Whether you've noticed it or not, the Beavers have moved into a tie for third place in the Pac-10 with their victory over Arizona State. Washington State lost to Arizona, which moved the Cougars down in the rankings, and the Beavers into a tie with the Ducks for second place.
If the Beavers would have easily beaten the Cougars, the Beavers would be tied for second with USC, which would really be second place alone, since the Beavers have already beaten the Trojans. But what can you do.
Taking a look at our 6-3 record, we have losses against Boise State, Cal, and Washington State. None of those are terrible losses, except maybe Washington State. We lost 42-14 to a very good Boise State team that is now 9-0 and trying to stay that way. They knocked off Fresno State 45-21 on Wednesday.
In the grand scheme of things, the loss to Cal was not a bad loss either, although it was painful one for Beaver fans. Cal is alone at the top of the Pac-10 Standings, and looks to stay that way if they can knock off USC on the road. Their other two remaining games are against Arizona and Stanford, both of which should be wins for the Golden Bears.
Winning these next three Pac-10 games is well within reach for the Beavers. If everything falls the right way, OSU could be playing in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 28th. For that to happen:
- Cal beats USC
- Oregon beats USC
- Oregon State beats Oregon in the Civil War
That would put the Beavers second in the Pac-10, granted that they beat UCLA next weekend and Stanford the week after next.
Then, after the Civil War, the Beavers travel to Hawaii, which could turn into a very good game.
Here are the full standings:
| Team | Conf. | Overall | ||
| W | L | W | L | |
| California | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| USC | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Oregon | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Oregon St. | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| WSU | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Arizona St. | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| UCLA | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Arizona | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| UW | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| Stanford | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
But right now, we need to take it one game at a time. And that means the only thing running through our heads is UCLA on Saturday.
Beat the Bruins!
Go Beavers!
--JB--