Pac 10 Bowl Game Shout Out: Arizona Wildcats take on the Nebraksa Cornhuskers at the Holiday Bowl

Its Bowl Game Season... almost better than Christmas in my book! With lots of Pac 10 Football Teams in Bowl Games its hard to know which to watch or talk about... So, I'm going to focus on one at ta time. Today's Pac 10 Bowl Game of Choice: the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. The 2009 Holiday Bowl will feature The Arizona Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers... both teams have had great seasons and are fan-favorites in their respective conferences.

The 2009 Holiday Bowl Game will kick off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 30th at Qualcomm Stadium. Bowl Game Tickets for all of the Pac 10 Bowl Games are going really fast this season, so don't miss your chance to head to the Holiday Bowl. If you aren't going to be able to be at the Holiday Bowl Game in person, the game will be televised, check your local listings!

Pac 10 Jerseys make great holiday gifts

Need a last minute shopping idea? Running out of time to find the perfect holiday gift for that impossible to shop for person on your list? Stress no more!

There are lots and lots of really great Pac 10 Jerseys right now for fans. Although the football season is winding down Pac 10 Jerseys make a great gift because not only can you support your team all year round, you can also get great deals on Pac 10 Fan Jerseys now that the season is about over.

If you are really looking to be the best gift-giver this season, why not couple your favorite Pac 10 Jersey with Pac 10 Season Tickets, pick your favorite Pac 10 Football team or create your own season tickets by buying tickets to all of the Pac 10 2010 Football Games you want to go to!

Nothing says Happy Holidays like Pac 10 Gear and Pac 10 Tickets!!

Rose Bowl is holy grail of College Football Games

Every college football season teams prepare all year for the post season bowl games. Bowl Games are the veritable who's who in college football. For Pac 10 Football Teams, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena is the Holy Grail of Bowl Games. According to the official Rose Bowl Game website, "Known as the The Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl Game kicked off a myriad of college football legacies in 1902. Since then, the game has showcased 18 Heisman Trophy Winners, produced 28 national champions, and featured 197 consensus All-Americans."

This year the 96th Rose Bowl Game will be played by the Number 8 BCS Ohio State Buckeyes and the Number 7 BCS Oregon Ducks. Both the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes have had great 2009 Football Seasons and are well prepared for the game. The Oregon Ducks, ranked a place higher in the BCS rating system than the Oregon Ducks are the favorite. But in my opinion both teams really have a shot at this title and if the Oregon Ducks want to keep the Rose Bowl Championship in the Pac 10 they are going to have to do serious work to protect the title...

There are still Rose Bowl Tickets left, I found some at Oregon Ducks Football Tickets... but if you intend to go, you better scoop up your Rose Bowl Tickets soon!

Pac 10 Bowl Game Annoucements

As promised fellow Pac 10 Fans, here is the list of Pac 10 Bowl Games:

Tuesday, Dec. 22
Las Vegas Bowl
Brigham Young vs. Oregon State, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

Wednesday, Dec. 23
Poinsettia Bowl, at San Diego
Utah vs. California, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, Dec. 26
Emerald Bowl, at San Francisco
Boston College vs. Southern Cal, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Tuesday, Dec. 29
EagleBank Bowl, at Washington, D.C.
UCLA or Army vs. Temple, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Wednesday, Dec. 30
Holiday Bowl, at San Diego
Nebraska vs. Arizona, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

Thursday, Dec. 31
Sun Bowl, at El Paso, Texas
Stanford vs. Oklahoma, 9 a.m. (CBS)

Friday, Jan. 1
Rose Bowl, at Pasadena, Calif.
Ohio State vs. Oregon, 2 p.m. (ABC)

Sugar Bowl, at New Orleans
Florida vs. Cincinnati, 5:30 p.m. (FOX)

Monday, Jan. 4
Fiesta Bowl, at Glendale, Ariz.
TCU vs. Boise State, 5 p.m. (FOX)

Tuesday, Jan. 5
Orange Bowl, at Miami
Georgia Tech vs. Iowa, 5 p.m. (FOX)

Thursday, Jan. 7
BCS National Championship, at Pasadena, Calif.
Alabama vs. Texas, 5 p.m. (ABC)

Pac 10 Conference Awards Announced

The Pac-10 Conference announced it's inter-conference awards today, although most players had a good idea what was coming, there were several Pac-10 Football Players that were very shocked to be named player of the year.

The 2009 Pac-10 Conference Awards:
Offensive Player of the Year: Toby Gerhart, Stanford Cardinal Tailback
Defensive Player of the Year: Brian Price, UCLA Defensive Tackle
Offensive Freshman of the Year: LaMicheal James, Oregon Ducks
Defensive Freshman of the Year: Vantaze Burfict, Arizona State Linebacker
Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly, Oregon Ducks

Check back for Pac-10 Bowl Game Tickets and Annoucements later on!

