USC 45 - Arizona State 7 (Pick: USC 24-20)
If you take away a call or two and a break or two in Arizona State?s favor, this game could have been interesting ? and palatable ? for ASU. Despite that, the better team certainly did win the game, though by a larger margin than they should have. Once the snowball started down hill for ASU, they had no ability to stop it and that is a separate flaw than it would be to not be capable of competing. ASU could have competed, and due to various factors they did not. Lesson learned? We?ll see -- it can be a VERY tough lesson to retain. But they are a better team than they showed. And USC is still probably better than they showed.

Oregon State 29 - Washington 14 (Pick: OSU 31-10)
Not a pretty game to watch. The U-Dub?s Casey Paus likely solidified a position on the bench for the rest of his eligibility with a pathetic performance at QB. Isaiah Stanbeck did better as the replacement, but it was too little, too late. Alexis Serna had a fine day kicking five field goals for the Beavers, and had the offense converted a couple of those scoring opportunities into touchdowns this game would have been completely out of hand. The Huskies are the one team Arizona has a chance to beat.

Oregon 28 - Arizona 14 (Pick: Oregon 23 -10)
Another game that could have been more decisive. Penalties remain a hindrance to the Ducks, and are bordering on becoming indicative of the collective intellect of this team. They are physically very capable of becoming an outstanding football team. Mentally, they have yet to demonstrate the slightest understanding of the risk/benefit equation the referee?s flag will calculate. I would be tempted to go Stoops on ?em -- but I already said my piece about that? good luck coach Bellotti.

California 45 - UCLA 28 (Pick: Cal 31 -17)
Easily the most entertaining of the weekend?s slate. UCLA?s Maurice Drew is a threat if he finds a seam through the first layer of the defense. If you can bottle him up at the line, you have a shot. Other wise, you are in for a lot of fruitless chasing of the back of his jersey. By and large, Cal was able to do that, holding Drew to only 42 yards. J.J. Arrington, Geoff McArthur, Aaron Rodgers and company were relentless and widely diverse in the way they attacked the Bruin defense The approach worked to fine result, career highs in rushing yards for Arrington and touchdown receptions for McArthur. Two Q&A?s: Is this the start of UCLA?s annual second half collapse -- yes, Will Cal run the table from here? Perhaps --they certainly have the ability to do so. It seems as though everyone is this conference loses at least one game they should have won, and if USC proves to that game for Cal, they will have had a fine season indeed. Perhaps, even though Cal did outplay SC two weekend?s ago, the Trojans will yet prove to be the complete powerhouse they are thought to be, and recollections of the Cal game will be more tempered ? meaning there is maybe another true "not supposed to lose" loss out there for the Berkeley bunch. I love the Pac-10!

Stanford 23 - Washington State 17 (Pick: Stanford 34 -28)
This was the pick I was most unsure of last week - the Palouse is a tough place to find a "W" and Stanford was still an inconsistent team to my eye. While it DID cap off a five-for-five week for me (don?t quibble with my spreads -- they are very approximate, intended only to give a taste of how I feel the teams match up to each other -- not what the actual outcome will be), in the end I went with the Cardinal because I was very unimpressed with the Cougs the week before against Oregon. The final score was in no way indicative of the quality of the teams and what I saw bore no pretense of quick improvement on the part of the Crimson and Grey. WSU is a struggling football team, Stanford seems to be improving and though the game wasn?t decided until late, the Cardinal was certainly the better team.

UCLA @ Arizona State
Redemption for the Sun Devils is close at hand. Well, maybe that is strictly not possible, but they will win this week?s game. After last week?s shellacking at the hands of USC, and playing at home, ASU will return to earlier form and cruise. It would be difficult for me to imagine anything other than a very one-sided contest, ASU 38, UCLA 17.

Washington State @ Oregon State
Respectability be thy name. This game will provide the chance for a tolerable season to the winner and abject mediocrity for the loser. Do as those hordes that make up Beaver Nation do on game day and paint yourself Orange and Black for this one. Or just wear your hunting vest? Anderson shreds the Cougar secondary, the Beav?s defense plays tough against an overmatched freshman starting QB and all in Corvallis will be as it should be? closed till Monday. OSU 42, WSU 13

Oregon @ Stanford
This week?s keystone game in the Pac-10 conference race. The winner will get to step up to challenge ASU and Cal for the "best outside of LA" team award. At the end of the season the winning team could still find themselves at the lower end of the pecking order if they don?t take advantage of this newly acquired status, but it is certain the losing team will have little chance to aspire to more than a mid-conference finish in the standings and serving as a possible spoiler to the rest of the conference race. Based on nothing other than potential, I?ll go with the Ducks 1-17. They will have to have no penalties and suffer no setbacks to the progress they have made since the start of the season. Stanford will be a formidable -- if yet incomplete -- team that could put a solid effort together and gain the victory. Oregon just appears to be a bit further down that road at the moment.

Washington @ USC
This one should be cancelled -- solely for humanitarian reasons. SC could score a hundred points on Saturday. And take 17 knees to run out the clock in the fourth quarter? Can you tell me why Fox Sports Net would chose this, THIS, game to televise? Markets, shmarkets, 27 million viewers in the two targeted major markets turning the game off before halftime isn?t going to help market share in the slightest? a decision completely beyond comprehension. At least FSN made certain it would be televised after the network?s children programming block? road kill is not appropriate viewing material for the young ones. USC 101, UDUB 6

California @ Arizona
Though on a lesser scale, much the same as above. Other than it will be the home team getting thumped, so the more challenging prediction is how many people will be still in the stands at the end of the 3rd quarter -- I am going with less than 10,000 -- than the final score? something on the order of 57, 10, Cal.

Until next week? Happy Tailgating!!!