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Semester has been an adjustment. Juggling fatherhood, school and work...goal is to be successful at each without taking away from another.

PAC-12 title game Review!...

The PAC-12 regular season wrapped up with a Stanford victory. Sure It wasn't the easiest of contests UCLA's strategy to avoid Oregon worked they competed with Stanford till the final whistle. They were one play away from a victory and a rose bowl birth. UCLA's kicker missed a potential game tying field goal and ended any shot UCLA had. Kevin Hogan played exceptional and it has Stanford excited about their QB position for the next three years with him being just a freshmen. UCLA has to feel somewhat good about their performance as well. Thus had a huge turnaround Jim mora Jr.'s first year as head coach. 2 losses and a birth in the PAC-12 championship is nothing to be ashamed of. Both teams have the talent to get back next year both other teams will be better as well. This game which was great couldn't have summed up the PAC-12 any better with it. This has been a great year for the conference and has seen many teams rise from mediocrity to having bowl eligible squads. Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Oregon and Oregon State all have had good years and will have a postseason game. Exciting for the future of the PAC-12.

Pac-12 week 13 review...

Last week was a wild one in the PAC-12. The season won't officially end for the regular season until this week’s games are up. Last week I had some things right and some things wrong. Let’s take a look back at what we learned last week.

Utah at Colorado went as expected. Colorado played their best and almost pulled it out but the problems that have got them all year ultimately ended their season when they gave a game losing kick return after easily playing their best all-around game of the year. The loss dropped them to 1-11 and saw them relieve their head coach of duties after the schools worst year. I had Colorado winning but they loss Utah didn’t play great but earned the win none the less.

I mentioned Washington State and Washington could have been one of those surprising upset rivalry games yet I still picked against Washington State because of how terrible they had been. Washington let them hang close and paid for it. Rivalry games are hard to predict and this is why.

ASU at Arizona told a similar tail. ASU basically stuck to the trend of the last few years the team with the worst record has come in and upset the rival. Although this isn't Michigan vs. Ohio State this rivalry is gaining momentum and could easily get more interesting in the next few years especially with the new coaches the team have in place. I was wrong on the pick by a mile ASU dominated the game but Arizona kept it close but ultimately doomed themselves with costly turnovers and missed field goals.

Oregon played angry and put together a complete game. After being slowed down by Stanford and had something they hadn't seen in a while (a close game). Oregon had to win over rival Oregon State and they dominated them on both ends. Defense forced turnovers and the offense put up points. Everything was back to normal. Although they aren't headed to the national title as expected they are headed to the fiesta bowl most likely vs. Kansas State so it should be a good shootout on offense.

As expected Stanford beat UCLA I honestly think UCLA held a little bit back knowing they'd face them again if they lost. I think Stanford will win the PAC-12 but hopefully UCLA actually shows up for this matchup.

Now for the he grand finale, USC hosted number 1 Notre Dame and came out a loser. I expected this and picked a similar final but the game was every bit as good as advertised. The storylines were…Could Notre Dame would make it to the nation title? Could USC salvage a terrible year with a win over a number 1? All these were answered as Notre Dame heads to Miami for the title game and their opponent will be determined after this weekend’s SEC title game.

What I have Learned...

This semester has been very different. I could go on and talk about how much each class has taught me but what I'm learning to balance fatherhood with work and school. My wife and I welcomed our first child into the world about 2 weeks before school started. It's been great! I love being a father and I couldn’t have much more of a blessing. With working and going to school full time it's been an adjustment to say the least. I want to spend pretty much most of my time with my daughter during the evenings since during the day i really don't get to see her. So it's hard finding time to study and do homework and relax and help my wife out after a long day of school and work. Now that the semester draws close to a close i think this was an eye opener. I have to budget my time better and have some type of schedule to better improve the time that I have free so that way it won’t be as hard to get thing done for when schools starts back up in January. i haven't yet figured it all out but this is what I’ve been learning and trying to adjust to this new semester and I’m hoping it works out well grades wise. If not i will be much more prepared next semester.

Week 13 Preview!....

Some of these game don't mean much to be quite honest and with this being the last game of the year for certain teams anything can happen. I tried to keep that in mind with these picks. Hoefully, i can get most of these correct we shall see how it goes.

UTAH @ COLO- Colorado has had a horrible year to say the least. I could go on and on about how bad this year was but the (1-10) mark shows it all. Utah blew it's chance at a bowl bid by losing last week at home to Arizona. This game will be more about pride than anything. I think which team shows more pride will win. My mind tells me Utah but my heart tells me somehow Colorado will get it's second win of the season and by double didgits Okay mabey thats too much of a stretch but...Colorado wins 24-14.

