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Remaining Unbeatens After Week 13

We started the thirteenth week of play with 6 undefeated teams in the NCAA's FBS. There are still six.

• #1 Florida - beat Florida State. Next game: Alabama (SEC Championship)
• #2 Alabama - won @ Auburn. Next game: Florida (SEC Championship)
• #3 Texas - won @ Texas A&M. Next game: Nebraska (Big XII Championship)
• #4 TCU - beat New Mexico. Next game: TBD Bowl
• #5 Cincinnati - beat Illinois. Next game: Pitt
• #6 Boise State - beat Nevada. Next game: New Mexico State

Next week, we could theoretically be down to two unbeaten teams (the SEC champ and TCU) or we could still have as many as five. I think we will have four.

My College Football Results, 2009 Week 13

My picks this week were 9-10, but I went 4-3 on my seven money picks, including the first time I picked USC in my money picks for quite a few weeks. That Colorado/Nebraska finish was pretty amazing. The Buffs scored on a bit of a Hail Mary on the last play of the game to cut the margin to 8, preventing Nebraska from covering - yet another great moment in sports betting history. On the season I am now 121-131-1 against the spread overall, and 51-44 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here's how I did:

W #2 Texas @ Texas A&M +21
L Illinois @ #5 Cincinnati -21
W * #2 Alabama @ Auburn +10½
W * [#23] Nebraska @ Colorado +11
L * #8 Pittsburgh @ West Virginia PK 
L Nevada @ #6 Boise St. -14
W #23 North Carolina @ N.C. State +5½
L * #15 Clemson @ South Carolina +2½
W #20 Mississippi @ Mississippi St. +7½
W #11 Oklahoma St. @ Oklahoma -9½
L New Mexico @ #4 TCU -44½
L #14 Virginia Tech @ Virginia +16
W * #19 Miami (FL) @ South Florida +6½
L Florida St. @ #1 Florida -24½
L #22 Utah @ #18 BYU -7½
W Arkansas @ #17 LSU -3½
L Rice @ #25 Houston -30
L * Georgia @ #7 Georgia Tech -7½
W * UCLA @ #24 USC -13

In unranked Pac-10 play, I was 0-2-1 this week:
P Arizona @ Arizona State +3
L Washington State @ Washington +24½
L Notre Dame @ Stanford -10

Next week, the games are fewer, but bigger.

My College Football Top 25 Going Into Championship Week

If I had an AP vote, here is what my ballot after week 13 would look like:

1. Texas (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Florida (3)
4. TCU (4)
5. Cincinnati (5)
6. Boise State (6)
7. Ohio State (9)
8. Oregon (10)  
9. Penn State (12)
10. Virginia Tech (13)
11. Iowa (14)
12. Georgia Tech (7)
13. Pitt (8)
14. BYU (16)
15. Miami (20)
16. USC (17)
17. Oregon State (18)
18. Cal (23)
19. LSU (19)
20. Nebraska (25)
21. Clemson (15)
22. Oklahoma State (11)
23. Stanford (NR)
24. Houston (NR)
25. West Virginia (NR)

I dropped:  Utah (21), North Carolina (22), Mississippi (24)

I almost went with: Texas Tech

They're higher than they belong, but who should be higher? LSU, Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech

I knew it!: Pitt, Georgia Tech

I can't believe anyone gave votes this week to: Tennessee

UCLA Week 2009 - Saturday (Your Game Day Rooting Guide)

It's time for the "City Championship", the "Bell Bowl", the "Crosstown Showdown" and the 79th game of the famous crosstown rivalry. We're heading to the Coliseum early. The tailgating begins at 9:00 a.m. Kickoff is at 7:12 p.m., with the TV broadcast on Fox Sports starting at 7:00 p.m. (Barry Tompkins and Petros Papadakis). The game will also be heard on ESPN Radio and locally on AM 710 KSPN (Pete Arbogast, Paul McDonald, John Jackson). AM 570 (KLAC) and the Bruin Radio Network (Chris Roberts, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook) broadcasts for the Bruins. Parking might be sixty to eighty bucks near the stadium. We'll park early.

Game Promotions: Retiring USC President Steven Sample will be honored during the game for his service to the university.

Things to Do Before The Game: Would you like to see USC's Heisman Trophies? Then check out Heritage Hall before the game. Then you can stop by to see Tommy Trojan, before kicking the flagpoles across from the Rose Garden. FanFest will be set up between the Figueroa and the peristyle entrance

Up-To-The-Minute Weather: The L.A. basin has a 40% chance of thundershowers this morning, which should clear this afternoon. You can check the latest forecast here.

Up-To-The-Minute Odds: The line opened at 10½ then moved up to 13, where it now sits. The over/under is 47½. The Trojans are 2-8 against the spread this season.

USC's Injury Update: WR Damian Williams and DL Averill Spicer are expected to play. LB Michael Morgan should be available, but freshman Devon Kennard will start again in his place.

Fight Songs - UCLA:

"Sons of Westwood" (played after a good play)

We are Sons of Westwood
And we hail to Blue and Gold
True to thee our hearts will be
Our love will not grow old,
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
Bruins roam the hills of Westwood
By the blue Pacific shores
And if we chance to see
A man from USC
Every Bruin starts to roar.
U...C...L...A...
UCLA, fight, fight, fight!

"Mighty Bruins" (played after a score)

We are the mighty Bruins
The best team in the west!
We're fighting on to victory
To conquer all the rest.
We are the mighty Bruins,
Triumphant ever more,
And you can hear
From far and near
The mighty Bruins roar!

Fight Songs - USC:

"FIGHT ON!" (after first downs and touchdowns)

Fight On for ol’ SC
Our men Fight On to victory.
Our Alma Mater dear,
looks up to you
Fight On and win
For ol’ SC
Fight On to victory
Fight On!

During World War II, an American task force attacked an island held by the Japanese and blasted "Fight On" from the deck of one of the transports to improve moral.

"ALL HAIL"

All hail to Alma Mater,
To thy glory we sing;
All hail to Southern California,
Loud let thy praises ring;
Where Western sky meets Western sea
Our college stands in majesty.
Sing our love to Alma Mater,
Hail, all hail to thee.

TRIBUTE TO TROY: this stanza of pounding drums and blaring horns is played when the band takes the field and again after every defensive stop.

CONQUEST: This battle cry, from Alfred Newman's score to the 1947 film "Captain from Castile," has been played after every USC score and victory since the Trojans adopted it in 1950.

FANFARE: This introduction to Tribute To Troy is played when the band takes the field.

OTHERS: 'All Right Now' is played after USC gets a turnover.  The 'William Tell Overture' is played at the start of the fourth quarter for the lighting of the Olympic Torch.  "The Emperor's Theme" from Star Wars is played when USC is flagged for a major penalty.

TUSK: If you don't go to USC, and never have, you might think that the lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's hit song "Tusk" go like this:

Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?
Why don't you tell me what's going on?
Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?
Why don't you ask him what's going on?
Why don't you ask him who's the latest on his throne?
Don't say that you love me!
Just tell me that you want me!
Tusk! Tusk! Tusk! Tusk!
Tusk! Tusk! Tusk! Tusk!
Tusk! Tusk! Tusk! Tusk!
Tusk! Tusk! Tusk! Tusk!
Tusk!

Not so. The lyrics are actually as follows:

Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?
Why don't you tell me what's going on?
Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?
Why don't you ask him what's going on?
Why don't you ask him who's the latest on his throne?
Don't say that you love me!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Just tell me that you want me!
Tusk!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Just say that you love me!
Tusk! Tusk!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Tusk!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Tusk!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Tusk! Tusk! Tusk!
U-C-L-A sucks!
Tusk!

It looks odd on paper, but it sounds great in a stadium. Basically, you mumble or skip all the parts that are not U-C-L-A sucks! Those parts, you scream at the top of your lungs.

USC Bowl Scenarios: If USC defeats UCLA, the Trojans will go into next week's game with a chance to finish as high as second in the Pac-10, tied with Stanford and Oregon State. The Holiday Bowl (Pac-10 #2), which would probably have Nebraska as the Big XII's representative, could pick any of those three. If Oregon State defeats Oregon next Thursday, the Ducks will end up in the Holiday Bowl and USC would probably go to the Sun Bowl, which picks 3rd among the Pac-10's bowls, and need not take the 3rd place team. Losses to the Bruins and/or Wildcats could drop USC into the Vegas Bowl, which picks 4th, the Emerald Bowl (5th) or the Poinsettia Bowl (6th).

UCLA Bowl Scenarios: If the Bruins lose, they will be 6-6, and eligible as an at-large team for any bowl that was unable to fill its slots with bowl-eligible teams from the conferences that have arrangements with that bowl. At the moment, it looks like the GMAC Bowl, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the EagleBank Bowl or, more likely, the New Mexico Bowl would be possibilities. If they win, the Bruins would be 7-5, and 4-5 in conference, and could end up tied with USC or Arizona for 6th place in the Pac-10, and perhaps get a bid to the

Seniors. UCLA's seniors will be playing their last Pac-10 contest. USC's Senior Day is next week against Arizona.

Where Are They Now? Last year, the L.A. Times did a feature on 2007's hero for the Bruins, Eric McNeal, who tipped and intercepted John David Booty's pass to kill the Trojans' last big drive inside the UCLA ten-yard line. "

McNeal's big tip Eric McNeal got his chance and made it count to help UCLA beat USC last year; today he drives a forklift. A week before the big game and the kitchen floor is sparkling. "I do the mopping around here," Eric McNeal says. A week before the big game and the bathrooms are shining. "That's also my job," he says. A week before the big game, and Eric McNeal is sitting at the dining-room table of the modest Carson home he shares with his parents, figuring out his work schedule. Today, clean the house. Tuesday through Friday, report to a nearby warehouse to drive a forklift.

Insert your own punchline.

 

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Finally, here's your official Coliseum Game Day Guide.

Coliseum Fan Guide:

Directions:  From the North - Take the 110 Freeway south, exit Exposition Blvd., turn left on Flower St., follow the directional signs to Coliseum and parking.  From the South - Take the 110 Freeway north, exit Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., turn left on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., follow directional signs to Coliseum and parking.  From the East - Take the 10 Freeway west, exit Los Angeles St., turn left on Broadway St. or Hill St., follow directional signs to Coliseum and parking. From the West - Take the 10 Freeway east, exit Hoover St. and turn right, turn left on Jefferson St., turn right on Figueroa St., continue past campus and follow directional signs to Coliseum and parking.

Parking - General parking is extremely limited around the Coliseum on Game Days. There are many different lots to choose from that are not directly located on Coliseum property, but are within a comfortable walking distance. Lots in close proximity of the Coliseum include: USC Campus Parking: USC owned parking structures PSA, PSB, PSD, PSX - $20, PS1, PS2 - $25, USC Parking Center (with shuttle to Coliseum) - $20. Coliseum Parking: All Coliseum parking lots will open at approximately 9:30 a.m. The only General Public parking lot available is on the South Lawn of the Natural History Museum. To access the South Lawn, enter on Menlo Ave. and Exposition Blvd. All other lots are reserved for USC Athletic Department Donors. Rate information can be checked here. For updates and additional Coliseum parking information please call Classic Parking at (213) 749-5654 or follow @USCParking on Twitter.

Heritage Hall - Home to the USC Athletic Department, Heritage Hall houses six of the seven Heisman trophies (Mike Garrett's is on loan to the College Football Hall of Fame), the 2004 Football National Championship trophy, all retired football jerseys, the Lexus Gauntlet, as well as numerous awards and trophies representing all USC student athletes from past years.

Tailgating - Tailgating is permitted on Game Days, both on campus or in the parking lots. There are some rules that you must abide by, including: you may not occupy adjacent parking spaces for your tailgate.

Trojan Walk - Two hours prior to kickoff, the team arrives at the east end of Christmas Tree Lane and walks into the Coliseum through the Peristyle. Yellow ropes will be set up to guide the team into the Coliseum. Please do not cross the ropes once they are in place and please obey any request from USC staff or security while attending the Trojan Walk.

Merchandise - Official USC merchandise can be found in various areas on campus and on the Coliseum grounds during Game Day. There are merchandise stands set up on campus along Trousdale Parkway, one outside Coliseum Gate 1 on the southeast end of the stadium, and one on the west end of the Trojan Fan Fest. Also, there are merchandise stands inside the Coliseum gates, throughout the concourse.

Bookstore - The USC Bookstore is located in the center of campus just south of Tommy Trojan. On the second floor, you can find officially licensed USC products, Team Trojan merchandise, and Nike game jerseys.

Trojan Fan Fest - The Trojan Fan Fest opens 4 hours prior to kickoff of every home game. There are inflatable games for the kids and free giveaways for fans.

Ticket Policy - A USC Football ticket holder is restricted to seating in the location that appears on the tickets and agrees to abide by stadium and University policies, as well as City, State, and Federal laws. USC reserves the right to revoke tickets by refund of purchase.

Will-Call Booths - The general will-call booth is located outside Gate 4. Will-call opens 3 hours prior to kick-off and will remain open until the end of the 1st quarter. At the end of the 1st quarter, general will-call tickets will be moved to Gate 33 at the player will-call area. Picture identification is required for ticket pick-up.

Coliseum Entry Gates - You may enter the Coliseum through Gates 1, 4, 11, 16, 19, 23, and 28A up to 2 hours prior to kickoff. Gate 28 is for student entrance only with a valid student ID and the purchase of a Spirit Activity Card.

Coliseum Stadium Policies - Per the request of the Los Angeles Police Department, no re-entry privileges will be given to any ticket holder. The Coliseum and USC Game Management has the authority to prohibit any items deemed a security risk. Patrons will be required to discard or return such items to their vehicles or residence. Non-reusable sealed water bottles will be allowed into the stadium.

Customer Service - The Coliseum Office is located on the east end of the stadium, just south of the Olympic torch, directly below the stadium temperature gauge. The office can be reached at (213) 747-7111.

Game Management Office - Located in the east end of the stadium, just north of the Olympic torch, directly below the Stadium Clock, in the North Office.

First Aid - The Coliseum hospital is located on the Concourse level (Row 68), across from tunnel 6. Roaming First Aid teams are located at the Tunnels on the north, south, west, and east sides of the stadium. Please contact the nearest usher or security officer if medical attention is needed.

