PAC-12 Bowl Season Preview....

Ah yes. It’s finally Bowl season. A time when the pressuresof the season are over and all teams have to focus on is winning their lastgame of the year against an unfamiliar foe. This year PAC-12 opponents willface members of many of college football’s best programs this post will previewthose matchups best as possible.

 

 

December 15th, 2012 - Nevada (7-5)   @ Arizona (7-5) -

The New Mexicobowl! Not the bowl Arizona aspired for to start the year but a bowl game is abowl game which is a big step up from last year’s season. They face Nevada ateam that plays in the MWC. Record wise Nevada has had almost a mirror imagerecord to Arizona but Arizona has faced tougher teams. They beat a rankedOklahoma State squad and ranked USC squad and Washington which was ranked also.Nevada has only played one ranked team and that was Boise State. Not that thatmatters. I think Nevada can run the ball effectively on Arizona as they havethe nation’s second leading rusher Stefphon Jefferson. I think he will have abig game with Arizona's horrid run defense. However, Nevada isn't a greatpassing offense and one thing Arizona can do is put up points. They can throwand run the football as they have the nation’s leading rusher in Ka'Deem Carey.This is an intriguing matchup to say the least. I see this being a shoot-outwith points aplenty. In the end Arizona will come out on top just because theiroffense can do much more 45-42.

December 22^nd, 2012 - Washington (7-5) @ BoiseState (10-2) –

Las Vegas Bowl! Washington has to be pleased with thismatchup. They have been up and down this year with the last being down afterlosing to lowly Washington State to end the year. This game can prove they arebetter than what they showed because Boise State is a good team that shared itsconference and no matter if it’s the MWC a win against a division winner could bespecial. Boise State always reloads with a new QB to run their unique pro-styleoffense. This year has been no different with junior Joe Southwick taking thereins from Kellen Moore who turned pro. His numbers aren’t as flashy asMoore's. He had a good year and bottom line losing only 2 games in a regularseason is special. I think this game will be determined by whose defense makesa few more plays. I lean towards Boise because they are much more rounded andare more consistent. Boise State wins 35-24.

 

December 27^th, 2012 - UCLA (9-4) @ Baylor (7-5) -

Holiday Bowl! UCLA had huge letdowns to a big year with twolosses to Stanford in as many weeks. This has seen them forfeit a chance toplay for the rose bowl. They had a huge turnaround by becoming a 9 win team.Yet they have to have a sour taste having not made a BCS bowl game. This is a chancefor them to prove they are worthy of being considered as a top team.   Baylorhas been the opposite; they had a hot start, a losing streak and then puttogether a couple late season upsets. Including, spoiling a perfect for (thennumber 1) Kansas State. That huge win was followed by a win over 23^rdranked Oklahoma State. Baylor is a high powered offense and Senior NickFlorence has the offense rolling and Lache Seastruck an Oregon transfer has ranthe football well all year. UCLA has a young QB Brett Hundley but a gooddefense and a veteran RB Jonathan Franklin will hide their youth. UCLA wins38-24

 December 29^th, 2012 - Oregon State (9-3) @ Texas(8-4) -
Alamo Bowl! Texas wins 35-21
 

 

December 29th, 2012 Arizona State (7-5) @ Navy (7-4) -
FightHunger Bowl ASU wins 21-18

 

December 31^st, 2012 - USC (7-5) @ Georgia Tech(6-7) - Hyundai Sun Bowl! USC wins 35-17

 

January 1^st, 2013 - Stanford (11-2) @ Wisconsin(8-5) –
Rose Bowl!I think this is the year Wisconsin finally gets the Rose Bowl win. With losing their coach and having veteran at Quarterback i see them with the advantage over Stanford who has played great defense but is young at the Quarterback spot. It'll be a low scoring game with the running game being the difference. Wisconsin wins 24-20.

 

Jan. 3^rd, 2013 - Oregon (11-1) @ Kansas State(11-1) -
Fiesta Bowl!

This game could be renamed the best of the rest games. Thismatchup will pit the two teams that feel like they should’ve been in thenational championships against each other. Both dominated their regular seasonswith 11-1 records.  I think this gamewill be the most entertaining BCS game. Two high-powered offenses going toe totoe both anxious to show their worth and prove that they should’ve been playingin Miami for the national title. Explosive Oregon has Conference freshmen ofthe year Marcus Mariota at Quarterback. He had an amazing year at Oregon andhas their future looking bright as he showed his play was well ahead of itsyears. Also on offense K’juan Barner a record breaking running back and D’AnthonyThomas who may be the fastest play in the nation. Kansas state is led by Heismancandidate Colin Kline who had a great year rushing and throwing the footballfor KSU. Both teams will put up tons of points so as a fan itll be great tosee. Kansas State runs a pro style while Oregon runs spread it’ll be intriguingto see how they collide. I have to go with Oregon just because I feel their up-tempooffense will be tough for Kansas State to stop. I also feel Oregon’s defense isa little faster with greater athletes. Kansas State struggled to stop thespread with they played and loss to Baylor and Oregon’s spread is far morelethal than Baylor’s. Oregon wins 45-35.

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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.