert.
USC vs. UCLA – The matchup in this one point to what could be the first televised NCAA football game to have an R rating for violence.
USC vs. UW – Okay this beating will be similar to the one that Neuheisel would receive if he showed up to a Tyee Club meeting. I’m talking like a take the tennis balls off the walker type pounding.
USC vs. Wazzu – USC plays Ohio State, Oregon State, Oregon and Arizona State before they play in Pullman. Their going to be tired. Wazzu will be rolling after beating UCLA and Oregon State… kidding. The only possible scenario where Wazzu wins this one is if USC decides it is worth a loss to get some rest, they forfeit the game and 35,000 fans in Martin Stadium watch Hawk and Hooty play each other on X-box on the new replay monitor.
USC vs. UW – Okay this beating will be similar to the one that Neuheisel would receive if he showed up to a Tyee Club meeting. I’m talking like a take the tennis balls off the walker type pounding.
USC vs. Wazzu – USC plays Ohio State, Oregon State, Oregon and Arizona State before they play in Pullman. Their going to be tired. Wazzu will be rolling after beating UCLA and Oregon State… kidding. The only possible scenario where Wazzu wins this one is if USC decides it is worth a loss to get some rest, they forfeit the game and 35,000 fans in Martin Stadium watch Hawk and Hooty play each other on X-box on the new replay monitor.
U-Dub
Wins: Stanford
Pac-10 record: 1-8
Breakdown:
UW vs. Stanford – What the heck, I’ll give UW a win here. Later in the season Stanford’s D might come on but not before this game.
UW vs. Stanford – What the heck, I’ll give UW a win here. Later in the season Stanford’s D might come on but not before this game.
Wazzu
Wins: Cal, Beavs, Stanford, UCLA & UW
Pac-10 record: 5-4
Breakdown:
Wazzu vs. Cal – This early in the season WSU is healthy and their O-line controls Cal’s young D-line and/or potential 3-4 scheme to help Rogers’ effectively run the new offense.
Wazzu vs. OSU – Even though Wazzu’s D-line will be severly outmatched by OSU’s offensive line the Cougs offense will have a handle on the new scheme and will barely out score the Beavs in a track meet.
Wazzu vs. Stanford – Another game that Wazzu eeks out by putting a ton of points on the board.
Wazzu vs. UCLA – Cougs O-line neutralizes UCLA’s strong D-line as Rogers and the new scheme take advantage of a, at this point in the season, young inexperienced secondary. Fortunately UCLA doesn’t have an O-line that can over power a week Cougar D-line.
Wazzu vs. UW – I could possibly be gooching us here but I think this will be a repeat of last year’s game. If you ask me sure the Cougar D-line is probably going to include some freshmen and JC guys at this point in the season but look for Ball and Sears to find a scheme to work around this fact. What should also prove helpful in regards to the Cougs D is that I have to imagine, whether told not to or he decides it on his own, Locker will not carry the ball every chance he gets. He has NO back-up and UW can’t risk him getting hurt. If this is indeed the case the Cougar D can hold UW down long enough for the offense to make a mockery out of 1 defensive end, 1 linebacker and 1.5 DB’s. It’s Apple Cup though so expect your you know what to be puckered up right to the very end.
Wazzu vs. OSU – Even though Wazzu’s D-line will be severly outmatched by OSU’s offensive line the Cougs offense will have a handle on the new scheme and will barely out score the Beavs in a track meet.
Wazzu vs. Stanford – Another game that Wazzu eeks out by putting a ton of points on the board.
Wazzu vs. UCLA – Cougs O-line neutralizes UCLA’s strong D-line as Rogers and the new scheme take advantage of a, at this point in the season, young inexperienced secondary. Fortunately UCLA doesn’t have an O-line that can over power a week Cougar D-line.
Wazzu vs. UW – I could possibly be gooching us here but I think this will be a repeat of last year’s game. If you ask me sure the Cougar D-line is probably going to include some freshmen and JC guys at this point in the season but look for Ball and Sears to find a scheme to work around this fact. What should also prove helpful in regards to the Cougs D is that I have to imagine, whether told not to or he decides it on his own, Locker will not carry the ball every chance he gets. He has NO back-up and UW can’t risk him getting hurt. If this is indeed the case the Cougar D can hold UW down long enough for the offense to make a mockery out of 1 defensive end, 1 linebacker and 1.5 DB’s. It’s Apple Cup though so expect your you know what to be puckered up right to the very end.
So doing the math here’s how it looks from my analysis:
1) USC – 9-0
2) Oregon – 7-2
3) OSU – 6-3
4) Cal – 5-4
5) ASU – 5-4
6) Wazzu – 5-4
7) ‘Zona – 4-5
8) UCLA – 3-6
9) UW – 1-8
10) Stanford – 0-9
Notice with the 5-4’s I put Cal in 4th for their upset of ASU and Wazzu in 6th mostly because I let my bias get in the way of making a clear minded decision in a few instances.
I can’t wait to read how crazy you guys think I am. I’ll be reading that on Wednesday by the way because I’ll be golfing all day tomorrow. But before you chime in please remember… this means nothing.
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