Spend Thanksgiving with the Pac 10 teams

The Turkey is cooking, the Stuffing is done, and the Pies are in the oven... All that is left this Thanksgiving weekend is to decide what football games to watch... With lots of Pac 10 in-stte rivarly games being played and the standings at tight as they are, the Pac 10 will be blowing up this weekend with explosive football action. Check out my Pac 10 Thanksgiving Games Hit List to catch all of the best of Pac 10 football!

Here are the Best Pac 10 Football games (in my opinion) being played this weekend.
Saturday November 28th
Arizona vs. Arizona State, ABC
Washington vs. Washington State, FSN Northwest
Notre Dame @ Stanford, ABC
ULCA @ USC, FSN

Pac 10 Standings, what they thought and where we are..

Pac 10 football this season has been not even close to predictable. The video below is a preseaon preview from just before week 1 of the college football season. With just a week left in the season, I'm not sure anyone would have predicted where we would be... So watch the video and see who you think they thought would win...


Then take a look at the standings going into the last week, not quite the same is it?
Oregon: 6-1
Stanford: 6-2
Oregon State: 5-2
Arizona: 4-2
USC: 4-3
California: 4-3
UCLA: 2-5
Arizona State: 2-5
Washington: 2-5
Washington State: 0-7

Pac 10 Football Standings are very close

The Pac 10 has been quite the conference this season. With 5 teams all within a game of each other, analysts are saying that the Rose Bowl is still within anyones reach. This weekend there are several Pac 10 match-ups that will help determine who will make it to the Holy Grail of Pac 10 football.The weekend kicks off with Arizona State vs. Oregon, and then Oregon State takes on Washington.

Another Pac 10 fan put together this video which highlights the top Pac 10 teams in his opinion. While I didn't create this video I think its a good look at some of the best Pac 10 football teams.

Oregon State Beavers are set to make another late-season surge

The Oregon State Beavers are poised to make a late-season surge for the Pac 10 Conference Title. The OSU offense is playing really well, although the pass defense has been a little shaky, the Beavers are looking good and with other teams in the Pac 10 starting to look tired, the OSU Beavers may be in the perfect position to swoop in last minute under the radar and pull out a conference title.

Fellow Oregon team the Ducks, who at one point looked like they might be the biggest competition for the title seem to have lost focus leaving the perfect place for the Oregon State Beavers to slip and claim the glory for themselves. This weekends games are likely to be very telling of who will be on top and who is going to walk away empty handed this season!

Pac 10 Coaches are singing the same tune

Most football conferences have a dominant coach, one that across the nation even outside of conference following people can point to and say, that's the face of _________. This season the Pac 10 has not offered up one such coach, in fact just the opposite. With most of the Head Coaches in the Pac 10 being relatively new, especially in comparison to the longevity of the football programs that make up the Pac 10, the song that is being sung by the the Pac 10 Leadership, "it takes time to turn around a football program".

Singing the lead parts in this sad song are Chip Kelly and Steve Sarkisian. Both first year coaches in the Pacific Ten Conference and both suffering from lackluster seasons so far, why should we care... in my opinion, we shouldn't. I'm not faulting the coaches totally... no coach can take a losing team and make them national champions in one season, but it does seem to me that instead of blaming the "time" why not be up front and say, "we are working on x, y and z" at least then we would know they were doing something.

What may be even worse than the sad tune being sung by these new comers is that relative veterans like Dennis Erickson do not seem to be providing great leadership either... what it boils down to is that if things don't change fast, this will not be a great season for Pac 10 teams, and for once I don't think you can lay all the blame on the players.

The Oregon Ducks battle the UCLA Bruins, and reports say it is anyones game

The Oregon Ducks will take on the UCLA Bruins this weekend in a game that could be one of the hardest to predict this week in the Pac 10.

The game is at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, which is automatically a strike against the Ducks... but if the Bruins bank on a home field advantage carrying them they are going to walk away crying. The Ducks may be down four or five strikes but they have the heart to carry them far!

A few more strikes against the Oregon Ducks, this is Quarterback Nate Costa's first NCAA Start, and its in the Rose Bowl, and its televised.. can you say nerves? Next, the Bruins are sure to be out to redeem themselves after being spanked up and down the field by Stanford last week. Finally, with the return of QB Kevin Prince the UCLA offense will be hard to beat.

The game is televised so if you can't make it out to the game, sit on your couch and send as much Duck Love through the screen as possible, they are going to need it!