Lost and Found - Located in the Coliseum office. Found items may be given to any usher in your section who will turn them into the office. For more information please call (213) 747-1111, weekdays 8:30am - 4:30pm.

Restrooms - Located immediately inside the Coliseum gates at Tunnels 19-20 and 26-27 (on the north side), adjacent to Tunnels 2-3 and 9-10 (on the south side), and Tunnels 13-14 (on the west side). Restrooms are also located throughout the Concourse level (Row 68). Outside the Coliseum gates, a permanent restroom is located at Gate 4. Portable restrooms can be found around the Trojan Fan Fest and in various locations throughout Exposition Park.

Drinking Fountains - Located at various locations adjacent to the restrooms.

Telephones - Located inside Gate 6 next to the ATM.

ATMs - Located on the Yard level at Gates 6, 14, and 23.

Escalators - Available for those needing assistance up stairs for upper level seating. Escalators are adjacent to sections 4, 11, and 19 and will exit at Row 68. Please do not crowd the escalators or jump while using them as it may cause mechanical failure.

Elevator - Located at Tunnel 6. Elevator use is for handicap access only.

Concessions - Concession stands providing many choices of delicious Game Day foods and refreshing Coca-Cola products are located on Yard level outside of Tunnels 4, 6, 16, and 23. Additional concessions are located on the Concourse level outside every other tunnel.

Students - Student seating is first-come, first-serve and is accessed with a valid student I.D. and the purchase of a Spirit Activity Card. Student I.D.s are scanned electronically and can only be used once per game.

UCLA Week 2009 - Friday (Talking Points and Memories)

In honor of the 80th anniversary of the USC/UCLA rivalry, here is a list of 80 facts you might see on your TV tomorrow during the big crosstown game:

• USC is 7-3 overall, 4-3 Pac-10, ranked 24th in the AP, 22nd in the Coaches Poll and #20 in the BCS
• UCLA is 6-5 overall, 3-5 Pac-10, unranked
• This is their 79th game, and the 80th anniversary of their first meeting in 1929
• USC leads the series 43-28-7.
• USC won the first two games, in 1929 and 1930, by lopsided scores of 76-0 and 52-0
• The teams did not play again for the next five seasons
• Since 1936, the teams have met at least once each year
• From 1943-1945, the teams played twice each year.
• When a ranked USC team has played an unranked UCLA squad, the Trojans are 12-6-2.
• At the Coliseum, USC holds a 37-20-7 edge, with wins in the last 5 Coliseum games.
• The series is tied at 14-14-1 in last 29 meetings, 13-13-1 in the last 27, and 9-9 in the last 18
• USC holds an advantage over the course of every other "looking back" period in the rivalry
• USC has won 9 of the last 10 meetings.
• USC is 23-12-5 against unranked UCLA teams.
• When a ranked USC team played an unranked UCLA squad, the Trojans are 12-6-2.
• Until 1982, the Bruins shared the Coliseum with USC.
• UCLA is 5-7-1 in the Coliseum since leaving in 1982 for the Rose Bowl.
• The Coliseum has hosted this game 64 times. USC and UCLA used to share a home stadium, so each team would play in their home jerseys. This year, that tradition returns to the Coliseum, and both teams will be in their home colors
• No team has beaten UCLA more times than USC.
• No team has beaten USC more times than ... Notre Dame.
• USC is looking to sweep UCLA and Notre Dame for the third straight season
• They only other time they did that: 2002-2005
• UCLA's first mascot was a dog named "Rags".
• USC's first mascot was a dog named George Tirebiter.
• Tirebiter's sculpture on the USC campus is covered with a dog house this week to thwart would-be vandals.
• Both Tommy Trojan and the Bruin Bear have been covered all week, too.
• The Trojans got to the Bruin Bear, however, with cardinal and gold paint.
• This is the second-latest start time for the Bruins and Trojans
• Only 1945’s 8:30 p.m. kickoff was later
• This is only the sixth night game in the series
• This is the first time in 30 years that the teams have met on Thanksgiving weekend
• USC has a 30-game winning streak in home night games
• This is USC’s 600th conference game
• USC's Pete Carroll is college football’s second winningest active coach (84.1%).
• Until his most recent defeat, he had been the winningest active coach for several years
• USC has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for its last 101 games
• Last time USC was ranked lower than its current #24: the 2001 Vegas Bowl (unranked)
• USC WR Damian Williams is the nation’s No. 2 punt returner
• The Bruins’ current 2-game winning streak is their longest since 2007
• Last game: USC 28 @ UCLA 7
• Last game at the Coliseum: USC 24 UCLA 7 (2007)
• USC is 91-44-4 (.669) in all regular season games it has played following byes.
• Since 1955, the Trojans are 52-15-1 (.772) following byes
• But 6 of the losses and the tie were to UCLA
• USC owns a 138-35-4 (.791) record at night (games after 5 p.m.), including 85-18-4 in the Coliseum
• The winner of the annual USC-UCLA football game gets year-long possession of the Victory Bell
• Ten Crosstown Gauntlet points will be awarded to the winner
• USC has won the Gauntlet the last two seasons
• USC played 6 of its first 9 games of 2009 on the road
• Four of those were against teams ranked in the AP Top 25
• The rest of the AP Top 25 teams have played a combined 24 road games against ranked teams
• USC has defeated both UCLA and Notre Dame in the same season 17 times
• USC is averaging 5.3 yards per rush in 2009
• USC’s top 8 rushers of 2009 are averaging at least 4.6 yards per carry
• USC is scoring 85.3% of the time it is in the red zone (29-of-34), with 21 touchdowns
• USC is ranked third nationally in sacks (3.2, first in Pac-10)
• USC is ranked 15th in tackles for loss (7.4, second in Pac-10)
• USC is ranked 19th in pass efficiency defense (109.0, second in Pac- 10).
• USC has allowed just 9 passing touchdowns in 2009 (fewest in the Pac-10).
• USC is fourth nationally in punt returns (16.1, first in Pac-10).
• USC is allowing opponents just 1.9 yards per punt return (fourth best nationally, first in the Pac- 10)
• UCLA kicker Kai Forbath is one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award
• UCLA safety Rahim Moore has picked off an NCAA-leading nine passes
• UCLA's rushing offense is ranked 98th in NCAA, 9th in Pac-10 (114.82)
• UCLA's passing offense is ranked 48th in NCAA, 4th in Pac-10 (226.09)
• UCLA's total offense is 89th in NCAA, 8th in Pac-10 (340.91)
• UCLA's scoring offense is 90th in NCAA, 9th in Pac-10 (22.64)
• USC has posted a Pac-10 leading 32 sacks for 195 yards in losses this season.
• UCLA's offensive front has given up 27 sacks.
• Only Washington State has yielded more sacks this season.
• Only Washington State among Pac-10 schools has rushed for fewer yards this season than UCLA
• UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel against USC: 0-1 as a benchwarmer, 2-0 as a player, 1-0 as an assistant coach, and 1-2 as a head coach (1-1 at Washington, 0-1 as UCLA)
• USC coach Pete Carroll against UCLA: 1-0 as an assistant coach (Ohio State), 7-1 as a head coach
• USC has won 70.7% (409-161-29) of its games against Pac-10 opponents.
• USC has a 406-124-27 (.753) all-time record in the Coliseum since it opened in 1923.
• USC has a 237-122-20 (.652) all-time record in November
• Pete Carroll has only lost one game ever in the month of November
• He currently has a one game losing streak in November
• This is the first time since 2001 that the Trojans won't be playing in a BCS bowl
• This will be UCLA's 11th straight season without a Rose Bowl bid - their longest drought ever
• USC injury update: POSSIBLE: WR Damian Williams (ankle), LB Michael Morgan (wrist), TE Blake Ayles (knee, ankle), CB Brian Baucham (ankle), DT Averell Spicer (calf), LB Jarvis Jones (neck), OG Zack Heberer (back), S Drew McAllister (hip) OUT: WR David Ausberry (calf), LB Luthur Brown (back), TB Marc Tyler (toe), TE James Boyd (knee), WR Scott Stephens (knee), TB Stafon Johnson (throat), DT Hebron Fangupo (ankle), CB Marshall Jones (neck), OG Martin Coleman (foot), CB Shareece Wright (ineligible)

Now, when those facts come onto your TV screen tomorrow, you can now lean over and say "I knew that."

And here are some memorable anniversaries of previous years' games:

Memorable Anniversaries - 5 years (2004, USC 29 UCLA 24): Caught looking ahead to a BCS championship game against Oklahoma, the heavily Trojans defeat UCLA by just 5 points at the Rose Bowl, relying heavily on the leg of Ryan Killeen, who set personal career and USC records with five field goals. The win was USC's 6th consecutive, coming on the heels of an 8 game UCLA winning streak.

Memorable Anniversaries - 10 years (1999, USC 17 UCLA 7): USC ended UCLA's 8 game winning streak in the series with a 17-7 win at the Coliseum. For only the fourth time ever and the first time in over half a century both teams came into the game with a losing record, and both were starting their backups at quarterback. The Trojans made good on TB Chad Morton's preseason guarantee that the Bruin winning streak would end in the Coliseum. USC went on to beat Louisiana Tech and finish 6-6, but in 1999, a 6-6 team was not bowl eligible. USC would not lose again to the Bruins until 2006.

Memorable Anniversaries - 20 years (1989, USC 10 UCLA 10): USC was 8-2, ranked #8 in the nation and bound for the Rose Bowl. UCLA was 3-7 and a 17 point underdog with a five-game losing streak. USC dominated the Bruins in net yards (387-202) and first downs (20-10), but USC committed 6 turnovers, including a Leroy Holt fumble at the UCLA 12-yard line, tied, with 2:02 to play. The Bruins drove down to the USC 37 to set up a 54-yard field goal attempt by Alfredo Velasco, but the kick hit the crossbar and bounced forward into the end zone. USC went on to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Memorable Anniversaries - 25 years (1984, UCLA 29 USC 10): USC quarterback Tim Green predicted that the Trojans would dish out a 'whipping' to UCLA. The Bruins responded by forcing five turnovers to cement UCLA's first ever three-game win streak over the Trojans. USC went on to defeat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Memorable Anniversaries - 30 years (1979, USC 49 UCLA 14): USC had clinched the Rose Bowl berth two weeks earlier, but when Arizona State forfeited an earlier win over Washington, USC found itself needing a victory or tie against the Bruins to clinch the Rose Bowl bid again. Charles White led the 4th-ranked Trojans (9-0-1) in a blowout on his way to a Heisman Trophy and Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State. White's 194 yards and four first-half touchdowns caused writer Jim Murray to remark "I have seen bullfights less one-sided."

Memorable Anniversaries - 40 years (1969, USC 14 UCLA 12): Both teams were ranked in the top ten coming into the game, with the Rose Bowl at stake for both teams. USC QB Jimmy Jones connected with Sam Dickerson for a 32-yard touchdown with less than two minutes to play, after a controversial 4th-down pass-interference call that Bruins fans still argue came on an uncatchable pass. For good measure, many Bruin fans also dispute whether Dickerson caught the ball inbounds. There was no replay in 1969, so the argument was never settled anywhere but the scoreboard. USC went on to defeat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Memorable Anniversaries - 70 years (1939, USC 0 UCLA 0): The only scoreless tie in the series.

Memorable Anniversaries - 80 years (1929, USC 76 UCLA 0): The first game in the series and the most lopsided one. USC also won by a wide margin in 1930, and the teams didn't play again for several years. This was not UCLA's worst loss, however. That came at the hands of Whittier College in 1921 (Whittier 103, UCLA 0), and in 1925, Stanford beat them 82-0.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be another memorable one.

College Football 2009: 10 Games I Look Forward To In Week 13

USC is off this week, and the Trojans are essentially out of the running in the Pac-10, so I'm less intrigued by this week's slate of college football games. Nonetheless, there are a few that pique my interest. Here are the ten I find most interesting:

1. UCLA @ #24 USC: USC needs to win this game to finish in the top two or three in the Pac-10. A win would keep USC in the running for the Holiday Bowl or the Sun Bowl. A loss would put USC at 4-4 in conference, assuring them of no better than 4th place and perhaps a drop to the Vegas Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl or Emerald Bowl. UCLA is 6-5 and bowl eligible. A win here assures them of a bowl bid, while a loss drops them to 6-6 and could leave them unselected as an eligible at-large bowl team. A win would also give USC a winning record against the Bruin over every period of time, looking back, throughout the history of the series. At the moment, there is no time period from which point UCLA has enjoyed a winning record over USC, but there are three time periods - the last 18, 27 and 29 years - over which the teams records against the other are tied. There is no team USC hates to lose to than UCLA. Fight On! Beat the Bruins!
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2. Notre Dame @ Stanford: This will be the end of the Jimmy Clausen era at Notre Dame, and the end of the Charlie Weis era at Notre Dame. That alone is reason to watch. Pac-10 pride is also at stake. As much as I dislike Stanford now, I want them to beat the Irish.
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3. #2 Alabama @ Auburn: Alabama is heavily favored on the road. That's why I picked Auburn, but I don't think Auburn will quite pull off the upset. Having said that, I'd love to see the Tigers win by a touchdown and have Alabama bounce back with a win over Florida, leaving Texas to play Cincinnati or TCU for the BCS championship. Last year's 36-0 drubbing should be motivation for Auburn. Go Tigers!
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4. Florida St. @ #1 Florida: I think Florida State will beat the huge 24 point spread, but I don't give them much of a chance against the Gators, even with Florida looking ahead to Alabama next week in the SEC title game. If an upset happens, it won't break my heart, though. It might even be enough for me to root for the Gators next week. Florida has won 13 more than the Seminoles, but during the Bowden era, they are even. Tim Tebow plays his final home game, and Bobby Bowden makes his last trip to the Swamp. The storylines are great. I just wish Florida State was a better team. Go Bowden!
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5. Arizona @ Arizona State: The Sun Devils have a five game losing streak in conference. Arizona is coming off a brutally tough overtime loss to Oregon that leaves the Wildcats out of the Rose Bowl for the infinitieth year in a row. I think Arizona is the better team, but Arizona State is capable of beating them in Tempe. I think I would like to see Arizona win, and be ranked again when they visit the Trojans next week.
   .
6. #11 Oklahoma St. @ Oklahoma: How many times has a ranked OSU team played an unranked OU team? Just twice before. The Cowboys haven't beaten Oklahoma since 2002, but the Sooners are down this year and Oklahoma State can probably earn its way into a Fiesta Bowl bid with a win here and a Texas win over Nebraska in the Big XII championship game. Oklahoma, meanwhile, is 6-5 and needs the win to secure a winning season. It's been feast or famine for the Sooner offense this year. They have scored 47 per game in their wins, and just 12.4 in their five losses. With questions lingering about Oklahoma State QB Zac Robinson's health, and with the game being played in Norman, I think the Sooners will win it, and that's how I plan to root.
   .
7. #22 Utah @ #18 BYU: Rarely is the Holy War a battle for second place in the Mountain West, much less is it a battle of two ranked teams competing for second place in the Mountain West, but that's what we have this year. Even stranger, both teams are ranked ahead of my Trojans. I'm not sure who to root against here.
   .
8. #8 Pittsburgh @ West Virginia: This is a pick 'em game. In 2007, Pitt ruined West Virginia's shot at a BCS title shot. West Virginia has a chance to drop Pitt from the top ten, although the Panthers could actually lose here and still win the Big East by beating Cincinnati next week. I think Pitt wins, but I don't feel that strongly about it.
   .
9. #2 Texas @ Texas A&M: Texas already won this, but it was on my list of stuff to watch over the weekend. The Aggies' big in two of the past three meetings made it interesting, but anyone who wants to see TCU in the national title game has only Nebraska to root for.
   .
10. New Mexico @ #4 TCU: A lot of people are starting to wonder if TCU is the best team in the country. I'm starting to wonder myself. This game will do nothing to confirm that belief. New Mexico stinks, even if they are a game removed from their dismal 14-game losing streak.