Washington @ WSU - Rivalry game. Trap game for Washington as they try and improve their bowl seeding. Playing at a rival oppoent who has nothing to play for could be very dangerous. Especially when everything has gone wrong this year for Washington State now an inverstigation looms over the football program as a former player says he was mistreated by coaches. Either way it shakes out, I see major changes for the cougars next season. I also see Washington winning despite any of the thing I mentioned. Washington 34-13.

ASU @ Arizona - Ah yes! The territorial cup! ASU and U of A both bowl eligible, both with first year head coaches and have alternated wins in the series the past few years. Recent trend has shown that the team having the better season will lose. That would be Now 24th ranked Arizona. I think the trend dtops here. Arizona has been excellent offensively to close the season. I see them as very highpowered and Rich Rod has changed Arizona football culture for the better. With K'deem as the nations leading rusher as just a sophmore and Matt Scott having one of the greatest Arizona statistical seasons at Quarterback ever I find it hard to believe Arizona will lose this game to bitter rival ASU. ASU is good and has weapons but not enough to compete with Arizona who gets their 8th win to end the regular season. Arizona routs ASU 52-17.

Oregon @ ORST- Oregon State has home field and will keep this close but Oregon is angry and will take out frustrations on Beavers. Oregon wins 35-21.

Stanford @ UCLA - Okay, this game has much but little significance. let me explain...If UCLA loses they have to go to Stanford to Play PAC-12 championship game @ Stanford for the second straight week. Which wouldn't guarentee anything. If they win they could face Oregon in Autzen. Either way UCLA will come to play and not hand Stanford anything. I think the Stanford Cardinal will pull out a nail biter. Stanford 24-20.

*Game of the week*

#1 Notre Dame @ USC - USC is facing the nations best team and possibly best defense. They are facing ND without Starting QB Matt Barkley who seperated his shoulder. Max Wittik who is a freshmen will start. This game was circled a the middle of the year as key game. Although USC isn't ranked they could still slavage their season with a huge upset over ND at home and hskae up the BCS at this point for USC it's time to accept playing spoiler. Notre Dame only needs one win to play for a title in what has been a magical year. Can they get it done? I think Notre Dame is better on Defense than USC and also more diciplined. USC may have more offensive talent but Defense wins championships. Notre Dames magic run contines with a 20 to 10 win over USC.

Week 12 Review

Last week was a good week. All picks were accuate for the most part except one game. Stanford who was the 13th ranked team heading into last week went into 2nd ranked Oregons Autzen stadium and got a win. This was key beacuse it shook up the BCS the chips fell into Oregon's favor as 1st ranked Kansas State loss. Which meant Oregon only had to beat stanford to be the nations top team and be in great position to play for a national title. However, this is what makes college football great. The uncertainty. Now teams a week ago that stood no chance for a title are back in the hunt and now Oregon with their great run may not even be allowed to play in their conference championship. They need help to keep their goals alive even though everyone thought they would be in much better poition this late in the year. All other pciks were the same result as expected so please check last weeks preview for reason why games turned out as such. Teams now ranked from PAC-12 : Arizona 24th, Wshington 25th, Oregon 5th, Oregon State 15th, Stanford 8th and UCLA 17th. Good to see the PAC-12 back to being a relevant football conference. It's crazy that USC isn't one of the teams ranked as they have been a dominant PAC-12 team to contend with in previous years. Should be an interesting final week of the PAC-12 regular year.

Week 12 Preview...

WASH @ COLO- Washington has got to be feeling good. Ranked again and bowl eligible heading into one win Colorado. Seems like an easy week for them. No trap game here, Washington rolls Colorado 42-17.

WSU @ ASU- Washington State has only 2 wins and the pending investigation of Mike Leech is not helping the cause. For whatever reason this team isn't responding to him or losing. I think they showed fight by coming back in the second half vs UTAH last week but ASU is trying to become bowl eligible and has the chance to do it at home. I see ASU winning a close one 34-28.

Game of the week! *USC @ UCLA- This is the first time in quite some time that this game and rivalry will be relevent. USC is now post season eligible for the first time in 3 years. UCLA has a new coach, new QB and is exciting offensively. USC has tons of pro talent all over the field but they have left plays on the field and going into a hostile Bruin stadium will really test them. UCLA football can truely prove they are back with a win here. Also they will become one step closer to a second straight pac-12 title game showdown with potentially a rematch vs Oregon. It starts here though. USC has already had 3 dissapointing losses that at the begining of the year when they were number 1 in the nation seemed easy. But 2 losses came on the road to great offenses. 2 losses also came vs a speard offense which UCLA runs. I think UCLA will win vs. their rival USC in a shootout 45-42. The first installment of the rivalry coming back to relevance.

Stanford @ Oregon- Stanford couldn't beat Oregon with Andrew Luck at home. No chance they come on the road and beat a stronger Oregon team with freshmen Kevin Hogan and QB. Hogan showed mobility and toughness as he led his team to a upset last week but he will find out just how intimidating Autzen stadium is. Oregon has just always had better atheletes than Stanford and this is still the case. Oregon dominates 52-21.