Oregon State Beavers take on the Stanford Cardinal

The Oregon State Beavers take on the Stanford Cardinal who so far are undefeated in the Pacific Ten Conference. In fact the Cardinal have only lost once this season and it was on the road to Wake Forest.

Football critics are saying though that the Oregon State-Stanford game will be the Cardinal's first really challenging Pac-10 Conference Game. Earlier this season Stanford beat Washington State, Washington and UCLA.

Analysts say that the trick to beating Stanford this season will be containing the ground game that relies heavily on tailback Tobey Gerhart, who at 237 pounds is more like a Moose than a football player but they boy has skills. The trick for Oregon State who does not have the best defense in the conference (though they don't have the worst either) will be to keep the ball in the air. If Oregon State can pass the ball early on and keep the Cardinal Defense on the field they have a real shot at shutting down Stanford's Pac 10 streak.

Pac 10 Week 5 standings and predictions

The Pac 10 has proven to be totally upside down and inside out this season... what I thought I knew, the USC Trojans are going to dominate, has not come true. What I thought I would never see happen, the Huskies are rocking, is happening. What does it all mean? Going into Week 5 of Pac 10 play it is really still anyone's game. Below is the listings for the Pac 10 teams and their overall record, conference record and last week's ranking...

Oregon Ducks (3-1, 1-0 3)
USC Trojans (3-1, 0-1 2)
California Bears (3-1, 0-1 1)
Stanford Cardinal (3-1, 2-0 8)
Arizona State (2-1, 0-0 5)
Washington Huskies (2-2, 1-1 4)
UCLA Bruins (3-0, 0-0 7)
Arizona Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 9)
Oregon State Beavers (2-2, 0-1 6)
Washington State Cougars (1-3, 0-2 10)

The Washington Huskies take on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday

The Washington Huskies take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, this Saturday in one of the best Huskies match-ups of the season. Both teams are boasting great quarterbacks this season and both teams have had big victories early on.

The Washington Huskies had a huge upset over the USC Trojans who are long time rivals of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish... for Notre Dame beating the Huskies would be a relative slap in the face to the USC Trojans. For the Washington Huskies beating the Fighting Irish would be a great way to get a big step closer to securing a spot in the post season.

Betting pools have the Washington Huskies listed as the 13 point underdog, but considering how they have been playing and the big upsets they have already completed I think the game is really anybody's at this point!

PAC 10 Rankings after the first week of NCAA Football

The Pac-10 has released its first conference rankings for the 2009 Pac 10 Football Season. Surprisingly, the USC Trojans are not on the top... though anyone who saw the Huskies-Trojans game or read my last post knows that the Trojans really didn't deserve to win that game or be atop the rankings. With several conference games this weekend including a televised matchup against California and Oregon its anyones guess as to who will top the rankings next week.

As of September 22 the Pac 10 Rankings according to the official Pac 10 Website were:

Stanford 1-0
Washington 1-0
California 0-0
Arizona State 0-0
UCLA 0-0
USC 0-1
Oregon 0-0
Oregon State 0-0
Arizona 0-0
Washington State 0-1

Check Back after this weekends games for an updating standings list!

Pac 10 Favorites USC Trojans lose and the Pac 10 is wide open

Its football season sports fans and that means that the polls have opened and critics are already predicting which Pac 10 teams will take the Pacific Ten Conference Title this season. Almost every season since the start of the Pac 10 Conference, the University of Southern California Trojans have swept the conference and gone on to do great things nationally in the BCS series.

However, it seems that the USC Trojans may have rested a little too long on their laurels and now are paying the price. Last week in a stunning loss that almost no one predicted the Trojans walked away from Seattle losing to the Washington Huskies 13-16. With this loss the Pac 10 rankings are wide open for lesser known teams to make quite a stir. This weekend several Pac-10 teams face off against each other and with the USC Trojans licking their wounds it is possible that Washington State Cougars can make it two losses in a row for the Pac 10 Golden Child.

Like Noah’s Ark on the Oregon State Beavers roster everything comes in 2’s

It seems like a great many things come in 2’s: a pair of shoes, Hostess cupcakes, Twins and this season many of the positions on the Oregon State Beavers roster. Now although there is an old-farm-wives saying that goes, “if you have a boy you have one boy, if you have two boys you have half a boy, and if you have three boys you have no boy at all” nothing could seem farther from the truth in this case.

The Oregon State Beavers roster includes two phenomenal quarterbacks this season. Both Lyle Moevao and Sean Canfield have proven that they can throw the ball and handle the pressure of being the playmaker. While going into the season it looks like Sean Canfield will start since Lyle Moevao had to sit out spring practices with an arm injury, last season the roles were reversed and Lyle Moevao started. With two first-line capable throwing arms it is clear that Oregon Beavers definitely have talent to work with.