I'll probably also check the scores of Illinois @ #5 Cincinnati, #23 Nebraska @ Colorado, Nevada @ #6 Boise St., #15 Clemson @ South Carolina, #20 Mississippi @ Mississippi St., #14 Virginia Tech @ Virginia, #19 Miami (FL) @ South Florida, Arkansas @ #17 LSU, Georgia @ #7 Georgia Tech and the Crapple Up fka the Apple Cup, Washington State @ Washington.

The Trojan Fan's Rooting Interests for Week 13

Last week was another tough week for USC's rooting interests. Oregon State beat Washington State and Oregon beat Arizona, eliminating USC, Cal, Stanford and Arizona from the Pac-10 race. Notre Dame lost at home to Connecticut, sealing Charlie Weis's fate as the coach of the Irish. USC did, however, hold onto a chance to finish second in the Pac-10 when Cal defeated Stanford. Technically, USC is six spots below where they need to be in the BCS rankings for them to be eligible for a bid, and amazingly, the BCS announced this week that USC was among the 20 schools still being considered for a bid, along with, among others, Miami and LSU. In reality, there are only four BCS spots up for grabs, and TCU/Boise State, the SEC runner-up and Iowa/Penn State are virtually certain to take three of those. That means USC is really among nine teams (only two of the three top-20 SEC and Big Ten teams can win a spot in the BCS) competing for one spot, and it would take a remarkable set of unlikely upsets to make the BCS give USC a second look this week.

USC fans' rooting interests now focus on enjoying upsets, rooting against everyone between them and the top ten, and, of course, getting into the best bowl possible. So here are a few outcomes to root for this weekend, in order of my preference, starting with:

Games USC needs to keep their Holiday Bowl hopes alive:

• USC over UCLA

Games USC fans would like to see break against the teams we could jump in the polls on Sunday:

• Arkansas over LSU
• Oklahoma over Oklahoma State
• Virginia over Virginia Tech
• South Florida over Miami
• Utah over BYU
• N.C. State over North Carolina
• Mississippi State over Ole Miss
• Rice over Houston

Rivals' games:

• Stanford over Notre Dame

Games where I'll probably root for the upset, without thinking it'll happen, or really caring:

• Florida State over Florida
• Auburn over Alabama
• Texas A&M over Texas (done)
• New Mexico over TCU
• Illinois over Cincinnati
• Nevada over Boise State
• West Virginia over Pitt

Games where I'll probably root for the favorite, because the underdog is SEC:

• Georgia over Georgia Tech
• Clemson over South Carolina

I'm not sure how to root in the Arizona/ASU game. I'll probably root for Arizona, to make USC's home finale more important.

UCLA Week 2009 - Thursday (More Game Notes)

More stuff about Saturday's USC/UCLA game:

Signature Victories: USC's top 10 wins over the Bruins. UCLA's top 10 wins over the Trojans.

Weekly Releases: USC's. UCLA's.

Team Stats: Here are the Trojans' team stats for 2009. Here are UCLA's.

Webcams: USC has Tommy Trojan on a webcam. UCLA has Royce Hall on a webcam. Joe Bruin is not on a webcam, or they might have figured out who painted him this week.

Recruiting: This is one of USC's biggest recruiting weekends of the year. In addition to many recruits making unofficial vists, at least six top high school players are making their official visits this weekend:

• Top-rated DE Jackson Jeffcoat (Plano West Senior HS), Plano, TX 
• Top-rated WR Kyle Prater (Proviso West HS), Hillside, IL
• Top-five DT George Uko (Don Antonio Lugo HS), Chino, CA
• Top-five OLB Christian Jones (Lake Howell HS), Winter Park, FL
• Top-ten S Tony Jefferson (Eastlake HS), Chula Vista, CA
• Top-20 CB Demetrius Wright (Corona HS), Corona, CA

Weather: Los Angeles has been enjoying unseasonably warm weather lately, but the current weather forecast for Saturday is a 30% chance of showers in the morning, with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon, light and variable winds, and a high of 61°. The evening forecast is mostly clear skies with a low of 45°. Kickoff is at 7:12 p.m. PST.

Connections: Bruin offensive coordinator/ QB coach Norm Chow was on the USC staff (2001-04). Bruin head football coach Rick Neuheisel earned his law school degree at USC in 1990. Former UCLA All-America linebacker Ken Norton (1984-87) is on USC’s football coaching staff. Wendell Tyler, fifth on UCLA’s career rushing list, is the father of USC tailback Marc Tyler. USC LB Michael Morgan’s brother, Steve Morgan, was a defensive tackle at UCLA from 1999 to 2002. USC S Shane Horton and his brother, DE Wes Horton, are the sons of former UCLA offensive tackle Myke Horton. USC C Abe Markowitz’s father, Barry, lettered as a linebacker at UCLA in 1974. UCLA TE Jeff Miller is the brother of former USC TE Jimmy Miller (2005-06, 2008). UCLA C Kai Maiava is the brother of former USC LB Kaluka Maiava (2005-08). UCLA walk-on RB Demetrius Papadakis is the son of former USC LB John Papadakis (1970-71) and the brother of former USC FB/LB Taso Papadakis (1994, 1996) and TB Petros Papadakis (1997-98, 2000). UCLA DB Brandon Sermons is the brother of ex-USC RB Rodney Sermons (1994-97). USC defensive line coach Jethro Franklin coached UCLA’s interior defensive line in 1999. UCLA running backs coach Wayne Moses was an assistant at USC in 2001. UCLA offensive line coach Bob Palcic was an assistant at USC in 1992.

USC Injuries this season:  Much like in 2007, This season, 12 starters or projected starters have missed games with injuries: WR Ronald Johnson (missed 5 games), DE Armond Armstead (5), C Kristofer O’Dowd (4), WR David Ausberry (4), LB Malcolm Smith (3), DT Averell Spicer (3), FB Stanley Havili (2), TE Anthony McCoy (2), WR Damian Williams (1), QB Matt Barkley (1), S Taylor Mays (1) and DE Everson Griffen (1). And that doesn’t include CB Shareece Wright (9), who is ineligible this season. Also, a number of key backups have missed contests due to injury: TB Stafon Johnson (6), DT Hebron Fangupo (6), CB Marshall Jones (6), LB Luthur Brown (5), CB Brian Baucham (4), LB Jordan Campbell (3), S Drew McAllister (3), OG Zack Heberer (3), LB Jarvis Jones (2), TE Blake Ayles (1) and OT Nick Howell (1).

Websites Devoted to the Trojans or the Bruins:

Blogs and Info Sites For the Trojans:

USC Football Official

USC Freedomblogging - the OC Register's USC blog

TributeToTroy - Trojan football news and information

TrojanWire - news

USCFootball - Rivals USC Football site (news, forums, recruiting info)

WeAreSC - Insiders USC Football site (news, forums, recruiting info)

ValleyTrojan - usually has a bunch of photos

FightOn - More Trojan football links

The Living Room Times - by the Irish Trojan, a USC grad who went to Notre Dame for law school

Conquest Chronicles - a great fan site

Scott Wolf's Inside USC - LA Daily News Trojanblog

ESPN's USC Boards

Awesome stuff.

There are UCLA blogs, too:

Bruinville

The Bruin Show

www.beatsc.com

Bruin Blitz

Bruin Gold

Bruin Report Online

Bruin Show

Bruin Zone

Bruins Nation

Bruinville

Gutty Little Bruins

Inside UCLA

The Arroyo Seco

Trojan-Haters Club

UCLA Bruins Fans

UCLA Bruins Official Site

What's Bruin

What's Bruin, Dawg?

Stuff.

My College Football Picks, 2009 Week 13

On the season I am now 112-121-1 against the spread overall, and a barely profitable(#) 47-41 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here are how I would pick against the spread this week in the games involving ranked teams. Seven games I would put real money on are marked by an asterisk:

Thursday, Nov 26
#2 Texas @ Texas A&M +21

Friday, Nov 27
Illinois @ #5 Cincinnati -21
* #2 Alabama @ Auburn +10½
* [#23] Nebraska @ Colorado +11
* #8 Pittsburgh @ West Virginia PK 
Nevada @ #6 Boise St. -14

Saturday, Nov 28
#23 North Carolina @ N.C. State +5½
* #15 Clemson @ South Carolina +2½
#20 Mississippi @ Mississippi St. +7½
#11 Oklahoma St. @ Oklahoma -9½
New Mexico @ #4 TCU -44½
#14 Virginia Tech @ Virginia +16
* #19 Miami (FL) @ South Florida +6½
Florida St. @ #1 Florida -24½
#22 Utah @ #18 BYU -7½
Arkansas @ #17 LSU -3½
Rice @ #25 Houston -30
* Georgia @ #7 Georgia Tech -7½
* UCLA @ #24 USC -13

In unranked Pac-10 play, the other conference games this week are:
Arizona @ Arizona State +3
Washington State @ Washington +24½
Notre Dame @ Stanford -10

This week, #10 Oregon, #16 Oregon State and #21 Cal have byes. No virtual byes against FCS teams. #9 Ohio State, #12 Penn State and #13 Iowa are done for the season.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/odds

Happy Thanksgiving.

UCLA Week 2009 - Wednesday (Photos and Video)

The USC-UCLA rivarly has produced a decent history of college pranking. A helicopter drop of manure on Tommy Trojan is widely considered once of the best pranks ever (though well short of Caltech's all-time great Rose Bowl prank), although reportedly most of the manure got sucked up by the helicopter blades. Every year, the most foreseeable prank is a paint-the-mascot attack. USC tries to thwart the Bruins by wrapping Tommy Trojan with duct tape and having the Trojan Knights stand guard around the clock. The Bruins, meanwhile, put the Bruin Bear Security Force to work, standing guard 24 hours a day, protecting the hibernating Bruin Bear (which is a redundancy, is it not?) until 12:30 a.m. today. Why did they stop on Wednesday morning? USC pranksters don't care. They just like the opportunity. Vulnerability means a fresh coat or two of paint. As shown below:

Heh. Now, courtesy of YouTube, some USC-UCLA video for your enjoyment.

...

Here's a preview of the 2009 game

Here are highlights of last year's game, a 28-7 USC win at the Rose Bowl.

Here is a three part set of highlights from their last matchup at the Coilseum, a 24-7 win for USC:

Part 2:

Part 3:

UCLA's last win was in 2006:

USC fans still savor the Reggie Bush moments from the 2004 and 2005 games:

USC's postgame celebration if they win:

UCLA's postgame celebration if they win:

USC has the Song Girls:

UCLA has this guy:

Ain't this just like a Bruin:

Fight On!

Tuesday Travel Photo (No. 258)

Here's one of my most peculiar travel shots. I never figured out exactly what was going on here, but this is a fire surrounding an airplane along a runway at Salt Lake City International Airport. There were only a couple of units working or maybe even just observing the fire. Perhaps it was just a drill. We looked for stories about it in the newspaper the next day. In any event, it seemed strange to zip down a runway at top speed while another plane was burning practically right next to us.

Anyhow, if you are traveling this weekend, we hope you don't see any sights like this.

UCLA Week 2009 - Tuesday (Why The Game's So Great)

There are many other great rivalries in college football: Michigan & Ohio State, Auburn & Alabama, Florida & Florida State, Harvard & Yale, Army & Navy, Stanford & Cal, and so on and so on and so on. But there are no two strong rivals in college football who share the same city. USC-UCLA is unique in that regard. What makes it so great?

The Thrill of Victory: The prize for this game is the Victory Bell. The winner keeps the Victory Bell for a year and paints it their team's colors. Since 1942, the Victory Bell has awarded to the winner of this game. The bell originally rang atop a Southern Pacific locomotive. It was donated to the UCLA student body in 1939 and it was used to proclaim each UCLA touchdown for two seasons. In 1941, six USC fraternity men heisted the truck that was taking the bell back to Westwood, and it was hidden away for more than a year. A series of retaliatory pranks ended with a badly needed truce, in which the student body presidents signed an agreement to make the bell a trophy given to the annual winner of the football game. It now traditionally comes out only for the first three quarters of this game. This year, the Victory Bell is painted cardinal and gold.

The Agony of Defeat: Despite the loss to the Ohio State University, Michigan fans can still wear Wolverine gear around Ann Arbor and face little ridicule from Buckeye fans. But the loser of the USC-UCLA game can't wear their colors around town without somebody popping off. Win in basketball season don't ease the pain. A College World Series title doesn't absolve you. Volleyball? Water polo? Tennis? Track? Fuggedaboudit. The winner of this game can have their fans openly dig their team for the next year. The loser and its fans are losers for the rest of the year, at home and abroad. For eight long years, we were up to our necks in Bruin crap, for seven years, Bruin fans have had to put up with the same from the Trojans. Bruins fans are still basking in the glow of their 13-9 upset in 2006, but the Trojans have a two-year winning streak working.

