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1. Oregon 37 at Oregon St 20 - It's not hypothetical anymore, Oregon is actually going to the National Championship. Oregon earned this one, going 9-0 for the first, and last time, in Pac 10 history. The Ducks followed their game plan to the letter. They ran the ball 49 times for 346 yards and passed it 24 times 145 yards. The Ducks defense held Jacquizz to under 100 yards again and the Beaver offense to 4.4 yards per play.
Looking back at the beginning of the season, this result seemed possible yet highly unlikely. It was going to take a complete performance by Oregon in not just each game individually, but every practice and every week and throughout the entire season. That was going to take a lot of focus and the kids buying into what the coaching staff was telling them to do. I think the thing that has stuck out to me the most if how disciplined this team is. Lastly, GrumpJDH, here's a little fuel for you next Brother vs. Brother fire. Look at the predictions from the beginning of the season. Who's the only one who DIDN'T pick Oregon? Also, I think there's only one guy who picked Oregon to go 9-0 in the Pac too.
2. Stanford - We'll find out Stanford's fate today on whether or not they get a second BCS bowl berth for the Pac, which is pretty likely unless the BCS computers become self aware between now and 5pm. Unfortunately, with UConn winning the Big East, it pretty likely that The Tree is going to be flying cross country and going to the Orange Bowl to take on Virginia Tech. Man, I'd love to see them in the Rose Bowl versus Wisconsin. Who says the BCS doesn't give us good football games?
3. Washington 35 at Washington St 28 - A valiant effort by the Cougs in the second half to get back into the Apple Cup was not enough to stop Chris Polk and his 289 yards rushing. I've given UW a lot of crap this year, but they were one of the only teams in the Pac, outside of Stanford and Oregon, to buckle down and win the games they needed to win when it mattered most. Sark took a lot of chances to get his team bowl eligible (holding Locker out against Oregon, 4th down call against Cal, 4th down call against WSU, etc) but in the end his players bought in and UW will go bowling for the first time since 2002. They still don't have a winning record yet (sorry couldn't resist).
4. USC 28 at Ucla 14 - All in all, I think Lane Kiffin did a good job with the Trojans, and he's also done a pretty decent job rebuilding his own image in the process. Against their hated rival, Ucla, USC rode on the back of Allen Bradford as he rushed for 212 yards on 28 carries. Matt Barkley hobbled around on a hurt ankle to go 15/26 for 198 yards. USC's appeal to reduce their 2 year bowl ban still isn't settled, and it will be interesting to see if the recent Rent-a-Church decision has any impact on the appeal board.
5. Oregon State - Another big Civil War, another loss. I know Beaver fans aren't going to want to talk about it, but Mike Riley just got out coached once again. This season was definitely not one of his finest. Oregon State got exposed throughout the season for it's lack of talent at certain areas and lack of depth across the board. Losses to UW, Ucla, and WSU are what did this team in. If you want to continue to go to bowls, recruit at a high level and compete for Pac 10 titles, those are games you can't lose.
6. Arizona St 30 vs Arizona 29 - It took 2 overtimes and 2 blocked extra points, but Arizona State was able to knock off it's rival in the Territorial Cup. ASU unfortunately will not be going to a bowl since it's waiver request was denied. I really expect ASU to be one of the better teams in the Pac next year as they return almost everyone from their starting line up on both defense and offense. I'm very glad we won't be playing them down in Arizona in 100 degree weather next year.
7. Arizona 29 vs Arizona State 30 - How do you go from 3rd in the Pac 10 to 7th? By losing your last 4 games and missing two extra point kicks, that's how. I'm guessing the karma of talking trash to Chip Kelly after actually making a kick by Zendejas is not something he wants to talk too much about now.
8. Cal - With all said and done, a blow out loss to Nevada and an 8th place finish in the Pac was probably not what Cal fans expected from this season. It will be interesting to see just what happens with the coaching staff this off season. After a better season last year, Cal fired their D-coordinator, and with Memorial Stadium under construction and Cal playing at AT&T Park next year, I wonder if another 8th place finish will be acceptable.
9. Ucla - Fine, I'll say it, Norm Chow is not an offensive genius, as a matter fact he sucks. I don't know how Ucla could give him an extension right now. USC has to be thanking their lucky stars that Norm didn't actually leave Ucla to coach with Kiffin this off season. Could you imagine Matt Barkley running the pistol offense? Ucla has to really reconsider if Nueheisel and Chow are going to ever be able to take advantage of the recruiting hot bed that LA is, especially considering the Pac 10 is expanding and the competition is only going to get tougher.
10. Washington State - Welcome to the off season Cougs. Paul Wulff should definitely get another year to build upon what he has started at WSU. If you're Moos, you have to know that you aren't getting a marquee name to come in there and coach right now, you'll have to pay bigger bucks to get someone even half way decent and buy out Wulff's remaining years on his contract, and you still don't have the funds to be able to pull this off right now. Lastly, the second half of the season, you really saw WSU players start to buy into what Wulff was saying. They are a very young team, and his recruits are just starting to gain the experience that is very necessary to compete in the Pac, and they were competitive in 5 of their last 7 games against the best teams in the Pac.
Utah and Colorado - Welcome to the Oregon owned Pac. Take a look around, make yourself comfortable, mi casa es su casa.