Ok, as the beat continues, and we continue to see surprises in Pac 10 play, I'll try not to screw it up so bad as I attempt to look accurately at what the teams did!

OK, this week looked to have things settle down a bit. We've seen a few weeks of the Pac 10 season, teams are settling in to what they are, and we'll begin to see the real stars shine... right? Ummm maybe not.

To recap, Arizona State had won four in a row, then lose at home to an Arizona team that is up and down to say the least. Washington and Washington State were two of the hottest teams in the Pac 10, but that was a week ago. This week, they are, collectively, a fifteen point second half comeback (by WSU) away from going 04 in Los Angeles. Speaking about Los Angeles, UCLA was dead in the water... the operable word here is "was" . They looked awfully good in a couple victories against Washington and WSU.

Truthfully, about the only thing that is consistent from last week is the free fall we are seeing from Oregon and Oregon State. Aside from OSU losing a close one to California, the Oregon schools are being flat out abused right now. The good news? Next week, they'll probably abuse the LA schools at home just to confuse us all a bit more.

Anyways, here's the damage for this week.

1. California (LW #4)
Cal blew out BOTH Oregon and Oregon State in the bay area.

2. Southern Cal (LW #3)
This week, USC blew a fifteen point second half lead against WSU before destroying Washington on Saturday.

3. Arizona (LW #5)
This week just one game, but it was a big one as they hammered ASU on the road.

4. Arizona State (LW #1)
Lost to Arizona to end their four game winning streak. Still, only a game off of first in the Pac 10.

5. UCLA (LW #10)
I gave the Bruins the nod over Stanford because of who they played and beat. Beating the Washington schools, at this point, is a bigger accomplishment than beating the Oregon schools.

6. Washington State (LW #6)
Beating USC in comeback fashion was great but they lost a lot of steam by getting handled by UCLA.

7. Stanford (LW #8)
Blow out wins against both Oregon schools. These kids refuse to play as bad as they're supposed to.

8. Washington (LW #2)
UW was one of the hottest teams in the pac 10 last week, crushing the bay area schools, but losing a heartbreaker to UCLA and getting crushed by USC ended that run with a resounding thud. They had better learn to win on the road or they might not even see any NIT action.
9. Oregon State (LW #7)
What can we say... at least they were competitive against California.

10. Oregon (LW #9)
Simply put, this was not a pretty week in Eugene, but like I said, next week they'll probably turn into world beaters once they return to Mac Court.

Can't wait to see what happens next week... if the last three weeks are any indication, next week Oregon and OSU will probably be #1 and #2!

Happy Hunting!

Comments

Well, things continue to blow up in the Pac 10. It is becoming more and more clear that two or three teams are going to get into the Dance, and no more. Teams like Oregon State continue to pull off upsets, teams like Washington, California, and Arizona State find themselves with BAD losses, and teams that normally play solid, fail to show up for a game or two out of nowhere.

Still, as bazaar as this week has been, Saturday's games went relatively as can be expected. So, in short, we have another huge shake up from last week, which saw teams like Oregon fall from #1 to #6. What kind of shake up do we have in store this week? Here we go....

1. Arizona State ( LW #1)

ASU has won four straight and just completed a difficult sweep of the Oregon schools in Eugene and Corvallis, respectively. ASU has now won four straight and might be playing the most consistent ball in the Pac 10. They keep the crown for the second straight week.

2. Washington (LW #10)

To illustrate how strange this season has been, Washington, who started as #1, dropped all the way down to #10 last week, but now has risen back to #2 for two reasons. First, NOBODY ELSE in the Pac 10 deserves the #2 slot. Second, UW finally got it together with back to back blow out wins against the bay area schools.

3. Southern Cal (LW #8)

Another illustration of how weird the season has gone is USC. USC has a difficult start to the season and is looking awfully bad, but then, they get a week off and obliterate a weak UCLA team, Still, #3 is a goods spot when looking at the rest of the Pac 10 teams, considering everyone else lost this week.