The Glory of Pac-10 Titles and Bowl Berths: For the last 7 seasons, this game had an impact on the Pac-10 championship, a BCS bowl bid or a national championship. When UCLA last beat the Trojans in 1998, they were atop the BCS standings and finishing off just the 4th perfect 8-0 conference record in Pac-10 history. (They lost to Miami the next week in a hurricane postponed game that was supposed to have been played in September.) In 2002, USC went to the Rose Bowl and won, 52-21, to set the stage for their Orange Bowl-sealing win over Notre Dame the following week. In 2003, the Trojans beat UCLA, 47-22, to clinch the Pac-10 title and set up their move to the top of the polls the following week. In 2004, a 29-24 win at the Rose Bowl sent the Trojans back to the Orange Bowl for the BCS title game. In 2005, a 66-19 victory clinched USC's 30th Rose Bowl appearance. In 2006, UCLA dropped the Trojans from the BCS championship game to the Rose Bowl. In 2007 and 2008, Trojan wins secured their place in the Rose Bowl. This game has no (meaningful) BCS bowl implications, but it could affect who goes to the Holiday Bowl, the Sun Bowl, the Vegas Bowl or any number of other bowls.

Remaining Unbeatens After Week 12

We started the twelfth week of play with 6 undefeated teams in the NCAA's FBS. There are still six.

• #1 Florida - beat Florida International. Next game: Florida State
• #2 Alabama - beat Chattanooga. Next game: @ Auburn
• #3 Texas - beat Kansas. Next game: @ Texas A&M
• #4 TCU - killed @ Wyoming. Next game: New Mexico
• #5 Cincinnati - Off. . Next game: Illinois
• #5 Boise State - killed @ Utah State. Next game: Nevada

I don't expect anyone to drop from the ranks next week. Texas, Alabama and Florida have trap games, but should win them.TCU, Cincy and Boise State all have gimmes.

My 2009 Bottom 10 After Week 12

We lost another team from the ranks of the winless last week, with New Mexico pulling off the shocker against mighty Colorado State. They are still in the Bottom Ten, but now there are only two teams with a chance at a perfect 0-12 season. Here are my *ten rounding out the bottom:

1. Western Kentucky [1] (0-10) Coach fired. Can't even beat La-Monroe. Next loss: @ Fla. Atlantic
2. Eastern Michigan [2] (0-11) Haven't held any opponent under 24. Final loss: @ Akron
3. San Jose St [4] (1-9) Winless against FBS with a chance at 12 losses. Next loss: New Mexico St.
4. Miami (OH) [5] (1-11) 11-loss season ended mercifully early against Buffalo. Season over.
5. New Mexico [3] (1-10) Beat Colorado State. Final loss: @ TCU
6. Washington St. [6] (1-10) One loss away from perfect 0-9 Pac-10 mark. Final loss: @ Washington
7. Ball St. [7] (1-10) From 10-2 to 1-10 in one season. Final loss: @ W. Michigan
8. Vanderbilt [9] (2-10) Only wins: Rice and something called Western Carolina. Season over.
9. North Texas [10] (2-9) Only wins: Ball St and W. Kentucky. Final loss: @ Arkansas State
10. Akron [NR] (2-9) Only wins: Kent State and Morgan State. Final loss: E. Michigan
11. * Notre Dame's decided schematic advantage. 

Dropped out: Rice [8] (2-9) Shocking 2 game win streak continued  with win against UTEP.

Not far ahead:  Maryland (2-9), Memphis (2-9), Arkansas St. (2-8), Rice (2-9)

Crummy Game of the Week: Rice 30 UTEP 29

Shocking Redemption of the Week: New Mexico over Colorado St. (Rice over UTEP a close second)

This week's Crummy Games of the the Week: North Texas @ Arkansas State

This week's Blowout of the Week: New Mexico @ TCU

Ten Movies I Recently Watched on DVD (No. 24)

Here are another ten recent pulls from the Netflix queue, with my one-to-five plus rating, and the IMDB users' score.

1. Gran Torino (8.4) +++++ Great performances, interesting story, compelling ending. 
2. The Wrestler (8.3) ++++ Great performances and interesting characters, no ending.
3. Milk (7.9) +++ Sean Penn is a truly remarkable actor, even if he's a jerk
4. Marley & Me (7.1) +++ The dog gets it in the end
5. Lost in Austen (7.9) +++ More of a chick thing, so I was lukewarm on it, even with the time travel
6. Knowing (6.5) +++ The solution to the mystery was creepy, the big discovery was contrived
7. Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (1.3) + It was a concert, but I was there, so ...
8. The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (6.5) + Bad, even for a made-for-TV adventure movie.
9. The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (6.0) + Worse, even for a made-for-TV adventure movie. 
10. The Librarian: Return to Mines (5.8) + Even worse, even for a made-for-TV adventure movie. 

The Librarians were the kids' idea. Each one was worse than the one before. Jonas Brothers was in the queue because the girls wanted to see it; I watched to see if we were in the crowd footage, since we were in the third row on the floor.

UCLA Week 2009 - Monday (Records, Rankings, Odds, Streaks, Upsets and Heroes)

Once again, it's UCLA week aka "Troy Week". It's time for our annual cross-town rivalry game against the Bruins. The City Bowl. The Bell Bowl.

Less than usual is on the line in this game. USC remains in the running for the Holiday Bowl, but could end up in the Vegas Bowl or worse with a loss here. UCLA can assure itself of a bowl appearance with a win, but will have to hope for an at-large bid as a 6-6 team if they lose. Here are a few details about the game.

Starting Time: The game Saturday at the Coliseum will be broadcast live nationally at 7:00 p.m. PST on ABC. It's the last game of the night involving a ranked team.

Records: USC is 7-3. UCLA is 6-5. USC's 4-3 conference record is currently fifth best in the Pac-10. UCLA sits in 7th place in the Pac-10. This is UCLA's regular season finale. USC plays Arizona next Saturday.

Rankings: USC is ranked 24th in the AP Poll, 22nd in the Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and 20th in the BCS rankings. That's USC's lowest ranking in 7 years. UCLA is not ranked.

Odds: USC opened as an 10½ point favorite. The line has moved to 13 already.

Coliseum Streak: The last four games at the Coliseum were won by USC:
• 1999: USC 17, UCLA 7
• 2001: USC 27, UCLA 0
• 2003: USC 47, UCLA 22
• 2005: USC 66, UCLA 19
• 2007: USC 24, UCLA 7

Historic Upsets: In the past 20 years, there have been several huge surprises:
• 1989: UCLA, 3-7 and unranked, ties 8th ranked and Rose Bowl bound USC 10-10.
• 1992: UCLA, 5-5 and unranked, defeats No.15 USC 38-37.
• 1994: UCLA, 4-6 and unranked, defeats No.13 USC 31-19.
• 1995: UCLA, 6-4 and unranked, defeats No.11 Rose Bowl bound USC, 24-20.
• 2001: USC, 5-5 and unranked, defeats No. 20 UCLA 27-0.
• 2006: UCLA, 6-5 and unranked, defeats No. 2 Rose Bowl bound USC 13-9.

Unlikely Heroes: The series is known for having superstars carry the day with big games, but it is also known for lesser known players having big games, e.g.,
• 1992: Senior walk-on John Barnes, the fifth-string QB for UCLA, leads the unranked Bruins (see above) to a 38-37 win on a 90-yard TD pass to J.J. Stokes with 2:04 left. Barnes threw for 384 yards.
• 1993: UCLA avoids the come-from-ahead loss when safety Marvin Goodwin intercepts a pass in the end zone on a 3rd-and-goal play in the final seconds of the game.
• 2000: USC's third-string placekicker, David Bell, who had missed all three field goal attempts that season, lined up for a a 36-yard field goal with nine seconds to go. It barely cleared the crossbar.

My College Football Top 25 Going Into Week 13

If I had an AP vote, here is what my ballot after week 12 would look like:

1. Texas (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Florida (3)
4. TCU (4)
5. Cincinnati (5)
6. Boise State (6)
7. Georgia Tech (7)
8. Pitt (8)
9. Ohio State (9)
10. Oregon (10)  
11. Oklahoma State (12)
12. Penn State (13)
13. Virginia Tech (15)
14. Iowa (17)
15. Clemson (19)
16. BYU (18)
17. USC (20)
18. Oregon State (21)
19. LSU (11)
20. Miami (22)
21. Utah (24)
22. North Carolina (25)
23. Cal (NR)
24. Mississippi (NR)
25. Nebraska (NR)

I dropped: Stanford (14), Wisconsin (16), Rutgers (23)

I almost went with: Stanford and Houston

They're higher than they belong, but who should be higher? Pitt, Ohio State, Georgia Tech

I knew it!: LSU

I can't believe anyone gave votes this week to: Nevada, Kentucky, Central Michigan

My College Football Results, 2009 Week 12

My picks this week were 14-8, but I only went 5-4 on my nine money picks - and it was the Pac-10 games that busted me. Stanford tore through USC and Oregon, both of whom destroyed Cal, so naturally, Cal beats Stanford at the Farm, right? Go figure. On the season I am now 112-121-1 against the spread overall, and 47-41 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here's how I did.

L * Colorado @ #12 Oklahoma St. -15½
W #6 Boise St. @ Utah St. +24
W [#25] North Carolina @ Boston College -3
L * #9 Ohio St. @ Michigan +12
W * Minnesota @ #15 Iowa -10
W Duke @ #21 Miami (FL) -17½
W * Florida Intl. @ #1 Florida -41½
W * Memphis @ #24 Houston -24
W * #4 TCU @ Wyoming -31
L Air Force @ #19 BYU -8
W #25 Rutgers @ Syracuse +8 (straight up!)
W #17 Wisconsin @ Northwestern +6½ (straight up!)
W N.C. State @ #16 Virginia Tech -20
L #13 Penn St. @ Michigan St. +3
W #10 LSU @ Mississippi -3½
W * Virginia @ #18 Clemson -28½
W San Diego St. @ #23 Utah -18
L * #20 Oregon St. @ Washington St. +31
L Kansas State @ [#25] Nebraska -16½
L * California @ #14 Stanford -7 (straight up!)
L #11 Oregon @ Arizona +6
W Kansas @ #3 Texas -26½

In the only game involving unranked Pac-10 play, I picked it:

W Arizona State @ UCLA -4½

The Trojan Fan's Rooting Interests for Week 12

Last week was a brutal week for USC's rooting interests. Technically, USC is just four spots below where they need to be in the BCS rankings for them to be eligible for a bid. In fact, technically, USC could still go to the Rose Bowl as a 6-way co-champion of the Pac-10, at 6-3. But in reality, USC fans' rooting interests now focus on enjoying upsets, hoping that the teams from #7 to #22 lose, giving USC a chance to work themselves back into the top ten, and, of course, getting into the best bowl possible. Oh, and we want Charlie Weis to stay on as Notre Dame coach, although that would probably require the Irish to beat Stanford, as well. So here are a few outcomes to root for this weekend, in order of my preference, starting with:

Games USC needs to keep their almost impossible Rose Bowl hopes alive:

• Washington State over Oregon State
• Cal over Stanford
• Arizona over Oregon

Games USC fans would like to see break against the teams we could jump in the polls tomorrow:

• Colorado over Oklahoma State (that already didn't happen)
• Michigan over Ohio State
• Minnesota over Iowa
• Duke over Miami
• Memphis over Houston
• Virginia over Clemson
• San Diego St. over Utah 
• Air Force over BYU
• Northwestern over Wisconsin
• N.C. State over Virginia Tech
• Michigan State over Penn St.
• Ole Miss over LSU

Games where I'll probably root for the upset, without thinking it'll happen, or really caring:

• Florida Intl. over Florida
• Chattanooga over Alabama
• Kansas over Texas
• Utah State over Boise State  (that already didn't happen)
• Wyoming over TCU

Rivals' games:

• UCLA over Arizona State (so UCLA will already be bowl-eligible)
• Notre Dame over U.Conn (so Charlie's head will not roll)

Next week, I'll have a better idea of how to root in the Pac-10, since USC's chances at the various bowls will be a bit clearer.

