I guess you could say that's the good news. The season is more than half over.
I think it's fair to say that the Beavers haven't been doing as good as we would like. It's probably also fair to say that they won't end the season on a particularly high note either.
Let's take a look at the teams they have beat:
|
Oregon State Beavers :: Victories |
|
| Opponent | Score |
| Portland | 65-48 |
| Cal Poly | 78-65 |
| Northern Colorado | 69-67 |
| Montana State | 72-63 |
| Bethune-Cookman | 72-49 |
| Western Oregon | 71-58 |
| Howard | 84-67 |
| Mercer | 93-62 |
Take a look at this chart, and you'll find, we really haven't beat a good team yet. Currently, the combined record of all these teams is a staggering 37-81, or 31 percent. Oregon State is currently 8-8, right at 50 percent.
For the heck of it, here are the teams we've beaten:
|
Oregon State Beavers :: Losses |
|
| Opponent | Score |
| SE Louisiana | 63-65 |
| (24) Nevada | 47-75 |
| Hawaii | 41-85 |
| Fresno State | 69-74 |
| (12) LSU | 53-60 |
| (20) Oregon | 73-76 |
| (1) UCLA | 56-71 |
| USC | 46-91 |
For what it's worth, the combined record of these teams is 95-25. 79% percent.
As our Footballers found out, the only way to take a season that appears to be headed in the wrong direction and point it the right way is to straight up beat teams that are better than you. There's just no other way around it. Somebody has to be at the bottom of the pile, but that doesn't mean they have to lose all the games they're supposed to lose, and only win the games they're supposed to win. You have to be able to pull an upset. In my opinion, I don't think we've done it yet this season.
If you were to have sat down before the season began, and choose the 8 games the Beavers would be picked as favorites, those are the games we've won. If you were to choose the 8 games you thought we would be picked as underdogs, those are the games we've lost. It's like picking your March Madness bracket based purely on seed.
Maybe the second half of the season will be a brighter one. Maybe there are some upsets in our future. Maybe the resurrection will start this week.
But how is it going to happen? Are we going to beat Arizona State, the only team that has a worse record than us in the Pac-10? Will we embarrass ourselves again, and lose by more than 40? Will Jay John continue to provide motivation? Will we win close games?
Who knows.
Buckle your seatbelts, folks. Thank goodness for air bags. We may need them.
--JB--
Note: Predictions for the BCS Title Game:
BTD: Ohio State
XBox: Ohio state
Coin Flip: Florida