4. California (LW #4)

California goes to Washington State and wins a tough game in the Palouse, but before they can full of themselves, they are beaten handily by Washington. I just can't figure this season out.

5. Arizona (LW #3)
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I couldn't be too tough on Arizona who split this weeks games in Oregon. They lose a close one in Corvallis but then beat up on Oregon.

6. Washington State (LW #5)

Another ho-hum week. Nothing special as Wazzu loses to Cal in a close one, but then beats Stanford, also in a close one.

7. Oregon State (LW #9)

After a win against Arizona, it's got to be worth something. OSU looked good in both of their games despite the loss to ASU.

8. Stanford (LW #2)

Stanford, who was supposed to be among the worst in the Pac 10, finally crashed back to earth this week after a great last week. Getting blown out by Washington and then losing a close one at Washington State will land you a spot in the bottom three.

9. Oregon ( LW #6)

Blown out twice at home against the Arizona schools. Looks like Mac Court isn't what it used to be.

10. UCLA (LW #7)

Destroyed by USC? We're not in Kansas anymore.

Comments

This is getting rediculous. I will go on record right now, in stating that there is not a single team in the Pac 10 that is any good.

To recap, Oregon gets off to a great start, beating both washington schools on the road, and then they summarily lose at home to lowly Oregon State. UCLA takes dow California and Arizona State (by all accounts the better teams compared to their sister schools) but then they lose to stanford and Arizona?

Washington, the Pac 10 favorite, can't seem to win a game, while Stanford, the Pac 10's worst predicted finisher, cannot lose one. The best record for any Pac 10 team is Washington State and they already have four losses. Finally, there is not a single team in the Pac 10 in the Top 25, and we're not even half way through the season (the first time I can ever recall that happening).

With all of this, it makes predicting a power ranking awefully difficult. Maybe we should go from worst to best and call it the PowerLESS ranking! Oh well, here we go...

1. Arizona State, on the strength of going 2-0 the last week with blow out wins against both Washington and Washington State. All things considered, they're probably the cream of the crop right now... until they lose to NAU or something like that.

2. Stanford get's the #2 slot for beating both USC and UCLA at home last week.

3. Arizona went 1-1 last week, but had a blow out victory of the Huskies. That's good enough for the #3 slot.

4. California went 1-1 against UCLA and USC.

5. Washington State beat Arizona but got hammered by ASU... That's why they aren't listed higher.

6. Oregon was last weeks #1 after big road wins at the Washington schools, but you lose to a team that is really bad, especially at home, and this is what happens.

7. UCLA too inconsistent to be ranked higher. Win two games in a row, and we'll talk.

8. USC drops way down after losing to BOTH bay area schools.

9. Oregon State can't be raised too much even with a win over Oregon. They need to prove it first.

10. Washington. Blown out by both Arizona and Arizona State... really?

Well, there ya go.

Happy Hunting.

Comments.

Week 2 is upon us and like many past years, after getting off to a strong start, the second week off the season generally, has less compelling match ups. This week, there is only one game matching Top 25 teams, but it's a good one... Southern Cal (3) travels to Columbus, to take on Ohio State (8).

IT'S HERE!!!!! Finally, after 230 days of waiting, we are down to our last four!!! The season opens up Thursday on Boise's Smurf turf, as they host Oregon. Then, just two days later, we get the rest of the Pac, as well as a host of high profile games around the country that'll make your head turn.

How's this for games on the first weekend of College football...

Bringham Young, with their senior-loaded team heads to Dallas, Texas for a date with Oklahoma.

Nick Saban's kids travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech, in a 5 vs 7 match up, that is likely to end the national championship hopes for one of the teams right out of the shoot. Finally, Georgia takes on Oklahoma State in a match up of top 15 teams.

Of course, those games are all fine and dandy, but what about the Pac 10? Shame on much of the Pac 10 for being wussies and scheduling the Idaho state's of the world to start the season... note to Arizona State... GROW A PAIR! Seriously, There is only two games worthy of being this weeks game of the week, and despite my personal loyalties, the game of this week has to be the first game of the season.

Oregon (16) at Boise State (14).

