12 Pac Review: The "It's All About Oregon Week"

So where are the computer poll apologists now? A lot of the prognostication and belief that the polls would work themselves out were built on the fact that they believed Oregon still had a decent schedule left in November. Well let's look at how some of those teams did in relationship to how it affected Oregon.

North:

1. Oregon 70 vs Colorado 14 - Here is my biggest problem with the polls. Why isn't Oregon ranked #1? Look at what Oregon has done to its opponent this year and tell me there is another team in the country that would do the same thing. Alabama played starters until the 4th quarter and used their entire offense against Ole Miss. Kansas State? North Texas 35-21 at home, enough said. Notre Dame beat 0-4 in the Big Ten Purdue by 3. Oregon hasn't played starters all the way through a game the entire season. Their closest game was 17 points to a team they led 35-6 at halftime. I know voters want to put returning champs as #1, but in this case, I'd like to hear the arguments why, using what has happened in this season alone.

2. Oregon State 17 at washington 20 - I hope Mike Riley realizes that In-N-Out burger doesn't accept timeouts as payment. This loss is probably as big a hit to Oregon as any. Not only is this the last remaining undefeated and top 10 team left of Oregon's schedule to lose, but now there is a clear QB controversy in Corvallis right before they take on ASU, Stanford and then Cal. I foresee at least one more loss in the Beaver's future and that's going to hurt Oregon's strength of schedule even more.

3. Stanford 24 vs Washington State 17 - Since this is all about how this affects Oregon, here is what I think is going to happen. Stanford is going to beat up Colorado next week as OSU loses another to ASU dropping them out of the top 25. Then OSU is going to beat Stanford the week before the Tree plays Oregon dropping them down pretty low if not out of the top 25. So Oregon will play a 2 loss USC, followed by a 7 loss Cal, followed by 3 loss Stanford and finish with a 2 loss (barely top 25) OSU. Should be an exciting Pac 12 Championship Game against a 4 loss USC team.

4. washington - If you can't beat the Ducks on the field, might as well try and find a way to screw with them in the polls. Well played, Uw, well played.

5. Cal 27 at Utah 49 - You're going to try and hire Helfrich aren't you Cal? May I suggest one Mr. Bobby Petrino for your future coaching vacancy position.

6. Washington State - Thanks for not completely screwing Oregon Saturday by converting on that last minute drive. We can always count on you to "Coug It" when we need it most.

South:

1. USC 36 at Arizona 39 - No team messed with the Ducks as bad on Saturday as USC did. The Trojans were the lock to give Oregon a top 10 match up on the road, boosting their strength of schedule and setting up a nice rematch that everyone cared about for the Pac 12 Championship Game. Instead Arizona exposed USC and when Notre Dame beat Oklahoma in Norman everyone realized just what a fraud USC is for the crown. Now the human voters are going to reconsider if they should give their #2 vote to ND or maybe even Kansas State. So not only is SC going to hurt Oregon's chances in the computer polls, but they've also instilled doubt in the human voters that gives those on Oregon's heels an advantage. So what happens if Oregon narrowly escapes in SC next week? You think they keep their firm grasp on the #2 spot considering what KSU and ND have done this year? Yeah, me neither. Here's hoping Oregon leaves the starters in for the full game on November 3rd and doesn't care if it is 56-0 at half.

2. Ucla 45 at Arizona State 43 - This is a devastating loss for ASU and a key win for Ucla. Ucla gets the benefit of not playing Oregon until the Pac 12 Championship Game so the only way they can hurt Oregon's SOS is by beating teams Oregon has already beaten. Also, this sets up a possible show down for the ages between Ucla and USC later in the season to decide the Pac 12 South and determine the team that will go to the championship game. What Oregon fan is excited about seeing Ucla coming to Autzen for the second year in a row to determine who goes to the Rose Bowl?

3. ASU - Seriously, what the hell ASU? You erase a two score deficit late to take the lead against Ucla only to lose it in the last seconds. I'm sure you won't go and do something stupid now, like beat OSU on the road next week.

4. Arizona - It will be really interesting to see if the NCAA says anything about Arizona leaving Matt Scott in late in the game when he was clearly concussed. This is 100% on the coaching staff and caring for the safety of their amateur player. On a day when we saw one of the best running backs in the nation get his knee blown up, a guy like Matt Scott, who has little pro prospects, does not need to be sacrificed at the alter of getting a top 10 win by Rich Rodriquez. I hope Rich Rod does the right thing and comes out and apologizes for playing him for 4 more downs than he should have played on Saturday.

5. Utah - Oregon doesn't play Utah either. Thanks for giving one of our opponents another loss. YAAAAAY NINE GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE!!!!

6. Colorado - I still think Chip Kelly should have run a fake punt just to see what Rick Nueheisel would have said about it in the Pac 12 Studio.

Next Week's Games:
Washington at Cal
Stanford at Colorado
WSU at Utah
Oregon at USC
Arizona at Ucla
ASU at Oregon St