But that is not where the double-trouble stops, both quarterbacks have two great choices to throw to. Jacquizz Rodgers and James Rodgers will both be starting Jacquizz as a sophomore running back and James as junior receiver. Both Rodgers boys have shown that they can catch the ball and hold on to it once they have it. And if that wasn’t enough pairings the Oregon State Beavers are also looking forward to what the new pair of corners will do after Keenan Lewis and Brandon Hughes graduating vacating the Oregon State Beavers roster slots they held from 2005 to 2008.

If you ask this Pac 10 fan you should go out now and buy Oregon State Beavers tickets, a pair of them!

University of Arizona Wildcats offense will look very different this season

When Arizona Wildcats quarterback Willie Tuitama left the Wildcats roster at the end of last season, collective “now what do we do” was heard from just about every Wildcats fan. As the season approaches quickly, rumor has it that sophomore Matt Scott is the favorite to step up and fill the shoes of the University of Arizona record holder for career attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns… no small shoes to fill.

Matt Scott at 6’ 3” and 190 pounds is a dynamic offensive player that came out of Corona Centineal a high school football powerhouse. Scott saw limited game time last season but still managed to lead the team with 8.2 yards per carry. Offensive Coordinator Sonny Dykes feels that this agility and speed will make Matt Scott the perfect replacement for Willie Tuitama.

The other contender for the position is transfer student, Nick Foles whom at 6’ 5” and 235 pounds is much closer in size and build to Tuitama. Last season, Nick Foles spent time on the scout team for Arizona. Foles earned the respect of both coaches and teammates in the 2008 season with his ability to watch an opposing quarterback and than emulate his style, a characteristic that makes it hard to go up against him. Although Foles is qualified for the job, most think that it will go to Scott with Foles playing back up and Bryson Beirne coming in at 3rd by a long ways, though Beirne does have awesome footwork and a very strong arm.

California Golden Bears Head Coach Jeff Tedford sets out to do it again

The California Golden Bears are often an overlooked team in the Pacific-Ten Conference. With the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins taking up most of the California college football talk, the Cal Golden Bears often are left behind. What isn’t overlooked when referencing Golden Bears football is head coach Jeff Tedford.

Jeff Tedford joined the Cal Golden Bears roster in 2002 and since then has enjoyed great success. Other than his first season with the Cal Golden Bears, Coach Teford’s teams have made it to post-season play, winning 5 of 6 bowl games including a stand-out performance against the Texas A&M Aggies in the 2006 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. The Golden Bears swept the Aggies 45-10 and went on to be the Pacific 10 Champions that season.

While Coach Jeff Tedford’s record with the California Golden Bears is enough to keep him a topic in football talk, what is really impressive is his ability to turn out great quarterbacks. Known to his peers and football critics as “the groomer of NFL quarterbacks” Jeff Tedford has coached 5 first round draft picks since 1994. Notably, Jeff Tedford coached Super Bowl Winner Trent Difler and Brett Favre’s successor on the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers.


This season the California Golden Bears will bring back Junior Quarterback Kevin Riley who in his first season as the primary starter racked up an impressive record book including the school record for most pass attempts in a single game, 58 against Maryland. The Cal Golden Bears roster also includes 4 back-up quarterbacks who all are young and still have a lot of time to be guided by Jeff Tedford. Rumors are already circulating that Coach Tedford could send more than of his Cal Golden Bears players to the draft in the next few years.

Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Dennis Erickson needs to prove last season was a fluke

Dennis Erickson, the head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils has a lot to prove this season. In his first season with the Arizona State Sun Devils in 2007, Coach Erickson made an impressive impression, going 10-3 overall and winning the Pacific-10 conference title as well as making an appearance in the Holiday Bowl.
However, the 2008 season was a total turn-around and Arizona State Sun Devils fans and supporters were less than impressed with Dennis Erickson. For a whole host of reasons, of which some would say coaching was included, the Arizona State Sun Devils roster posted an overall record of 5-7 and were 6th in the Pac-10 conference standings at the end of the season.

This season the Arizona State Sun Devils roster seems to be young and the tone of the season seems to be “we can do this”. Dennis Erickson, who has been known as an offensive man, also seems to understand that having a strong defense is also critical which is why some critics say he is stockpiling speed and size on both of his lines. ESPN’s Ted Miller wrote that, “with a lot of freshman and sophomores likely seeing significant action, the future looks bright.”

One thing is for sure, if Dennis Erickson wants to remain the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils he needs to come out swinging, this Pac-10 fan thinks that without wins against Idaho State, Louisiana and Georgia the season won’t ever come together.