This game has all of the drama and interest of a late season game with high level bowl games at stake. Aside from the fact that you have the Nations strangest uniforms playing on the nations strangest field, you have a lot of great story lines to boot.

On one side of the ball, you have Chip Kelly, the mastermind of one of the most productive and unique offenses in the nation, who is now Oregon's head coach. Will he pick up where Belotti left off, or will he go the way of the majority of rookie head coaches who take over successful programs (which isn't very well, historically)?

Kelly will certainly have a lot to work with in his first season at the helm, at least on the defensive side of the ball. For starters, he's got the most accomplish quarterback in the conference returning. Jeremiah Masoli returns with his variation of the spread offense, and appears to be ready to make a big impact against opposing teams has he now has the ability, the maturity, and the options to do very well. Unfortunately, after losing several of his best options from a season ago, Masoli will need to carry more of the offense than ever. Will he be up to the challenge?

With Oregon theoretically losing some punch on offense, I believe they will be led by their defense, which should be rather loaded this year.

Boise State, on the other hand, has a sophomore super stud quarterback, Kellen Moore. Moore is coming off of an unbelievable freshman campaign where he amassed nearly 3500 yards passing, 25 touchdowns, against 10 picks, and a completion percentage of nearly 70%. Can it get better? In a word... Yes. Moore not only has two of his top receivers back, Coach Chris Peterson has recruited several Wide outs that are likely to make an impact this season. To add, Running back Jeremy Avery has 1000 yard rusher written all over him. The loss of Ian Johnson appears to have help Peterson's squad ad Avery will not need to share carries as much.

So the questions remain... Strength on strength (in my opinion)... Oregon's defense versus Boise State's offense. Who wins that battle? Maybe a more important question is whether or not Oregon will miss a beat on offense. If they do, who wins that battle... Boise's defense or Oregon's offense.

I have seen varying opinions all over the board, but for me? Sorry Duck fans, I've gotta go with the curse of the Smurf Turf.

(16) Oregon............28
(14) Boise State.....34

Have fun this week and be safe.

Comments

Well, summer is officially here and you know what that means? Baseball is about to go into its Dawg days (oops!), basketball is non-existent, nobody cares about soccer, and we're all focused more on playing sports as opposed to watching them.

Still, this is the time of year that I like above most others because it's the time when all teams are trying to build a national Championship team for the next few years. It's a time when the young stud ball players from around the nation commit to play for your school, enabling you to lay claim that your team is going to win another National Championship (in USC's case), or just win a few games (in UW's case). Either way, it is one of the most exciting times of the year for me, so I thought I would take a closer look at what's going on with the schools of the Pac 10.

Current Scout Ratings

8. Stanford

Stanford has quietly put together a HUGE recruiting class for them. Ranked #8 nationally, Stanford has 17 verbal commitments already, led by Top 100 Wide Receiver Tai-Ler Jones. If coach Jim Harbaugh keeps this up, he is likely to make Stanford a Pac 10 player real soon.. that is, until he jets for the NFL, which will ten return Stanford to the natural order of things.

9. Washington

Thank goodness the Ty Willingham era is finally over. UW is already making some head way with new coach Steve Sarkisian at the helm. In Willingham's first full recruiting class, he got a few players but nothing that we would look at and say, wow. coach Sark has already landed the son of arguably the greatest NFL QB who ever lived. If nothing else, getting a commitment from Under Armour All-America QB Nick Montana is going to get the boosters jacked up, but the best part is that this kid can actually play. With 13 commitments already, and four 4 star commits (counting one soft verbal) UW appears that they are digging in for at worst a top twenty recruiting class in Steve Sarkisian's first year in trying to rebuild a once proud program.

14. Southern Cal

Well, not much to say. USC is USC. Currently at #14 nationally, USC's prized commitment comes from the #1 Tight End nationally, Xavier Grimble. Still, before anyone thinks that USC is somehow lagging behind, keep in mind that they do this every year. Recruiting the best talent on earth takes time and since these recruits are getting offers from every one of the best football programs going, there is a considerably higher attrition rate. Still it doesn't take nearly as many five-star commitments to make a stellar recruiting class, and with USC having players begging to go there, I sure they'll be just fine. I really wish Pete Carroll would just go back to the NFL and leave us poor Pac 10 folk alone.