College Football 2009: 10 Games I Look Forward To In Week 12

USC is off this week, and the Trojans are essentially out of the running in the Pac-10, so I'm less intrigued by this week's slate of college football games. Nonetheless, there are a few that pique my interest. Here are the ten I find most interesting:

1. #25 Cal @ #14 Stanford: If Stanford wins this game, USC is likely to be headed to the Sun Bowl or Vegas Bowl, so I have to root for the Bears here. Stanford knocked off the Trojans last week, and so far this season, both teams that beat USC suffered a hangover the next week and lost. In fact, since 2003, that has happened to almost all of the teams that upset USC in the regular season. If the trend continues, USC has a shot at the Holiday Bowl. If not, USC's only chance at the Holiday Bowl is for Stanford to beat Notre Dame soundly and have a few losses ahead of them in the BCS so that the Cardinal get into the Fiesta Bowl. That's unlikely. Go Bears!
   .
2. #9 Ohio St. @ Michigan: I feel for Michigan fans, and for Rich Rodriguez. They've lost 5 straight to the Buckeyes, and I think they are going to lose a 6th straight. But maybe not, and I wouldn't mind seeing the Buckeyes drop a game so USC could move back ahead of them in the standings. I'm not going to root for anyone here; I'm just going to watch.
   .
3. #11 Oregon @ Arizona: The winner of this game controls its own fate in the Rose Bowl race. If Oregon State somehow loses to Washington State, I'm going to root hard for the Wildcats in this one, but I doubt that will happen, so I'll probably prefer to see the Pac-10 leader looking strong and getting back into the top ten.
   .
4. #10 LSU @ Mississippi: I'd love to see LSU fall and remain the victor over absolutely nobody decent. They should have called this one the Overrated Bowl. Now that Ole Miss, Oklahoma and USC have been exposed as overhyped teams, I'm hoping and thinking that it's LSU's turn. Ole Miss is actually favored, so I'm not the only one who thinks this. I took LSU and the points, but only because I expect this to be a close, low-scoring affair. Of course, if LSU loses, that's probably enough for Ole Miss to get back into the rankings, so LSU fans can say "but all three of our losses were to ranked SEC teams." Bah. Go Rebels!
   .
5. Connecticut @ Notre Dame: Charlie Weis needs to win his last two games to have any hope of keeping his job. Notre Dame was a 6-5 school when they fired Ty Willingham and brought in Charlie Weis, specifically because the Irish do not think of themselves as a 6-5 school. If they lose this, they will be 6-5. I want Charlie to keep his job, even if it means the Irish upsetting a Pac-10 school in their season finale. So as much as I feel for the U. Conn players, who've been through such a rough season already, I'm thinking ... Go Irish! Beat Huskies!
   .
6. #20 Oregon St. @ Washington St.: Technically, this is the first of several games that control USC's Rose Bowl fate. I say technically because there is no way Oregon State loses this game unless they suffer devastating injuries, in which case they'll get clobbed by Oregon in their season finale, so either way, USC finishes behind one or more Oregon schools. Is it even worth it for me to say "Go Cougars!"?
   .
7. Florida Intl. @ #1 Florida: Florida ended its SEC schedule last week, so it gets to tune up for the conference championship by beating up on two weak sisters down the road. This one will be even easier than Florida State, and it's a good bet that we'll see Tim Tebow's heir-apparent, John Brantley early. The only real suspense is whether Florida will break 70, or FIU will break ... 0.
   .
8. Arizona State @ UCLA: UCLA is USC's next opponent, and our most hated rival, so I'll be watching this one, but not necessarily rooting against the Bruins. I'd love to see 7 Pac-10 teams play in bowls, and a 5-5 UCLA has a better shot now than 4-6 Arizona State, who would need this, plus a win against rival Arizona just to be eligible. Also, I don't want the Bruins to have the extra motivation of needing to beat USC to get to the Humanitarian Bowl or wherever. USC sits at home and I'm rooting for the Irish and the Bruins. I can't remember the last time that happened.
   .
9. Minnesota @ #15 Iowa: For my pie-in-the-sky hopes for USC to go to a BCS bowl, I need, among other things, another Iowa loss and another Penn State loss. Neither is likely, but Iowa did almost lose two pathetic games to two pathetic visitors this season. Minnesota is almost pathetic enough to fit the bill. Go Gophers!
   .
10. #13 Penn St. @ Michigan St.: For my pie-in-the-sky hopes for USC to go to a BCS bowl, I need, among other things, another Iowa loss and another Penn State loss. Neither is likely, but Michigan State did beat Michigan when we thought Michigan was good. Go Spartans!
     

I'll probably also check the scores of Duke @ #21 Miami, Chattanooga @ #2 Alabama, Memphis @ #24 Houston, TCU @ Wyoming, #17 Wisconsin @ Northwestern, N.C. State @ #16 Virginia Tech, Virginia @ #18 Clemson and Kansas @ #3 Texas.

Twilight New Moon

Because I have daughters, I know about this being the release date for New Moon, the second movie in Stephanie Meyer's popular Twilight Series. I'm not staying up to catch the midnight opener, but my daughter is. The scene outside the theater tonight was a zoo. I don't even remember the Star Wars and Star Trek geeks being this geeky or geeked out over a movie.

.
 
That red carpet was there for a group of (high school?) kids who rolled up in a white stretch limo and emerged dressed as their favorite, or most closely resembling characters. The dude on the left holding the apparent glass of wine was one of the vampires. He reminded me of a strange D&D/hacker type guy I knew back in the day.

 

My College Football Picks, 2009 Week 12

On the season I am now 98-113-1 against the spread overall, and a barely profitable(#) 42-37 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here are how I would pick against the spread this week in the games involving ranked teams. Nine games I would put real money on are marked by an asterisk:

Thursday, Nov 19
* Colorado @ #12 Oklahoma St. -15½

Friday, Nov 20
#6 Boise St. @ Utah St. +24
 
Saturday, Nov 21
[#25] North Carolina @ Boston College -3
* #9 Ohio St. @ Michigan +12
* Minnesota @ #15 Iowa -10
Duke @ #21 Miami (FL) -17½
Chattanooga @ #2 Alabama OFF
* Florida Intl. @ #1 Florida -41½
* Memphis @ #24 Houston -24
* #4 TCU @ Wyoming -31
Air Force @ #19 BYU -8
#25 Rutgers @ Syracuse +8
#17 Wisconsin @ Northwestern +6½
N.C. State @ #16 Virginia Tech -20
#13 Penn St. @ Michigan St. +3
#10 LSU @ Mississippi -3½
* Virginia @ #18 Clemson -28½
San Diego St. @ #23 Utah -18
* #20 Oregon St. @ Washington St. +31
Kansas State @ [#25] Nebraska -16½
* California @ #14 Stanford -7
#11 Oregon @ Arizona +6
Kansas @ #3 Texas -26½

In unranked Pac-10 play, the fourth conference game this week is:
Arizona State @ UCLA -4½

This week, #5 Cincinnati, #7 Georgia Tech, #8 Pitt, #22 USC have byes. Alabama has a virtual bye against Chattanooga.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/odds

## Betting 110 to win 100, if you'd taken all my money picks this year, you'd have wagered $8,690, and you would now have $8,820.

My 2009 Bottom 10 After Week 11

We lost a team from the ranks of the winless last week, with Rice pulling off the shocker against mighty Tulane. It wasn't enough for them to lose their Bottom Ten ranking, however. Here are my *ten rounding out the bottom:

1. Western Kentucky [1] (0-10) Coach fired. Can't even beat La-Monroe. Next loss: Bye
2. Eastern Michigan [2] (0-10) Haven't held any opponent under 24. Next loss: @ Toledo
3. New Mexico [3] (0-10) Achieved amazing 5 point loss to BYU. Next loss: Colorado State
4. San Jose St [5] (1-8) Still winless against the FBS. Next loss: Hawaii
5. Miami (OH) [6] (1-10) Season ends mercifully early tonight. Final loss: Buffalo
6. Washington St. [7] (1-9) By losing, can knock USC out of Rose Bowl. Next loss: Oregon St.
7. Ball St. [8] (1-9) En route to one of the worst one-season turnarounds ever. Next loss: C. Michigan
8. Rice [4] (1-9) Beat Tulane. Next loss: UTEP
9. Vanderbilt [9] (2-9) Only wins: Rice and something called Western Carolina. Final loss: @ Tenn.
10. North Texas [10] (2-8) Only wins: Ball St and W. Kentucky. Next loss: Army
11. * USC's 4th quarters. Trojans outscored 52-14 in last five 4th quarters

Dropped out: None

Not far ahead:  Akron (2-8), Maryland (2-8), Memphis (2-8), Arkansas St. (2-7)

Crummy Game of the Week: Utah State 24 San Jose State 9

Shocking Redemption of the Week: Rice over Tulane

Next week's Crummy Games of the the Week: UTEP @ Rice

Next week's Blowouts of the Week: Washington State @ Oregon State

Remaining Unbeatens After Week 11

We started the eleventh week of play with 6 undefeated teams in the NCAA's FBS. There are still six.

• #1 Florida - won @ South Carolina. Next game: Florida International
• #2 Alabama - won @ Mississippi State. Next game: Chattanooga
• #3 Texas - won @ Baylor. Next game: Kansas
• #4 TCU - beat up Utah. Next game: @ Wyoming
• #5 Cincinnati - beat West Virginia. Next game: bye (Illinois Nov. 27)
• #5 Boise State - beat up Idaho. Next game: @ Utah State

I don't expect anyone to drop from the ranks next week.

Looking at 2009 Bowl Scenarios

A few weeks ago, I might have guessed that the bowl lineups for the BCS and Pac-10 look something like this:

BCS Championship: Florida v. Texas
Rose Bowl: Oregon v. Iowa
Sugar Bowl: Alabama v. Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl: Penn State v. USC
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech v. TCU

Holiday Bowl (Pac10 #2): Arizona
Sun (Pac10 #3): Cal
Las Vegas (Pac10 #4): Oregon State
Emerald (Pac10 #5): Arizona State
Poinsettia  (Pac10 #6): Stanford

Now? Florida and Texas still look good, but Ohio State is in the Rose Bowl and Oregon is hanging on by a thread. Alabama is still solid, and headed either to the Sugar Bowl or the BCS championship, but Cincinnati looks vulnerable. Georgia Tech still looks good, as does TCU, but Penn State and USC do not look BCS worthy, even though both could end up in the top 14.

I'm now more interested in Pac-10 bowl arrangements than anything. Here are the Pac-10 standings, with games remaining:

Oregon (11) @ Arizona, Oregon State	6-1	8-2
Stanford (14) Cal	6-2	7-3
Oregon State (20) @ WSU, @ Oregon	5-2	7-3
Arizona  Oregon, @ ASU, @ USC	4-2	6-3
USC (21) UCLA, Arizona	4-3	7-3
California @ Stanford, @ Washington	4-3	7-3
UCLA ASU, @ USC	2-5	5-5
Arizona State @ UCLA, Arizona	2-5	4-6
Washington WSU, Cal	2-5	3-7
Washington State Oregon State, @ Washington	0-7	1-9

There isn't a team in the Pac-10 that USC can't at least tie at 6-3, but is it even mathematically possible for USC to go to the Rose Bowl? Leave it to Brendan Loy to find a scenario:

"[T]here would have to be a 6 way tie for the conference lead (with 6-3 records) among Oregon, Arizona, Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and USC. Under that scenario the first tie-breaker is the record against those teams and USC, Oregon State and Arizona would have the best records at 3-2 against those teams. Then USC would get the nod because it would have beaten both Oregon State and Arizona. So what is the likelihood of such a tie? Oregon would have to lose to Oregon State and Arizona. Arizona would have to lose to USC but beat Oregon and Arizona State. Stanford would have to lose to Cal. Cal would have to beat Stanford and Washington. USC would have to beat UCLA and Arizona. Oregon State would have to beat Oregon, but lose to Washington State"

That's not happening. Not a chance. It's so remote, it's not even fun to think about. Here's what's most likely: Next week, Oregon beats Arizona, UCLA beats ASU, Oregon State beats Wazzu, Stanford beats Cal. On November 28, Washington beats Wazzu, Arizona beats Arizona State, USC beats UCLA (Stanford also host Notre Dame). On December 5, Oregon beats Oregon State, USC beats Arizona, Cal beats Washington

That would leave the standings looking like this:

1. Oregon 8-1 (Rose Bowl)
2. Stanford 7-2 (Holiday Bowl)
3. USC 6-3 (Sun Bowl)
4. Oregon State 6-3 (Vegas Bowl)
5. Cal 5-4 (Poinsettia Bowl)
6. Arizona 5-4 (Emerald Bowl)
7. UCLA 3-6 (bowl eligible)*
8. Washington 3-6 (not bowl eligible)
9. Arizona State 2-7 (not bowl eligible)
10. Washington State 0-9 (not bowl eligible)

Final standings that looked like this would make the entire season make sense. I'm hoping for a little luck and a higher finish for the Trojans, though. If Cal upsets Stanford, USC could still finish tied for second with the Cardinal. The Holiday Bowl does not have to take the #2 team, much less the team with a tiebreaker for the #2 spot, and perhaps, for TV ratings, the Holiday Bowl would be interested in a USC/Oklahoma matchup, but I think the Sun Bowl is a more likely destination. Arizona, who I think will end up in the Emerald Bowl, is the only team other than Oregon to control its own Rose Bowl destiny.

* I've heard that the Pac-10 has seven bowl arrangements, and I've read various places that the Pac-10 #7 might go to the Hawaii Bowl or the Armed Forces Bowl, but ESPN says otherwise. If not, a 6-6 Pac-10 #7 could get into some other bowl as an at-large team to fill a spot left open by a conference that didn't have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its bowls, but only if no at-large teams with winning records are available.

Tuesday Travel Photo (No. 257)

Here is another one of my quirkier travel photos. I took this photo out the window of my Chicago hotel room, looking out toward the Hancock Building. Right across the street from that tower is a shopping center that houses the American Girl Place. The doll silhouetted against the window is an American Girl Doll.

If it was a doll from a place called American Clown Place, it probably would have creeped me out quite a bit.

My College Football Results, 2009 Week 11

My picks this week were 10-13, and worse, I went 4-5 on my nine money picks. On the season I am now 98-113-1 against the spread overall, and 42-37 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here's how I did.

L * #23 South Florida @ Rutgers +1 (way off on this one)
W * West Virginia @ #5 Cincinnati -9
L #13 Houston @ UCF +5½
W Indiana @ #19 Penn St. -26½
W Michigan @ #21 Wisconsin -8½
L * #2 Texas @ Baylor +24
L * #7 Georgia Tech @ Duke +12
L #24 Clemson @ N.C. State +8
W #20 Virginia Tech @ Maryland +17½
L #22 BYU @ New Mexico +27
W * Idaho @ #6 Boise St. -30½
L #25 Stanford @ #11 USC +10½
L #12 Miami (FL) @ North Carolina +3½
L [#25] Nebraska @ Kansas +4½
W * #15 Iowa @ #10 Ohio St. -16½
W * #1 Florida @ South Carolina +15
L Louisiana Tech @ #9 LSU -25
L * #18 Arizona @ California -1
L #3 Alabama @ Mississippi St. +12½
L * #16 Utah @ #4 TCU -20
W Texas Tech @ #17 Oklahoma St. -3½
W Notre Dame @ #8 Pittsburgh -7
W Arizona St. @ #14 Oregon -17

In unranked Pac-10 play, I split:
L Washington @ Oregon State -12
W UCLA @ Washington State +17½

Life Imitates Art in Michigan

On The Sopranos, Steve "Little Steven" Van Zandt played Silvio Dante, the consigliere to New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. His primary job: giving sage advice to The Boss. This weekend, Little Steven reprised the role in real life, as Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen rocked the house in Auburn Hills, Michigan, shouting out "Hello Ohio!" to the audience. Little Steven whispered in Springsteen's ear that they were actually in Michigan, which saved the Boss from getting whacked at the hands of angry Michigan men who would rather be mistaken for gay than be mistaken for Ohio people. The Boss apologized and the show went on. Way to cover the Boss's back, Silvio!

