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This Week in Pac-10 Football
Nov. 26, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format THIS WEEK IN PAC-10 FOOTBALL: The regular season comes to a close with traditional rival games and a dash of aloha. Rival games find ARIZONA at ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA at STANFORD, OREGON STATE at OREGON and UCLA at USC. With the Apple Cup already played, WASHINGTON finishes its season at Hawai'i and WASHINGTON STATE is wrapped up for the year. Here is a look at the final week of the regular season (ranking is the AP media Poll followed by the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Harris Interactive Poll and the BCS rankings):
Ranking Games Site Time/TV Series/Last Year 33/-/33/- Oregon State (7-4) Autzen Stadium (54,000) 1:30 PST Oregon leads 55-45-10 18/20/19/17 Oregon (8-3) Eugene, OR ESPN2 Oregon State 30-28
ROSE BOWL: Five teams still have a shot of at least a piece of the Pac-10 championship, but just three of them are still in the hunt for the Conference's berth in the Rose Bowl. USC earns the Rose Bowl bid with a win over UCLA. Arizona State would gain the berth with a win against Arizona, coupled with a USC loss to UCLA. Should UCLA defeat USC and Arizona defeat Arizona State, there would be a four-way tie for the Conference Championship among Arizona State, USC, UCLA and the winner of the Oregon-Oregon State game. In that instance, UCLA would take the tie-breakers and the Rose Bowl berth. OTHER BOWLS: USC, Arizona State, Oregon and Oregon State all will participate in the Pac-10 bowl mix in some fashion regardless of outcomes on the final weekend of play. California and UCLA guarantee themselves a bowl berth with victories this week. Arizona needs one more victory to notch its sixth win and become potentially bowl eligible. The Pac-10 could have two teams selected for berths in the BCS, which would expand the Conference's bowl berths from six to seven slots. Once it is determined which teams will be participating in bowl games, Conference standings determine which team fills which bowl slot. PAC-10 BOWL ARRANGEMENTS - 2007-08: The Pacific-10 Conference has agreements with six bowl partners. The lineup is led by the Rose Bowl, which is the destination for the Pac-10 champion, unless said champion is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings. If that were the case, the Pac-10 champion would play in the BCS National Championship Game which this year will be played in New Orleans following the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In addition to the Rose Bowl, Pac- 10 bowl partners include the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Brut Sun Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl and Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Pac-10 bowl assignments are determined by the final Conference standings. If there is a tie for the Pac-10 championship, the head-to-head winner among the tied teams shall be awarded the Conference's top bowl position. In the event of a tie for any position in the standings other than the championship, the effected bowl may choose its participant from among the tied teams. TRADITIONAL RIVALRY WEEK: Along with colorful names and fan bragging rights, this week features the longest and oldest college football rivalries on the West Coast. The Oregon-Oregon State Civil War is the longest West Coast rivalry in terms of number of games played. The Ducks and Beavers have met 110 times dating to 1894. The California-Stanford Big Game is the oldest rivalry in terms of years. Cal and Stanford first met in 1892, but have played 109 times, one fewer than OSU-Oregon. OREGON STATE (7-4) at OREGON (8-3) - THE CIVIL WAR - 1:30 PST - ESPN2 national cablecast - The Series: As noted, no West Coast teams have played each other more often than Oregon and Oregon State. The teams have met 110 times dating to 1894 with the Ducks leading the series 55-45-10. The teams have held serve recently, trading home victories for the last 10 years. The last time a visiting team won in the series was a Duck victory at Corvallis in 1996 (49-13). Oregon has won six straight at Eugene with the last OSU victory at Autzen Stadium coming in 1993 (15-12). . . . Last Year: Oregon and Oregon State closed out the Conference season at Corvallis and played a thriller in a driving rain. OSU PK Alexis Serna kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1:12 left and then the Beavers blocked Oregon's potential game-winning kick less than a minute later and Oregon State hung on for a 30-28 win as the home team won the Civil War for the 10th consecutive year. In addition to his game-winner, Serna also connected from 49 and 50 yards. For Oregon, Brady Leaf made his first career start and passed for 274 yards and a TD and TB Jonathan Stewart rushed for 94 yards and three TDs. UCLA (6-5) at USC (9-2) - 1:30 PST - ABC national telecast - The Series: UCLA and USC battle for the Victory Bell. The teams have met 76 times dating to 1929 and uninterrupted since 1936 with the Trojans leading the series 41-28-7. It has been a series of streaks of late. UCLA won last year to snap a sevengame USC winning streak. Prior to that Trojan run, the Bruins had won eight in a row. Since both teams used the L.A. Coliseum as their home stadium prior to UCLA's move to the Rose Bowl in 1982, 63 of the 76 games in the series have been played there with SC leading 36-20-7 at that venue. USC has been rated either No. 1 or No. 2 in the country entering each of the last four games. . . . Last Year: UCLA and No. 2-ranked USC met at the Rose Bowl and the Bruins' knocked the Trojans out of a probable BCS National Championship Game appearance with a 13-9 upset victory keyed by the defense. The win snapped USC's seven game winning streak in the series. Trojan QB John David Booty passed for 274 yards, but the Bruin defense limited SC to 55 yards rushing and tossed a second-half shutout to hang on for a hard-fought win. The USC defense was equally as stingy, allowing UCLA just 235 yards total offense, but two second-half Bruin field goals provided the margin of victory. CALIFORNIA (6-5) at STANFORD (3-8) - THE BIG GAME - 4:00 PST - Versus national cablecast - The Series: The Big Game is the oldest series on the West Coast as California and Stanford first met in 1892. The teams have played 109 times with Stanford leading the series 54-44-11. Cal has won the last five games, which snapped a seven-game Stanford winning streak in the series. The Bears have never won six straight against the Cardinal. . . . This year's game marks the 25th anniversary of "The Play," Cal's five-lateral kickoff return through the Stanford band for a win in one of the most memorable games in football history. . . . Last Year: California and Stanford closed the regular season on a cold, blustery day at Berkeley and the Golden Bears defeated the Cardinal for the fifth straight year with a 26-17 victory. Cal kicked four field goals and the defense limited Stanford to just 269 yards total offense to key the win. Cal's defense also scored a touchdown as CB Syd'Quan Thompson picked up a fumble and returned it 15 yards for a TD. WR DeSean Jackson was the offensive star for the Bears with seven receptions for 127 yards. QB T.C. Ostrander had two TD passes for the Cardinal. ARIZONA (5-6) at ARIZONA STATE (9-2) - 6:00 MST/5:00 PST - ESPN2 national cablecast - The series: Arizona and Arizona State play for the Territorial Cup and have met 80 times in a rivalry that dates to 1899 with the Wildcats leading the series 44-35-1. However, the Sun Devils have had the better of the series recently, winning six of the last eight, including the last two. ASU has won the last two played in Tempe with the last Arizona win at Sun Devil Stadium coming in 2001 (31-24). . . . Last Year: Arizona and Arizona State closed out the regular season at Tucson with a bowl berth on the line and the Sun Devils jumped out early and played strong defense in a 28-14 win. ASU QB Rudy Carpenter tossed three first-quarter touchdown passes and TB Ryan Torain rushed for 139 yards as the Sun Devils had a balanced 215 yards rushing, 214 yards passing. The ASU defense limited Arizona to just 168 yards total offense (33 rushing, 135 passing). WASHINGTON (4-8) at HAWAI'I (11-0) - 6:30 HST/8:30 PST - ESPN2 national cablecast - The Series: Washington and Hawai'i have met just twice. The Huskies defeated Hawai'i 53-13 in the Pineapple bowl on New Year's Day following the 1937 season. Washington stuck around and five days later beat the Honolulu Townies 35-6. Hawai'i evened the series with a 10-7 win at Seattle in 1973. . . . Last Meeting: Washington and Hawai'i opened the 1973 season at Husky Stadium with the Warriors taking a 10-7 win.
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