20. California

Cal normally gets a lot of early commitments, many of which are offensive linemen, but with Jim Michalczik leaving Cal for the Oakland Raiders (by way of Montlake) they have been left asking, "where's the beef"? Still, all is not lost. it's early and they do have a top 20 class as of today, led by standout QB recruit Austin Hinder. Look for Cal to be a major player as the recruiting season kicks into high gear come September. If coach Tedford puts together a strong product on the field, the recruits will follow.

29. Arizona State

As we progress down the list, I have noticed a trend, coaches and schools that are known for getting good recruiting classes are struggling. #1 on this list is ASU. Dennis Erickson is known as an exceptional recruiter, but he's only been able to last five commitments, his star commit being 4-star QB Peter Thomas, but where is the rest of his recruits. He's got a lot of skill players looking, but nobody is making a move... yet. Stay tuned to see if he can improve on his marginal #29 ranking.

36. Oregon

Well, things have started off a bit slow for Chip Kelly and company. Coach Belotti picked the right time to step down, so as to give Kelly the best chance at a full recruiting class, but aside from 4-star commit DE Curtis White, it just hasn't happened. I think UW is doing good because a new coach signalled improvement for their program. Could the opposite be happening here? Could recruits be staying away because they aren't sure if Kelly can coach like Belotti? One things for sure, a Chip Kelly run Oregon Ducks is going to be much more focused on the defensive side of the ball which might lead to more National success in the future.

48. Washington State

Well, not much to say about WSU. A lot of people have been waiting to see if bringing in a former Wazzu player in Paul Wulff will lead to success on the recruiting trail. Few people understand what it's like to play for Wazzu like coach Wulff, and I think the hope has always been that since he bleeds crimson, his excitement will get to recruits and lend itself to success. Still, whether this will happen or not is anyone's guess. Thus far, in his first real opportunity to get the recruits going, he's only been able to land five commits, culminating with 3-star TE Aaron Dunn. Nobody's under the delusion that Wazzu is going to get a bunch of 5-star guys, the demographics of Pullman just don't allow for it, but to compete in the Pac 10, Wulff gonna need to get it going, and get it going soon.

50. Arizona

One of the big surprises, to me, is that coach Mike stoops is struggling like he is. The last couple of recruiting classes have been kind to Stoops, but this one just isn't happening yet. Arizona can only claim 5 commits, their stud being a 3-Star guy, Matt Brown, but they have little else to brag about. They've already lost out on a couple in-state recruits as well, so this recruiting season isn't looking too optimistic thus far for the Cats. I can't say that I'm disappointed since Mike Stoops is such a class guy and all.

59. UCLA

What? coach Neuheisel only has ONE commitment thus far? This is a shocker to me. For a guy who is changing the landscape of Southern California college football, he is sure getting off to a slow start. Slick Rick needs to remember that if you're going to compete with USC, you had better get some of their recruits. Thus far, UW is doing a much better job of getting California's to look at them than UCLA. That's not going to cut it. You heard it here first... DO NOT be surprised if Julious Moore ends up at UW after all this year. If UCLA's recruiting class keeps going south and UW keeps getting better, the pressure will mount, and don't think for a second that other schools aren't still talking to him.

61. Oregon State

Another mild surprise, Mike Riley only has one commitment thus far. OG Roman Sapola is good , but Riley's going to need a lot more help. Of course, he does more with less than any coach I've ever seen. It appears that Riley is trying, yet again to beef up the O-line to help his running game. I'll be looking to see if he gets more beef up front come September, since they will be losing a lot after this season.

Well, there you have it. A brief look at how the recruiting is going thus far. I'd say the biggest winner right now is Stanford, but the most impactful recruiting class is Washington. We'll see how things progress as the season kicks into gear over the next two months.

Happy hunting!

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