Cal Golden Bears vs. Oregon Ducks September 26

The California Golden Bears will face-off against the Oregon Ducks on September 26 at 12:30 p.m. The game will be played at Autzen Stadium, home of the Oregon Ducks football program. Autzen Stadium is located in Eugene, Oregon just north of the University of Oregon campus. For Cal Golden Bears fans, the drive to Eugene from Berkeley is a beautiful 8 hour drive up the coast and Eugene, Oregon has lots to offer for those Cal Golden Bears fans who want to make it a weekend event.

This years match up against Oregon Ducks and the California Golden Bears is especially exciting because the although the Oregon Ducks have the home field advantage, they will be just a four games into their season with new Oregon Ducks head coach Chip Kelly. Coach Kelly stepped up into the Oregon Ducks head coach position after former head coach Mike Bellotti was named Athletic Director for the University of Oregon.

Students and season ticket holders often eat up tickets for this and other Pac-10 conference games, however there are several ticket brokers that still have seats for the Cal Golden Bears vs. Oregon Ducks on September 26.

Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Arizona Wildcats, 2009 Duel in the Desert Tickets

The Duel in the Desert is the annual rivalry game played between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats. The two teams play for the Territorial Cup, which the NCAA has certified to be the oldest award given for a college football rivalry game. The first Duel in the Desert was played on Thanksgiving Day November 30, 1899. The original rivalry was played between the University of Arizona and Tempe Normal School, which evolved into Arizona State.
The rivalry has historically been played the day after Thanksgiving. However, recently due to network television scheduling, the game is played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year the Duel in the Desert will be Saturday November 28th and could be aired on ABC.

In the past decade, both teams have fielded competitive rosters that put up quite the fight to win. The Arizona State Sun Devils have had more success though, winning in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. During the 2008 Duel in the Desert the University of Arizona Wildcats beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 31-10, the most lopsided win over Arizona State the Wildcats had enjoyed since 1964.

There are still tickets left for the 2009 Arizona State vs. Arizona game but this in-state rivalry game is sure to sell out!!

Washington Huskies fans cheer for the return of their hometown QB

After a winless season in 2008, the Washington Huskies fans needed some good news before any of them were going to be able to pull on a purple and gold Huskies jersey and cheer for the dogs. Ask and the fans shall receive, hometown golden boy Jake Locker the standout quarterback that was sidelined last season after arm surgery is back and seems to be better than ever.

In his freshman season, Jake Locker was praised as one of the best throwing arms in the Pacific Ten Conference, he was named Pac-10 freshman of the year 2007 and was a Rivals.com Freshman All-American. He completed his first season on the Washington Huskies roster with 3,048 yards of total offense and what looked to be the start of a great career. Then he was injured and had to miss almost all of the 2008 season, and many fans held their breath in fear he would not return in order to protect his arm for his budding baseball career.

Huskies fans can let their breath out, not only will Jake Locker be returning to the Huskies football roster, the Los Angeles Angels selected the superstar in the 10th round of the MLB draft. One observer reported that in preseason spring ball, not only did Jake Locker look good he was also passing with more accuracy than he did freshman year. So although most Huskies fans got rid of anything that tied them to U-Dub, maybe it is time to dig out the purple and gold and get back in the cheer section for the UW Huskies because with Jake back anything is possible!

Arizona State Sun Devils reshape their offense

After several seasons with the Miller brothers (that is Zach and Brent, for you non-Sun Devil aficionados) there Miller Era has past and with that there has been a large hole left in the Arizona State Sun Devils roster. Most fans recognize that Zach Miller may have been the best “catch” that the Sun Devils had seen in quite some time.

Last season without Zach Miller the Arizona State Sun Devils tight ends caught 33 passes for nearly 230 yards and 4 touchdowns, did I mention that was 5 different players accumulating those stats? As a junior, Zach Miller caught 50 passes for 485 yards and 4 touchdowns… something doesn’t quite add up. And perhaps that is why Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Dennis Erickson went on the offensive and brought in some big name recruits for the 2009 season.

2 members of the 2009 recruiting class that seemed to be overlooked this spring but has proven in off season practice to be quite the offensive players are Chris Croyle and Max Smith both of whom play tight end. As a two year starter in high school Chris Croyle pulled in 46 receptions for 738 yards and 10 touchdowns, Max Smith in two seasons accumulated 31 receptions for 468 yards and 7 touchdowns. Coach Erickson also has two returning tight ends and from the looks of it he is trying to add depth to the position that the beloved Zach Miller once filled.
One thing is for sure, with two all-star recruits who have 4 years of eligibility left in front of them, ASU Sun Devils fans may be looking at the Miller brothers 2.0

Football Critics say that it is too early to throw in the towel on Paul Wulff

When you ask most Pac-10 fans to list the teams in order of success, almost always the Washington State Cougars hit bottom or darn close to it. Why the bad rap for the Cougars? Probably because last season alone they suffered losses with scores like 66-3, 63-14, and 69-0. So yeah, maybe the Cougars aren’t doing the best but that is no reason to say that it is WSU Cougars head coach Paul Wulff’s fault. Coach Wulff inherited a football program that was bluntly devoid of talent or leadership… and forget about recruiting, no one wants to play for a losing team.