My College Football Top 25 Going Into Week 12

If I had an AP vote, here is what my ballot after week 11 would look like:

1. Texas (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Florida (3)
4. TCU (4)
5. Cincinnati (5)
6. Boise State (6)
7. Georgia Tech (7)
8. Pitt (8)
9. Ohio State (12)
10. Oregon (9)  
11. LSU (10)
12. Oklahoma State (16)
13. Penn State (18)
14. Stanford (24)
15. Virginia Tech (20)
16. Wisconsin (22)
17. Iowa (17)
18. BYU (23)
19. Clemson (NR)
20. USC (11)
21. Oregon State (25)
22. Miami (14)
23. Rutgers (NR)
24. Utah (15)
25. North Carolina (NR)

I dropped: Houston (13), Arizona (19), South Florida (21)

I almost went with: Cal

They're higher than they belong, but who should be higher? LSU, Ohio State, Georgia Tech

I knew it!: Houston

I can't believe anyone gave votes this week to: Nevada

USC Stanford Game Notes 11-14-09

As you watch USC host Stanford this afternoon, you might see some of these interesting bits and pieces:

• USC is 7-2 (4-2 Pac-10), ranked #11 in the AP, #9 in the BCS and #10 in the Coaches' poll
• Stanford is 6-3 (5-2 Pac-10), ranked #25
• USC is favored by 10½ points
• Kickoff: 12:41 p.m. PDT at L.A. Memorial Coliseum
• It's USC's Homecoming
• Broadcast: regionally on FSN (Tompkins, Papadakis, Eaves)
• The series dates back to 1905
• Stanford is USC's oldest current rival
• USC leads the series 59-25-3
• In their last 33 contests, USC leads 25-7-1 (and 40-10- 1 in the past 51 games).
• In games in the Los Angeles area (including a 1918 game in Pasadena), USC leads 26-16-1
• USC has a 57-24-4 record in its Homecoming games, dating to 1924.
• Last game: USC 45 Stanford 23
• Last game in L.A.: Stanford 24, USC 23
• That game was hailed by many as the "biggest upset" of all time
• Only three of Pete Carroll's seventeen losses have come at home
• Two of those were against Stanford
• USC is 89-11 in its last 100 games
• This is the 101st consecutive game the Trojans have been ranked in the AP Top 25
• This is the first time Stanford has been ranked since 2001
• Pete Carroll is 95-17 at USC. That's the best among active coaches.
• Carroll has never lost a game in November (28-0)
• Carroll is also 8-0 in homecoming games at USC
• Carroll is 61-12 in Pac-10 games
• That is 9th on the all-time Pac-10 victories list, best among active coaches
• USC’s 2009 schedule currently is ranked the nation’s fifth toughest by the Sagarin rankings.
• USC started the season with 6 road games in their first 9
• USC has a streak of 7 consecutive Pac-10 crowns (a league record)
• USC also has a streak of 7 straight BCS bowls (an NCAA record)
• USC has played in 4 consecutive Rose Bowls.
• No team has been to 5 straight
• USC OL Jeff Byers has been named a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy.
• USC kicker Jordan Congdon is a semifinalist for the 2009 Lou Groza Award (best placekicker).
• USC DB Will Harris was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week
• Stanford TB Toby Gerhart was Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week
• Gerhart is the Pac-10 leader in rushing and scoring
• Gerhart is the nation's #2 RB in rushing yards
• Stanford also has the Pac-10's top rated passer (QB Andrew Luck)
• Toby Gerhart would be the first Stanford back to lead the Pac-10 in rushing since 1957
• Gerhart's career rushing totals of 2,868 yards is third on Stanford’s all-time list
• He needs 73 yards to pass Brad Muster (1984-87)
• USC has 5 players who previously attended a Bay Area school
• USC offensive coordinator John Morton was an assistant for both Carroll and Jim Harbaugh
• USC is riding a 12 game home winning streak and a 9 game home Pac-10 winning streak
• USC is averaging 5.3 yards per rush in 2009.
• USC is allowing just 3.3 yards per rush in 2009.
• USC is ranked second nationally in sacks (3.6, first in Pac-10)
• USC is also in the top 25 in pass efficiency defense and scoring defense (first in the Pac-10)
• The 110 points by Notre Dame, Oregon St. & Oregon were the most USC ever allowed in 3 games.
• Stanford leads the nation in kickoff return average (32.1) and has returned three for TDs.
• At 6-3, Stanford has won its most games in a season since 2001
• Stanford is 5-0 at home this season and 9-1 at home over the last two seasons
• The lone defeat was to USC in 2008
• Stanford is 3-21 against ranked teams dating back to 2002
• But the 3 wins have come in their last five games against ranked teams
• One of those was against the Trojans
• USC injury update: Possible: WR Damian Williams (ankle), DE Everson Griffen (toe), WR Brandon Carswell (toe), DT Averell Spicer (calf), LB Jarvis Jones (neck), LB Malcolm Smith (shoulder), OG Zack Heberer (back), S Drew McAllister (hip), TE Anthony McCoy (ankle), WR David Ausberry (calf), LB Luthur Brown (back)
• OUT: TB Marc Tyler (toe), TE James Boyd (knee), WR Scott Stephens (knee), TB Stafon Johnson (throat), DT Hebron Fangupo (ankle), CB Marshall Jones (neck), OG Martin Coleman (foot), CB Shareece Wright (ineligible)
• Before the game, the top-ranked USC men’s water polo team will host No. 3 Stanford
• USC sophomore golfer Jennifer Song will be recognized during an on-field presentation

USC's weekly football release

Stanford's weekly football release

Fight On!  Beat the Cardinal! 

College Football 2009: 10 Games I Look Forward To In Week 11

It's homecoming at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this week, where USC will be hosting Stanford. Since 2001, USC has lost a total of two Pac-10 games here. Both were to Stanford. Stanford was also the last team to knock off the Trojans while I've been in the stands. So it's no surprise which game is the most interesting to me this week. Here are ten that interesting:

1. #25 Stanford @ #11 USC: USC has struggled on the road this year, but now they start a stretch run of three home games to end the season. Stanford comes off a huge win over Oregon a week after the Ducks humbled USC. The Cardinal are 6-3, but that comes with a 5-0 home record, and a 1-3 record on the road - and the win was over Washington State. TB Toby Gerhart has replacd Jahvid Best as the Pac-10's most impressive runner, and Stanford QB Andrew Luck has been outstanding. USC, however, is getting a few key players back from injury and they are back in the mix for the Pac-10 title. Go Trojans!
   .
2. Arizona State @ #14 Oregon: I expect Oregon to respond to last week's loss with a bounceback performance that will be magnified by Arizona State's USC hangover. But if Oregon does lose, USC can earn at least a share of its 8th straight Pac-10 title by winning its final three games. If Oregon does win, I hope it's a blowout or a big emotional win so they can have a letdown loss next week against the Wildcats. Go Sun Devils!
   .
3. #16 Utah @ #4 TCU: This is the only remaining test for TCU. If they win this one - and they are heavily favored - not only will they be just a couple of scrimmages short of an automatic BCS bid, they might even sneak into the BCS national championship game if Texas loses or the eventual SEC champion drops a game before December 5th. I'm not sure whether to root for or against this.
   .
4. #15 Iowa @ #10 Ohio State: This game decides the first BCS bowl bid of 2009. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl, because they will be 6-1 in conference, and will be assured of no less than a 6-2 record, plus a head-to-head tiebreaker against all three of the other Big Ten teams who have a shot at finishing 6-2. USC fans hope the Buckeyes kill 'em, dropping every Big Ten team except Ohio Stat out of the top 14 and down to 2 losses. Go Bucks!
   .
5. Idaho @ #6 Boise State: Scott Wolf kept trying to vote Idaho into recognition - twice - but had to drop the Vandals from his ballot when they lost their third game. It's been ten years since the Vandals beat the Broncos, and about that long since Boise State lost on the blue smurf turf. Go Vandals?
   .
6. #7 Georgia Tech @ Duke: Dukes needs this or one other game to become bowl eligible. Georgia Tech needs this game to win the ACC Coastal. The Blue Devils have lost to all ranked teams they playd this year, including the ranked FCS team they played. I don't think this is their week.
   .
7. Notre Dame @ #8 Pitt: I want Cincinnati and Pitt to drop a couple of games to increase USC's chances at a BCS at-large bid. Since Notre Dame is one of USC's victims, an Irish victory over the Panthers would do the job nicely. Notre Dame is coming off their most disappointing loss I can remember - a second home loss in three years to Navy. The Irish are no longer a likely threat to rise to #14 and get an undeserved BCS bid, but a win here would get them back in the polls, would knock Pitt below USC and would give my buddy from Notre Dame a nice birthday present. The Panthers were last ranked this high in 1989, when they got to No. 7. This team, however, hasn't had its lofty ranking tested. Their best win: West Virginia. But they did beat Navy. Oh well. Go Irish! (If Notre Dame loses, however, Charlie's record will fall to 35-25 - the same exact record that got Bob Davie fired, and the same percentage that Ty Willingham left with).
   .
8. #18 Arizona @ Cal: Arizona can move to 7-2 if they don't get caught looking ahead to next week's big home game against Oregon. If the Wildcats win this one, then that game against the Ducks will be the Pac 10 Game of the Year. Cal will not have Jahvid Best, as he recovers from a major concussion. Without Best, Cal's not that good. Somehow, the Bears come in as 3 point home favorites. I like the underdogs. Go Wildcats!
   .
9. #1 Florida @ South Carolina: The Ole Ball Coach gets his ole team at home this week. I don't find the game quite as compelling as others do. If Florida wins, their dominance will be taken as a sign that the SEC is great. If South Carolina pulls off the big upset, it will be taken as a sign that the SEC is great. Meh. But I always enjoy an upset over No. 1 if it isn't USC being upset, so go usc. Beat the Gators!
   .
10. #12 Miami (FL) @ North Carolina: I've always liked the Tar Heels, even since I set foot on campus in 1991 for a competition. This week, they play at home, with a chance to deal Miami its third loss of the season. This would eliminate a major competitor for an at-large BCS bid. Think the Orange Bowl or Sugar Bowl would like to see USC instead of a 10-2 or 11-2 Miami? Neither do I. But 10-3 Miami won't be in the top 14. Go Heels!

I'll probably also check the scores of #13 Houston @ UCF, Indiana @ #19 Penn St., Michigan @ #21 Wisconsin, #2 Texas @ Baylor, Louisiana Tech @ #9 LSU, #3 Alabama @ Mississippi St., Texas Tech @ #17 Oklahoma St.and UCLA @ Washington State.

My College Football Picks, 2009 Week 11

On the season I am now 88-100-1 against the spread overall, but I'm still a solid 38-32 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here are the spreads on this week's games involving ranked teams. My picks are in bold, with the nine games I plan to put real money on marked by an asterisk:

Thursday, Nov 12 
* #23 South Florida @ Rutgers +1

Friday, Nov 13
* West Virginia @ #5 Cincinnati -9

Saturday, Nov 14
#13 Houston @ UCF +5½
Indiana @ #19 Penn St. -26½
Michigan @ #21 Wisconsin -8½
* #2 Texas @ Baylor +24
* #7 Georgia Tech @ Duke +12
#24 Clemson @ N.C. State +8
#20 Virginia Tech @ Maryland +17½
#22 BYU @ New Mexico +27
* Idaho @ #6 Boise St. -30½
#25 Stanford @ #11 USC +10½
#12 Miami (FL) @ North Carolina +3½
[#25] Nebraska @ Kansas +4½
* #15 Iowa @ #10 Ohio St. -16½
* #1 Florida @ South Carolina +15
Louisiana Tech @ #9 LSU -25
* #18 Arizona @ California -1
#3 Alabama @ Mississippi St. +12½
* #16 Utah @ #4 TCU -20
Texas Tech @ #17 Oklahoma St. -3½
Notre Dame @ #8 Pittsburgh -7
Arizona St. @ #14 Oregon -17

In unranked Pac-10 play, the other two conference games this week are:
Washington @ Oregon State -12
UCLA @ Washington State +17½

This week, no byes and no virtual byes. Everyone in action is playing and is playing within their own subdivision.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/odds

The Trojan Fan's Rooting Interests for Week 11

Last week was a decent week for USC's rooting interests. USC beat Arizona State, Stanford beat Oregon, Arizona beat Washington State, Northwestern beat Iowa, Ohio State beat Penn State and Navy beat Notre Dame, which I wasn't rooting for, but in hindsight, was happy to see. The latest BCS rankings have USC at #9. That makes USC BCS-eligible. To get into a BCS bowl, USC needs to win its remaining three games and needs to get one of the four at-large bids. An automatic Rose Bowl bid would require Oregon to lose two of their last three games, or two, if USC ends up in a three-way tie for first with Arizona and Oregon. The Ducks have a tough road game at Arizona and a rivalry game against Oregon State still on their schedule, so it's possible, but not likely.

The teams ahead of USC in the BCS are: Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State, Georgia Tech and LSU. Now that Alabama and Florida have clinched their divisions in the SEC, it is almost assured that both of them will be in the BCS. That leaves three open at-large spots. It would be great for USC if TCU and Boise State dropped a game or two, as unlikely as that appears, but it is safe to assume that at least one of them will get a BCS bid. Now that Iowa has lost, it would be great for Ohio State to win the Big Ten, and for Iowa and Penn State to lose yet another game. Competition for at-large spots also comes from the ACC, in Miami and Georgia Tech (as potential loser of the ACC championship game), from the Big East in Pitt, from the Big XII in Oklahoma State. Notre Dame is no longer likely to crack the final 14, so we want to see them winning again, starting this week at Pitt.

If you want to see USC in the Rose Bowl or some other BCS bowl, here are a few outcomes to root for this weekend, in order of my preference:

• USC over Stanford
• Arizona State over Oregon
• Utah over TCU
• Idaho over Boise State ##
• West Virginia over Cincinnati
• Duke over Georgia Tech ##
• Ohio State over Iowa
• Indiana over Penn State ##
• Notre Dame over Pitt
• UCF over Houston
• North Carolina over Miami
• Texas Tech over Oklahoma State
• Arizona over Cal*
• South Carolina over Florida
• Louisiana Tech over LSU ##
• Baylor over Texas ##
• Mississippi State over Alabama ##
• Rutgers over South Florida
• UCLA over Washington State
• Oregon State over Washington**

* I'm not sure this will eventually be what I truly want, but if Oregon wins, I want UA to win too.