CAL @ Oregon State- I like what I saw from CAL last week. They hung in with Oregon who they seem to give trouble. With a backup QB with little experience. I think Oregon State should be worried as they have been reeling after losing last week. I think they pull out one closer than expected. Oregon State 27-20.

ARI @ UTAH- Arizona will win. They will run the ball and run it well all over UTAH which has been playing great defense, but the way u of a is running they will be tough to stop. Arizona 42-31.

Week 11 review...

Arizona dominates Colorado- This was something we saw coming. What we didn't know is how Arizona's running back K'deem Carey rushed for a PAC-12 record in yards (366) and ran for 5 scores. Not even top running backs such as Stephon Taylor with Stanford and Jamal Franklin with UCLA or Kejuan Barner of Oregon have ever accomplished any milestone like that and they are all seniors! Future is bright for K'deem and Arizona footballs offense with Rich Rod.

Oregon State is slipping- After the one loss at Washington Oregon State had a chance to keep PAC-12 title hopes alive by winning at Stanford who started a freshman at QB. State blew a forth Qtr lead and mabey any hope of beating out Oregon for the PAC-12 division title. Stanford showed resilience as they showed it doesn't matter who they have at QB they will run the ball and run it well. Defense came to play also forcing key turnovers late. Big test comes when they visit Oregon this week.

ASU is stuck at 5 wins- They are trying to gain bowl eligibility for the 2nd straight year and they couldn't have played USC at a tougher time as they came off the close loss to Oregon and head into a top 25 matchup with rival UCLA with huge PAC-12 division title implications. Of course USC won but still showed their flaws of defensive lapses and indicipline at times. To win at UCLA coach Lane Kiffin is going to have to rally his guys together and get a better performance beacause this win over ASU should have been easy but it was ugly.

As expected...Washington and Oregon dominate at home. UCLA dominates reeling WSU on the road as they continue to free fall. At this point the plot is becoming more clear and begining to thicken for all of these teams. Oregon will most likely play for the northern divison in PAC-12 title game and the south spot is still up for grabs. See you week 12 !

Week10 review/week 11 preview...

Review of week 10-

Washington took care of Cal on the road which wasn't a huge surprise comming off their impressive victory over then undefeated Oregon State. The win keeps them alive in Pac-12 race. Also keeps them in hunt for a bowl. Cal has ahad a rough season get rougher as their staring QB was injured and will likely miss time.Zac Maynard hasn't had the year he expected but they are still better with him then without him. Colorado continued their terrible year with getting blown out at home by Stanford. Utah dominated Washington State which hasn't looked good at all in Mike Leech first year. UCLA pounded Arizona to stay afloat in PAC-12 division race and bring Arizona back down o earth after the USC upset. Oregon State started backup QB Cody Vaz and got a victory over ASU. Last but not least Oregon showed USC and the nation they are for real by putting up ridiculous numbers on the Trojans scored 62 points and although they allowed 51. The game was never in doubt. They are projected to play in the national championship and if they do it will open up a rose bowl spot for the PAC-12 runner up. Now we move to this weeks picks.

WEEK 11 Picks-

COLO @ Arizona - Arizona bounces back from huge blowout loss to UCLA by becoming bowl eligible with a big win over Colorado. 48-17. Colorado's long season gets longer with Arizona unleashing its spread run atack all over a young defense that has seen no sympathy from PAC-12 foes as they have all had great outputs vs. this defense. The fact that it is homecoming and that Arizona can become bowl eligible should provide the sparks the wildcats need. Matt Scott is questionable with a concussion as of today but don't expect him to not be on the field for this wildcats win.

ORST @ STAN - This is a huge game for both teams. Both desperately need these wins to get back in the running for PAC-12 title game run. I see Oregon State winning beacuse Stanford is having a transition as they hand the offense over to a Freshman Kevin Hogan rather than sticking with Sophmore Josh Nunes. I think its a close one but Beavers edge out Cardinal, 28-24.

ASU @ USC - ASU wants this win badly to get back to a bowl game. USC wants to get back on the field after being tossed around by Oregon. They feel they were a few plays away from a win over the ducks. They can still get a rematch with a PAC-12 title game rematch. It starts here though USC must win. ASU is first victim in late USC run. 42-17 Trojans win.

ORE @ CAL - Oregon destroys CAL 52-17. CAL won't win without Zac Maynard. Even with him it'd be tough to slow down these ducks who are on a mission. 52-14

UTAH @ WASH- Washington could be a team to watch. Last weeks win and this weeks homegame could prove to be the spark they need as they seek bowl eligibility. Washinton wins 27-17.

UCLA @ WSU - WSU has looked terrible all year. Perfect chance to have a spoiler type win over a UCLA squad that has followed up big wins with bad losses. WSU gives UCLA a scare but WSU gives game away. 27-24.

Enjoy!