However, critics are telling the plethora of Washington State Cougars fair-weather fans to be patient. Pressuring Paul Wulff to turn out a winning season or turn in his resignation is futile. Any good athletic director, which in my opinion Jim Sterk is, knows that it can take 4-6 years to pull in a good recruiting class and really start to see talent and leadership on the field. So while it may be yet another hard season to be a Washington State Cougars fan, the virtue we all need to apply is patience. If it hits the 4 year mark and there is no indication that it is going to turn around, then we can start to call for Paul Wulffs head, until then it may be time to just grin and bear another season of disappointing Cougars football.

On the bright side of this Washington State Cougars schedule is that although the WSU Cougars will meet the Washington Huskies in Seattle, it comes after a two week stint at home where hopefully the Cougar roster can post a win or two and build some confidence going into the Apple Cup.

New Oregon Ducks Head Coach hoping to make a splash in his bigger pond

Chip Kelly will be taking the plunge into the NCAA Division-I Head Coaches pond this season when he starts his first season as the “top Duck” at the University of Oregon. Although Chip Kelly has no head coaching experience, he has accumulated a respected reputation in the football world. Many of his peers regard him as one of the most innovative offensive minds of our time and see the team he is leading as the one to beat.

Coach Kelly got his first real break into coaching when he was hired as the University of New Hampshire. Serving in many different positions on the coaching staff, Chip Kelly spent his last 8 seasons with the New Hampshire Wildcats as offensive coordinator. Then in 2007, Chip Kelly was hired by the University of Oregon to be their offensive coordinator. Kelly’s spread option offense was instantly successful at the University of Oregon and he helped guide the Ducks to the top Pac-10 scorers per game, with an average of 38.15 ppg. In 2008 after a series of injuries threatened the offensive half of the team, Chip Kelly stepped up once again helping the quarterbacks to pull out another offensively successful year. On March 13, 2009 it was announced that former Ducks head coach Mike Bellotti was resigning in order to take over the athletic director position and Chip Kelly was announced as his successor.

Oregon Ducks fans are eager to see what this relatively young head coach will do with the team. Pac-10 fans in general should watch out for Chip Kelly and the Ducks as they are sure to have one of the best coached offenses in the conference.

The Washington Huskies - Cal Golden Bears recruiting showdown continues

It is no surprise that in a conference like the Pac-10 where all of the schools are so close together and share many of the same academic qualifications that prospective football recruits tend to look at multiple Pac-10 schools before making a final decision.

However, recently there as been a recruiting “battle” between the Washington Huskies and the California-Berkley Golden Bears. The Golden Bears. Both Cal Golden Bears head coach Jeff Tedford and Washington Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian run strong programs that rely heavily on bringing in the best. So it was quite an upset when the Cal Golden Bears recruited a top defensive lineman prospect who had already verbally committed to the Huskies. Although there are not NCAA rules against this, to me it seems like poor-form to court someone else’s boyfriend.

But karma may come around to rear its ugly head for the Cal Golden Bears. Tevin Carter, an all-star wide receiver made a verbal commitment to Cal for the class of 2010, and it is rumored that the Huskies are already trying to woo him away. Carter would be an excellent recruit for any team and the Huskies certainly do not want to see him play on the Cal Golden Bears roster.
This Pac-10 fan is guessing that by the time letters of intent are being signed for this recruiting class everything could look a lot different.

ESPN releases the Top 5 hardest non-conference Pac 10 games

While typically I like to stay just to the Pac-10, I recently read an article by ESPN staff writer, Ted Miller who gave his thoughts on the Top 5 Scariest Non-Conference Pac 10 Games… it struck me as interesting and since half of every match up is one of “my” teams I guess I will break my strictly Pac-10 talk and share with you what Mr. Miller feels us Pac-10ers need to focus on:

1) Central Michigan vs. Arizona (September 5)
2) Purdue at Oregon (September 12)
3) Oregon State at UNLV (September 12)
4) California at Minnesota (September 19)
5) USC at Notre Dame (October 17)

Now I don’t know too much about these other teams, but I can say that the California at Minnesota game is sure to be a tough one with the Minnesota Golden Gophers playing in their new home TCF Bank Stadium. In my experience Midwest football fans are about as hearty as it gets and our Cal Golden Bears will have their hands full for sure! The USC at Notre Dame game is always a good one, with the long time Trojans-Fighting Irish rivalry, it is almost always a fan favorite for both seasons. This year with the game in South Bend, I do worry that the Trojans won’t hear their fan support as loud as the Irish will, hopefully it won’t mess with their concentration too much!