** This will shut Washington out of a bowl, but would probably put Oregon State in the Top 25

## As if it could really happen....

I'll be thrilled if USC wins and I get 4 of the first 8 games.

Tuesday Travel Photo (No. 256)

This is one of my quirkier travel photos. I took this between the towers of the Wrigley Building in Chicago. To the left is the clock tower. I don't know what they call the tower to the right. The Chicago River is on the other side of the clock tower. The reason I took this picture, as I walked over to catch the Chicago Water Taxi, was because when I looked up at the enclosed hallway connecting the two towers, it occurred to me that this was the 20th Century equivalent of the rickety old rope bridges you see spanning deep river gorges in so many adventure movies.

I wouldn't cross one of those rope bridges, and I made no plans to try to cross this one, either.

My 2009 Bottom 10 After Week 10

All four winless teams in the FBS stayed perfect this week. Oddly enough, Duke, Virginia and Temple, all of which are oh-fer against the FCS, are in the thick of their conference races. More relevant to the Bottom Ten, we still have two teams - San Jose State and Akron that have only beaten the FCS. Here are my *ten rounding out the bottom:

1. Western Kentucky [1] (0-9) Already got their coach fired. Next loss: @ Louisiana-Monroe
2. Eastern Michigan [2] (0-9) Haven't held any opponent under 24. Next loss: @ W. Michigan
3. New Mexico [3] (0-9) Now they hit the meat of their schedule. Next loss: BYU
4. Rice [4] (0-9) Got moral victory by staying close to Southern Methodist. Next loss: Tulane 
5. San Jose St [5] (1-7) Avoided Saturday loss by losing on Sunday. Next loss: @ Utah St
6. Miami (OH) [9] (1-9) Nearly beat Temple, losers to Villanova. Next loss: Bowling Green
7. Washington St. [6] (1-8) Offense has yet to score 20+ in Pac-10 game. Next loss: UCLA
8. Ball St. [8] (1-8) Bye week was their second-best of the season. Next loss: @ N. Illinois
9. Vanderbilt [10] (2-8) Lost 27-3 to "lackluster" Florida. Next loss: Kentucky
10. North Texas [NR] (2-7) Their wins were over Ball St and W. Kentucky. Next loss: @ FIU
11. *Notre Dame - worst three-year stretch against Navy since Germany in 1943-45.

Dropped out: Akron (2-7) (Finally beat an FBS team - Kent State)

Not far ahead: Florida Int'l (2-7), Maryland (2-7), Memphis (2-7), Akron (2-7), Utah St. (2-7), Arkansas St. (2-6), Florida Atlantic (2-6)

Crummy Game of the Week: Akron over Kent St.

Shocking Redemption of the Week: None

Next week's Crummy Games of the the Week: San Jose State @ Utah St., North Texas @ FIU

Next week's Blowouts of the Week: New Mexico @ BYU

2010 Rose Bowl Tiebreakers

There's a lot of chatter on Twitter about Rose Bowl tiebreakers and USC needing Oregon to lose two more games for USC to get into the Rose Bowl. In fact, there is a reasonably plausible scenario under which USC goes to the Rose Bowl in a three-way tie even if Oregon only loses one more game. If Arizona beats Oregon and USC beats Arizona, with each team winning their remaining games, USC, Arizona and Oregon would each finish in a 3-way tie at 7-2. Head-to-head-to-head would leave them tied at 1-1 against each other. Then you start to look at the three teams' records against the other top Pac-10 teams until you eliminate one. You get to Stanford (Oregon's other loss) before you get to Washington* (Arizona and USC's other loss). USC and Arizona are 1-0 against Stanford, and Oregon is 0-1. That would eliminate Oregon. Then you would look at head-to-head records between USC and Arizona. USC would go. That means that if Arizona goes into the final week of the season at 7-1 in the Pac-10, with USC at 6-2 with wins over Stanford and UCLA, then USC v. Arizona on December 5 would be a de facto Pac-10 conference championship game.

Here comes the math:

Rose Bowl Selection Procedures

If a Conference team is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ranking system it shall participate in the National Championship Game designated by the BCS. If that is not the case, the following procedures will determine the Pacific-10 Rose Bowl Representative. The Pacific-10 Rose Bowl representative shall be that member's team with the best won-lost percentage record in Conference games. If, however, the records in Conference games of two or more members are identical, determination of the Rose Bowl representative shall be as follows:

a. Two-Team Tie.
The winner of the game between the two teams shall be the representative.

b. Multiple-Team Ties.
(1) When three or more teams are tied in Conference play, if one has defeated all others, it shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If that is not the case, a comparison of the tied teams' records against the other tied teams shall be made and the team having the best record against the other tied teams shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If two or more teams are still tied after this comparison, the appropriate two-team or multiple-team tie-breaking procedures shall be repeated among those teams still under consideration.

(2) If more than two teams are still tied after the process above is completed, each remaining tied team's record against the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings shall be compared, with the procedure continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage.

When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, each team's collective record against the tied teams as a group shall be used.

If at any point in the process the multiple-team tie is reduced to two teams, the two-team tie-breaking procedure shall be applied.

If more than two teams are still tied after comparing their records all the way through the Conference standings, the team among the tied teams with the highest ranking in the final BCS standings shall be the Rose Bowl representative.

If a tie remains, the teams most recently earning Rose Bowl or Bowl Championship Series automatic selection shall be eliminated.

http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102802aai.html

This scenario fails if Arizona loses to anyone other than USC, or if USC loses another game. But if it plays out like that, USC v. Oregon is no longer the Pac-10 Game of the Year. Oregon @ Arizona on November 21 is the Pac-10 Game of the Year. If Arizona and USC keep winning, Arizona @ USC on December 5 will be the Pac-10 Game of the Year.

* If, however, Washington wins its last three (@ Oregon State, Washington State and Cal) and Stanford loses to both USC and Cal, then both will finish 5-4, so the tiebreaker will continue until you look at BCS standings where USC, which is already ahead of both, would have a clear advantage if they were 10-2 and Oregon and Arizona have dropped to 9-3.

My College Football Top 25, Week 11

If I had an AP vote, here is what my ballot after week ten would look like:

1. Texas (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Florida (3)
4. TCU (6)
5. Cincinnati (5)
6. Boise State (4)
7. Georgia Tech (11)
8. Pitt (14)
9. Oregon (8)  
10. LSU (9)
11. USC (12)
12. Ohio State (15)
13. Houston (13)
14. Miami (16)
15. Utah (17)
16. Oklahoma State (18)
17. Iowa (7)
18. Penn State (10)
19. Arizona (21)
20. Virginia Tech (22)
21. South Florida (24)
22. Wisconsin (25)
23. BYU (NR)
24. Stanford (NR)
25. Oregon State (NR)

I dropped: Notre Dame (19), Oklahoma (20), Cal (23)

I almost went with: Notre Dame, Clemson, Auburn, West Virginia

They're higher than they belong, but who should be higher? TCU, Oregon, LSU, USC, Ohio State, Georgia Tech

I knew it!: Iowa*

I can't believe anyone gave votes this week to: Temple, Kansas State

* several weeks ago

Remaining Unbeatens After Week 10

We started the tenth week of play with 7 undefeated teams in the NCAA's FBS. Now there are six.

• #1 Florida - beat Vanderbilt. Next game: @ South Carolina
• #2 Alabama - beat LSU. Next game: @ Mississippi State
• #3 Texas - beat UCF. Next game: @ Baylor
• #4 Cincinnati - beat Connecticut. Next game: West Virginia
• #5 Boise State - won @ Louisiana Tech. Next game: Idaho
• #6 TCU - won @ San Diego State. Next game: Utah
• #8 Iowa - lost to Northwestern

It's possible they will all survive. My best guess: we'll be down to four. I think TCU, Florida and Cincinnati are going to go 1-2. We'll see.

My College Football Results, 2009 Week 10

My picks this week were 10-13, but I went 5-4 on my money picks. On the season I am now 88-100-1 against the spread overall, but 38-32 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here's how I did.

W Virginia Tech @ East Carolina +11½
L #5 Boise State @ Louisiana Tech +21
L * UCF @ #2 Texas -34½
L Syracuse @ #14 Pittsburgh -21½
L #24 Wisconsin @ Indiana +10½
L Virginia @ #16 Miami (FL) -13½
W Northwestern @ #8 Iowa -16½
W * #25 BYU @ Wyoming +13
W Navy @ #19 Notre Dame -12½
W * #7 Oregon @ Stanford +7
W * #15 Ohio St. @ #11 Penn St. -5
W * #18 Oklahoma St. @ Iowa St. +7
L Wake Forest @ #10 Georgia Tech -14½
W Washington St. @ #21 Arizona -32½
L * #9 LSU @ #3 Alabama -7½
L #6 TCU @ San Diego St. +24½
W * New Mexico @ #17 Utah -27½
L * Oregon St. @ #23 California -7
L Vanderbilt @ #1 Florida -35
L #13 Houston @ Tulsa +1½
W Connecticut @ #4 Cincinnati -17½
L * #20 Oklahoma @ Nebraska +5½
L #12 USC @ Arizona St. +10

In unranked Pac-10 play, the fifth conference game this week is:
W Washington @ UCLA -4½

I was mildly surprised to see Northwestern win straight up. I was not that surprised to see Ohio State and Stanford upset Penn State and Oregon. Shocked to see Cal lose - but not under the circumstances. I was more than a bit surprised to see Nebraska knock off the Sooners.

USC Arizona State Game Notes 11-7-09

As you watch Arizona State host USC tonight, you might see some of these interesting bits and pieces:

• USC is 6-2 (3-2 Pac-10), ranked #12 in the AP and BCS and #13 in the Coaches' poll
• Arizona State is 4-4 (2-3 Pac-10),unranked.
• USC is favored by 11½ points
• Kickoff: 5:12 p.m. PDT at Sun Devil Stadium (71,706), Tempe, Arizona
• Broadcast: nationally on ABC-TV
• ASU is USC’s newest and least played Pac-10 rival. dating back to 1978
• This will be the 26th meeting between Arizona State and USC
• The Trojans hold a 16-9 lead.
• The Sun Devils have not beaten USC since 1999
• That's the such streak in the Pac-10.
• USC is 8-5 at Sun Devil Stadium
• USC has won 9 straight over the Sun Devils, including the last 4 in Tempe.
• Last game: USC 28, ASU 0 at the Coliseum
• Fourteen of Pete Carroll's seventeen losses have come on the road
• USC is 88-12 in its last 100 games
• This is the 100th consecutive game the Trojans have been ranked in the AP Top 25
• Pete Carroll is 94-17 at USC. That's the best among active coaches.
• Carroll has never lost a game in November (27-0)
• Carroll is 60-12 in Pac-10 games
• That ties Dick Tomey for 9th on the all-time Pac-10 victories list
• ASU head coach Dennis Erickson is 167-79-1 (.678).
• He is 19-14 (.576) in his 3 seasons at ASU
• Erickson has coached three Pac-10 teams against USC
• Washington State and Oregon State are the others
• He is 1-6 against the Trojans
• Three USC players come from Arizona
• The Sun Devils have 41 players from California
• 25 different Sun Devils have made their debut in 2009.
• 13 different Sun Devils have made their first career starts this season.
• Senior Dexter Davis' 46 straight starts is the most by a Sun Devil since 1984.
• ASU has 24 seniors on its roster, tied for 8th most in the nation.
• ASU's Mike Nixon has been named a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy.
• USC’s 2009 schedule currently is ranked the nation’s fifth toughest by the Sagarin rankings.
• USC started the season with 6 road games in their first 9
• USC has a streak of 7 consecutive Pac-10 crowns (a league record)
• USC also has a streak of 7 straight BCS bowls (an NCAA record)
• USC has played in 4 consecutive Rose Bowls.
• No team has been to 5 straight
• USC is ranked 24th nationally in rushing offense (191.0)
• USC is averaging 5.4 yards per rush in 2009.
• USC is ranked second nationally in sacks (3.6, first in Pac-10)
• USC is seventh in tackles for loss (8.3, first in Pac-10).
• USC is third nationally in punt returns (18.0, first in Pac-10)
• USC is allowing opponents just 1.8 yards per punt return.
• The Sun Devils have the Pac-10’s top rushing defense (80.1, fourth nationally)
• ASU also have the Pac-10's best total defense (296.0, 18th nationally).
• USC OL Jeff Byers has been named a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy.
• USC is coming off the most-lopsided loss of the Pete Carroll era, 47-20 at Oregon.
• USC last lost consecutive games in 2001.
• From 2003 to 2008, USC lost 7 games by a total of 26 points.
• Last week, the Trojans lost by 27.
• Last time USC lost by 3 TDs or more: 1997 at Arizona State (35-7)
• Last time USC gave up more than 40 points: the 2006 Rose Bowl (41-38, loss to Texas)
• Last time USC surrendered 47 points or more: 1996 (48 in OT to both Arizona State and UCLA). Last time in regulation: 1991 (Cal 52-30)
• Last time USC gave up more than Oregon's 391 rushing yards: the 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl (Texas A&M 486).
• USC injury update: LB Malcolm Smith (shoulder), wide receiver David Ausberry (calf) and safety Drew McAllister (hip) are out. Linebacker Jarvis Jones (neck), tight end Anthony McCoy (ankle) and defensive end Nick Perry (knee) are questionable. Defensive end Everson Griffen (turf toe), tailback Allen Bradford (sore knee), tailback Joe McKnight (hamstring), defensive tackle Armond Armstead (wrist), wide receiver Damian Williams (glute muscle) and linebacker Chris Galippo (neck) are expected to play; TB Marc Tyler (toe), TE James Boyd (knee), WR Scott Stephens (knee), TB Stafon Johnson (throat), DT Hebron Fangupo (ankle), CB Marshall Jones (neck), OG Martin Coleman (foot), CB Shareece Wright (ineligible) are out
• Arizona injury report: WR T.J. Simpson (ankle) is out, perhaps for the season. DT Corey Adams (back), CB Omar Bolden (knee) and C Thomas Altieri (knee) are questionable. TB Dimitri Nance (shoulder) and WR Gerell Robinson (ankle) could be limited in practice. WR Kerry Taylor (hamstring) is expected to return.

