Weekend Picks

Well I took a shot last week and picked UW to beat Stanford but they let me down. I guess that is a good thing for us Coug fans considering they are still winless and their QB is down with a broken thumb. This should be a week where the Pac-10 standings start to take shape from top to botton. USC and OU may be battling for the top spot while WSU and UCLA may be battling for the the bottom spot. The rest of the Pac is kind of up for grabs right now.

Last Week: 3-2
Season Total: 27-8

Stanford at Notre Dame: Stanford is continuing to look better and better as the weeks go on. This game is critical to them as far as bowl chances go. If they can beat Notre Dame they will have 4 wins with games still to play against UCLA, WSU and Arizona. The Cardinal should be able to win two of those and make themselves bowl eligible. Meanwhile, Notre Dame is sitting at 3-1 and looking to rebound after last year's disaster. I have watched a couple of their games so far and I have not been impressed at all by the Irish or their Big-10 opponents. Jimmy Clausen is very inconsistent throwing the ball and they don't have much of a running game. I think Stanford will want this win more. Pick: Stanford

Arizona State at California: Both of these teams had high expectations this season, but after bad losses they have both fallen out of the rankings. A win for either of these teams could get them back into the Top-25 next week. Jahvid Best and his 7.1 yards per carry are out due to injury so Cal will turn to Shane Vereen, who is actually averaging 8 yards per carry himself. Not too bad of trade off. ASU is coming off a two game losing streak and is facing a pivotal three game stretch at Cal, at USC and then home against Oregon. The Sun Devil's lack of a running game will hurt them in this one and probably kill their confidence for the season. Pick: California

Washington at Arizona: Arizona is going bowling this year. UW is 0'fer and their god of a player has a broken thumb. Expect Arizona to be fired up for this one as they can make a statement that they are a challenger in the Pac-10 this year. Pick: Arizona

No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC: I feel bad for the Ducks. Their QB situation didn't really effect them against a terrible WSU team, but it will kill them against a fired up USC team. USC hasn't lost back to back games since 2001 I believe. Don't expect it to happen this year either. Duck fans better hope they don't have another QB get hurt in this one. Pick: USC, big.

WSU at UCLA: Ocho Rojo will make his first road start in the Rose Bowl Saturday. UCLA has been bi-polar this year. They beat Tennessee, got crushed by BYU and then looked improved in a loss against Fresno State. The Bruins offense has been terrible. They haven't had a 100 yard rusher in a game all season. Good thing for them, WSU can't stop anything resembling a run. Khalil Bell and Derrick Coleman are both expecting to go off on Saturday. I think the Cougars will looked a bit improved in this one but I don't see them winning. Let's just hope we are within 4 touchdowns when this one is over. Pick: UCLA