Most of these games should be televised so if you can’t make it to the games, make sure you watch and see if Mr. Miller is right about these tough match-ups!

Can the USC Trojans grasp the Pac-10 Conference Title for the 8th straight season?

The University of Southern California Trojans are a football dynasty, with records and titles that could fill an entire wing of most football stadiums, the Trojans have established themselves as not only the powerhouse team in the Pacific 10 conference but also a national threat. The last 7 seasons, the USC Trojans have won the Pac Ten Conference Title. All of the teams in the Pac 10 prepare for their match up with the Trojans and in this Pac 10 fans opinion most of the teams prepare to have it handed to them.

Many football critics are saying that this may be there year that the Trojans fall from glory. The USC Trojans schedule this season is an extremely tough one that is sure to challenge this high caliber team. The USC Trojans caught a rough break with road games and many are speculating that just an upset or two on the road could take the Trojans out of the running due to the fact that other teams drew much “easier” schedules.

The USC Trojans schedule includes away-games with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Washington Huskies, the California Golden Bears, long-time rivals the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Oregon Ducks and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Another challenging factor is that all of the road games are grouped in twos. Some pessimists are saying that with road games in pairs, if there first game does not go well it is hard to turn team moral around without the support of a home crowd and the second game is almost always a loss.

One thing is for sure, this team will not go down without a brutal fight, if I were a gambler I would be putting money down on more than one of these games being extremely close right to the end. There are still tickets left for many of these games, however fans will scoop them up fast so buy USC Trojans football tickets today and be there for the action!

The UCLA Bruins getting ready to return to the Rose Bowl

For most college football teams and fans there is a level of prestige and honor that comes with saying that you have played in the Rose Bowl, but for the UCLA Bruins the Rose Bowl is simply home. After spending several seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the UCLA Bruins shared home turf rights with rivals the USC Trojans the UCLA Bruins football team moved to their program in 1982 to Pasadena, California to play their home games in the historic Rose Bowl Stadium.

While most of the off-season practices, training camps and scrimmages take place in either the Acosta Athletic Complex or Spaulding Field the UCLA Bruins roster would tell you that the Pasadena is home and the Rose Bowl is where they belong. Rose Bowl Stadium is also the host however of the famous BCS series Rose Bowl game, the oldest and most famous college football bowl game. The 96th Rose Bowl game will be played on January 1, 2010. This year there is great speculation that the UCLA Bruins may return home after the regular season to play in the post season game, with former Pac 10 leaders taking on difficult schedules and a recruiting class full of talent many Bruins fans are eager to see how far their team can go this season.

One thing is for sure, any game played in the Rose Bowl is a good one and should not be missed.

The Pacific Ten football schedule is full of rivalry games

While all conferences have their rivalries and “big-games” the Pac-10 is the only conference in the NCAA where every team has an in-state, conference rival. Pac-10 fans know that these games are often the best of the season and are always worth buying tickets for way in advance.
The Pac-10 rivalry Schedule this season is as follows:

Cal Golden Bears vs. Stanford in the “Big Game”: Nov 21

Arizona vs. Arizona State in the “Duel in the Desert”: Nov 28

Washington vs. Washington State playing for the “Apple Cup”: Nov 28

UCLA vs. USC playing for the “Victory Bell”: Nov 28

Oregon vs. Oregon State in the “Civil War”: Dec 3

All of these games draw in fans from across the Pac-10 for lots of unique traditions and rituals. Each school has its own superstitions about the game and most participate in messing with the other guy before the game. In Arizona the two schools paint the opposing schools “A” on the school sign in their own colors. The Oregon-Oregon State rivalry has been known to get so heated that police have to be involved and in several past years students have been “kidnapped” and forced to do embarrassing acts for their return, this kidnapping once included the nabbing of the Oregon State homecoming queen and forcing her to ride a child’s scooter in the town square while begging to be released. While most of the traditions surrounding the Pac-10 rivalry games are in good fun some of the pre-game traditions are under review by university officials and are strongly discouraged.

Nike partners with the University of Oregon Ducks for the latest in football jersey innovation

Over the last few years the University of Oregon Ducks have taken a lot of flack for their flashy uniforms and endless jersey-pants combinations. The University of Oregon partnered with Nike in 1997 in order to take advantage of brand recognition in hopes of boosting Oregon Ducks ticket sales but the Ducks also chose Nike as its official outfitter because Nike is known for its innovation and unique approach to sporting apparel.

One advantage of the University of Oregon Ducks jerseys is the light-weight water wicking material. With laminated designs that do not absorb moisture and a fabric that is designed to be light, the 2009 Oregon Ducks roster will be playing in uniforms that are 25% lighter than the 2006 Oregon Ducks jerseys, something players recognize makes them faster on the field.
Another cutting edge change to the Oregon Ducks apparel is the fact that instead of stuffing pads into pockets of the jerseys like most teams do, the Oregon Ducks uniforms have pads built directly into them. The Nike Corporation calls this design “Pro Combat” pads. The University of Oregon Ducks head coach Mike Bellotti who took over as athletic director on July 1st spoke about the uniforms in a recent press conference, “(the uniforms) are some of the best looking, fastest playing, most efficient uniforms ever made.”

While the Oregon Ducks may get crap about what they wear from critics and haters, the players seem to recognize that although the uniforms are great and have advantages ultimately it is about who is wearing the Ducks jersey that counts. Oregon Ducks Defensive End Will Tukuafu told reporters, “We pride ourselves on going out there and playing hard. It doesn’t matter what we’re wearing we’re going to go out and compete. It’s just a plus to have the best stuff out there.”

No matter what the Ducks wear, this season is sure to be an impressive one.

Pac 10 TV Schedules are set

ABC, ESPN, Fox Sports Net and Versus have set their 2009 Pacific Ten Conference Schedule of games to be aired. The four networks will in total televise 38 Pac 10 regular season games. Other road games and non Pac-10 Conference games will be aired on ESPN, NBC, CBS College, the Conference television packages and local over-the-air and cable access channels.
Some games have been locked in as televised games with the remainder of the TV Pac-10 Schedule being decided 12 or 6 days prior to the game as the season progresses. Games already set include:

Saturday September 5: San Jose State at USC, Maryland at California, and LSU at Washington

Saturday September 12: Purdue at Oregon

Saturday September 19: USC at Washington, Utah at Oregon, Cincinnati at Oregon State,
Kansas State at UCLA

Saturday September 26: California at Oregon

Saturday October 3: USC at California

Saturday October 17: Washington at Arizona State

Saturday October 24: Oregon State at USC, Arizona State at Stanford

Saturday October 31: USC at Oregon

Saturday November 7: USC at Arizona State

Saturday November 28: Notre Dame at Stanford, UCLA at USC

Thursday December 3: Oregon State at Oregon

Saturday December 5: Arizona at USC

Can the Stanford Cardinal football team pull through this season?

Last season Pac-10 fans know that the Stanford Cardinal football team had several almosts but ended its season with a disappointing 5-7 record overall with a 4-5 record for conference games. However, three of those 7 losses came down to a touchdown or less. Something that the 17 returning starters from the 2008 Stanford Cardinal roster are sure to remember. Cardinal football fans are hopeful that with the returning players there will be a continued momentum that carries on from last season and translates into wins. Along with several returning players the Stanford Cardinal roster is going to be boosted by an incoming class that is incredibly athletic and extremely talented. Stanford University head coach Jim Harbaugh is hopeful that this new “competition” will push the returning players into playing their best in order to retain their starting position.

One of these new-comers to the Cardinal program is Andrew Luck, the redshirted freshman who will take over as starting quarterback. In the spring game Andrew Luck passed for 352 yards and 5 touchdowns, something that caught the attention of not just the Stanford Cardinal fans sitting in the stands but also the coaching staff on the sidelines.

With the new freshman class and a returning line that has NCAA Division-I experience under their belt, the Stanford Cardinal football program has a good shot this season of seeing a winning record and a postseason experience. In this Pac-10 fans opinion, what the Stanford Cardinal need to focus on now is their pass defense. If the Cardinal secondary can learn to pull down passes and pick up interceptions, I think they have a shot at going all the way this season! Catch Stanford Cardinal games this season to see coach Jum Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal take on the Pacific Ten Conference!

Welcome to Pac 10 Football Headquarters

Welcome to my Pac 10 Football Headquarters! Here you will find everything you need to know about the Pac 10 Football Teams with a special focus on the Pac 10 Football Schedules!

Keep Checking Back for Team Schedules and News on all your favorite Pacific Ten Conference Teams!

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona State Sun Devils
California Golden Bears
Oregon Ducks
Oregon State Beavers
Stanford Cardinal
UCLA Bruins
USC Trojans
Washington Huskies
Washington State Cougars