USC's weekly football release.

Arizona State's weekly football release.

Fight On!  Beat the Sun Devils! 

College Football 2009: 10 Games I Look Forward To In Week 10

I have a charity thing tonight, so I might miss all or part of the USC game at Arizona State, but I'll TiVo it. That's the most important game to me this week, of course, but as always, there are a few other games I'm interested in following. Here are the ten that look most interesting:

1. #12 USC @  Arizona State: This is USC's last road game of 2009. The road has been rough on the Trojans, who start the season with six road games in their first nine, but Arizona State is not as tough as some others in the Pac-10. ASU has won four and lost four. They have home wins over Idaho State, La.-Monroe and Washington. The other win was at Washington State, by 13. They lost at home to Oregon State and Cal, and lost at Georgia and Stanford. The Sun Devils lead the Pac-10 in total defense and rushing defense, and are 2nd in scoring defense. Their passing defense is 5th in the conference, but their offense is 7th or 8th in every category. This is the opposite of a trap game and I'm expecting USC to come out strong. Go Trojans!
   .
2. #7 Oregon @ Stanford: I'm torn. Part of me wants to see the Ducks kick butt the rest of the year. Part of me is holding out hope for the Ducks to lose to Stanford, Arizona and Oregon State, to send USC to the Rose Bowl. USC can at least share in their 8th straight Pac-10 championship if the Ducks drop a pair, and this is as good a place to start as any. Letdown game? History says yes. The rebound/letdown phenomenom in college football is as real as real gets. Stanford comes off a bye, plays a ground-control game that contrasts Oregon's spread offense, and they have the conference's top rusher in Toby Gerhart. Plus, they need one win to be bowl eligible for the first time since 2001. I would love to see 7 or 8 Pac-10 teams in bowls, and I want USC to share in or win the Pac-10 so go Indians!
   .
3. #15 Ohio State @ #11 Penn State: I'm not so sure why people are so impressed with Penn State. Sure, they are 8-1, but they have played all of one ranked team in those nine games, and it was at home, and they lost. I think the Buckeyes are the better team. I hope the Buckeyes are the better team. I really need Ohio State to win this one so that I can enjoy a decent bowl game this year, so go Bucks!
   .
4. #8 LSU @ #3 Alabama: This is the game everyone will be watching, but to a USC fan, it is one of the few games involving ranked teams this week where we couldn't care less how the final score turns out. However, if LSU wins and goes on to defeat Florida in the SEC championship, it could create all sorts of chaos in the BCS. Texas v. Boise State or TCU for the national championship? It could even pave the way for an LSU/USC Sugar Bowl, which I would dig. I can't bring myself to root for LSU, however, so Roll Tide!
   . 
5. #6 TCU @ San Diego State: Frankly, the Aztecs have not a bit of a chance, but TCU losing a game - especially a game other than Utah - would boost USC's BCS bowl chances, so go San Diego State!
   .
6. Wake Forest @ #10 Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech should win this, but a Demon Deacan victory would be great, because it would eliminate the possibility of an ACC runner-up getting into a BCS bowl ahead of my Trojans if USC wins out. If Georgia Tech drops one here and loses the ACC conference championship game to Clemson or some other team, they would finish 10-3 and go to a lesser bowl. An 11-2 Georgia Tech might get picked ahead of USC. Go Wake Forest!
   .
7. Northwestern @ #7 Iowa: No upset this week would make me happier than Northwestern over Iowa. It sounds implausible, but consider this: Iowa at home this year has beaten Northern Iowa by 1, Arkansas State by 3, and Michigan by 2. This is not a dominant team at home. Could Northwestern do it? They certainly are better than Arkansas State and Northern Iowa, and probably Michigan, too. Go Wildcats!
   .
8. Navy @ Notre Dame: I don't understand the big spread in this game, and honestly, I'm not sure how to root in this one. This weekend has the possible makings of a Perfect Day, with 0-5 UCLA playing Washington, which could go either way, USC @ Arizona State, which could break our way, and then this. On one hand, USC wants Notre Dame to stay ranked to boost USC's SoS. On the other hand, Notre Dame will steal a BCS bid if they get to #14 in the BCS. Navy has won just one game against the Irish in my entire life, but it wasn't long ago. I'm going to root for it to happen again. Go Midshipmen!
   .
9. #18 Oklahoma State @ Iowa State: The Cowboys are vastly superior to the Cyclones, but I want every team that doesn't win the Big XII to finish with three or more losses, and that means I want Oklahoma State to lose one more. This probably won't be it. Most likely, it'll be the Sooners who get them, but for now, go Cyclones!
   .
10. UCF @ #2 Texas: I'll root for Central Florida, but I'm realistic. Texas isn't likely to lose another game this season. If they do, I just hope and pray it isn't in the Big XII championship game. Meanwhile, if UCF, Baylor, A&M or Kansas can get 'em, more power to them. Go Knights!

I'll probably also check the scores of Washington @ UCLA, Oregon State @ Cal, Virginia @ Miami, Houston @ Tulsa, Vanderbilt @ Florida, Connecticut @ Cincinnati, Syracuse @ Pitt and Oklahoma @ Nebraska.

The Trojan Fan's Rooting Interests for Week 10

The Trojan fans' rooting interests for week 10 are much different than in prior weeks. The latest BCS rankings have USC at #12. At a minimum, USC wants to win its remaining four games and play in the Holiday Bowl, but a BCS bowl bid as an at-large team is a possibility. A Rose Bowl bid would require either  a 2007-like collapse by Oregon or 4 straight ass-whippings by Oregon, along with a 2007-like collapse by the currently unbeaten teams, including, probably (or I should say, improbably) Boise State. My best guess is that Oregon will win out, but they have a trap game today at Stanford, plus a road game at Arizona and a rivalry game against Oregon State still on their schedule.

I want USC to get back into the top ten in the BCS and get a bid to the Sugar Bowl or Fiesta Bowl. The four BCS at-large teams are going to be, in all likelihood, the SEC runnerup, TCU and/or Boise State, and one or two second-place teams from the Big XII, Big Ten, Big East, SEC or Pac-10.

If they win their last four games, USC, at 10-2, would be attractive to the Fiesta Bowl or Sugar Bowl when compared to Ohio State (but maybe not Penn State) from the Big Ten. They probably would be ahead of the ACC runnerup - unless the Sugar Bowl or Orange Bowl was interested in a 2-loss Miami. They are toast if Texas loses the Big XII championship game. The Longhorns would get the at-large bid for sure; however, if Texas wins the Big XII, the Big XII might not even have an eligible at-large team.

The teams ahead of USC in the BCS are: Florida, Texas, Alabama, Cincinnati, Boise State, TCU, Oregon, Iowa, LSU, Georgia Tech, Penn State. At least six of those eleven, and probably seven, will be automatic bids. One of those will be out. The winner of Florida v. Alabama or LSU is probably in the title game, and the loser is probably an at-large pick, but the third SEC teams is not eligible. Realistically, that means USC only needs one or two teams to drop. It also needs Notre Dame to stay below #14 in the BCS.

Outside the BCS for a moment, and looking at the Pac-10 bowl arrangements, USC needs to aim no lower than the Holiday Bowl. San Diego wouldn't benefit that much from the Trojans coming to town, but USC has never played this bowl, and it would be tempting for Holiday Bowl officials to take them to play, for example, the Sooners, even if USC finishes tied for second, without the tie-breaker, or even third in the Pac-10. But to be safe, USC needs to finish 7-2 and alone in 2nd place in the Pac-10. If USC loses another game, it might be the Sun Bowl for USC, in El Paso. Ugh. I'd probably just fly out and back same day for that one. El Paso isn't one of my favorite family destinations.

I'm going to hope to hell that the ACC Atlantic champion doesn't win the ACC. Clemson in the BCS would really hurt USC's chances for an at-large bid unless Georgia Tech loses a couple between now and then. The same goes for a Nebraska or Kansas State win in the Big 12 championship, unless Texas lost one before then. A Pitt winout, including a December 5 win over an undefeated Cincinnati would also be a tough blow to a 10-2 USC. An 11-1 Penn State certainly would get in over USC if Iowa was in the Rose Bowl. I'm not sure whether an 11-1 Iowa would get in ahead of USC if Ohio State was in the Rose Bowl.

USC's worst case scenario, aside from more USC losses, would be Clemson, Nebraska and Pitt all winning on December 5 to win their conferences, along with TCU and Boise State winning out, and Ohio State winning the Big Ten. That could leave unbeaten TCU and Boise State, plus one-loss Texas, Alabama, Iowa and Cincinnati competing for four at-large spots. No way is USC in that mix, and Penn State and Georgia Tech would be out, too.

So who do I want to root for and against? I want teams in front of us in the BCS to lose - for the most part. I no longer really care about anyone in the SEC (although LSU over Alabama would create a very interesting scenario that would renew my interest in SEC games). I maybe do not want Texas to lose - certainly not in the Big 12 title game. I probably do not want Ohio State to win the Big Ten - unless Iowa loses a game other than Ohio State. If Ohio State wins the Big Ten and Iowa and Penn State both finish with 2 or more losses, that is a good thing. So if Northwestern pulls off the upset tomorrow, I'm rooting hard for Ohio State all year. I want everyone outside the Big Six to lose, although Boise St. remaining undefeated props up Oregon, which makes us look a bit stronger. I want anyone who isn't leading their conference, but who has 1 or 2 losses, to lose. To try to get there, here are a few game outcomes USC fans should root for, in order of my preference:

• USC over Arizona State
• San Diego State over TCU
• Northwestern over Iowa
• Ohio State over Penn State
• Louisiana Tech over Boise State
• Wake Forest over Georgia Tech
• U. Conn over Cincinnati
• Virginia over Miami
• Tulsa over Houston
• New Mexico over Utah
• Syracuse over Pitt
• Louisville over West Virginia
• Notre Dame over Navy
• Iowa State over Oklahoma State
• San Jose State over Nevada
• Vanderbilt over Florida
• UCF over Texas
• LSU over Alabama

There are a lot of unlikely outcomes in that list.

I'm not sure how to root in the Pac-10. I'll assume that USC wins out, making it unimportant to root against any team competing for 2nd place in the conference - USC has beaten Cal and Oregon State, and have yet to play Stanford and Arizona. That means I want ranked Pac-10 teams to keep winning (although an Oregon upset would still be great), and then I want teams with 4 or 5 wins to become bowl-eligible. That means I'd probably like to see

• USC over Arizona State
• Stanford over Oregon* (but only if the Ducks plan to lose another game, too...)
• Arizona over Washington State
• Cal over Oregon State (OSU needs a 6th win, but can get it against the Cougars)
• Washington over UCLA

Let the games begin, starting with Boise State against Louisiana Tech, which, oddly enough, is in a conference called the Mountain West - which is almost as strange as the Atlanta Braves spending all those years in the NL West and only slightly stranger than it would be to see Texas in the Pac-10.

Great Moments in Sports Betting History, 11-5-09

This evening, Virginia Tech was an 11½ point favorite at East Carolina.

Late in the game, East Carolina trailed 13-3, facing a third-and-13 from their own 16-yard line. They ran a short pass to the sideline, and the receiver got his hand on the ball but could not haul it in. This should have set up a 4th down punt with 2:25 to play, upon which Virginia Tech would run out the clock to win by 10. And fail to cover.

However, Patrick Pinkney's deflected pass ended up in the hands of Hokie defensive back Rashad Carmichael, who held onto the ball for an interception and a Virginia Tech first down at the ECU 13-yard line. Three downs later, the Hokies' Matt Waldron booted an almost-meaningless 31-yard field goal. But it wasn't meaningless in Vegas.

Final score: Virginia Tech 16, East Carolina 3. Covered.

My College Football Picks, 2009 Week 10

Last week was terrible, and I am now 78-87-1 on the season against the spread overall, which sounds pretty weak, but I'm still 33-28 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here are the spreads on this week's games involving ranked teams. My picks are in bold, with the nine games I plan to put real money on marked by an asterisk:

Thursday, Nov 5
#22 Virginia Tech @ East Carolina +11½

Friday, Nov 6
#5 Boise State @ Louisiana Tech +21

Saturday, Nov 7
* UCF @ #2 Texas -34½
Syracuse @ #14 Pittsburgh -21½
#24 Wisconsin @ Indiana +10½
Virginia @ #16 Miami (FL) -13½
Northwestern @ #8 Iowa -16½
* #25 BYU @ Wyoming +13
Navy @ #19 Notre Dame -12½
* #7 Oregon @ Stanford +7
* #15 Ohio St. @ #11 Penn St. -5
* #18 Oklahoma St. @ Iowa St. +7
Wake Forest @ #10 Georgia Tech -14½
Washington St. @ #21 Arizona -32½
* #9 LSU @ #3 Alabama -7½
#6 TCU @ San Diego St. +24½
* New Mexico @ #17 Utah -27½
* Oregon St. @ #23 California -7
Vanderbilt @ #1 Florida -35
#13 Houston @ Tulsa +1½
Connecticut @ #4 Cincinnati -17½
* #20 Oklahoma @ Nebraska +5½
#12 USC @ Arizona St. +10

In unranked Pac-10 play, the fifth conference game this week is:
Washington @ UCLA -4½

This week, no byes and no virtual byes. Everyone in action is playing and is playing within their own subdivision.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/odds

Tuesday Travel Photo (No. 255)

Here is another photo I took at Notre Dame. This is the view of the Golden Dome, as seen from inside Notre Dame Stadium during a game, under a blue-gray October sky. The dome itself was shining in the sun for this shot, and its 3,500 square feet of 23.9-karat gold leaf sparkled in the sun. You can't get a good distance perspective from this shot, but the dome is not right outside the stadium, as it appears. It's actually halfway across the campus.

The people sitting and standing along the top were treated to an amazing football game, but most of them went home unhappy after the Irish came one play short of beating USC.

My 2009 Bottom 10 After Week 9

Western Kentucky moved to #1 in the Bottom Ten by extending its losing streak to 16 games with a 68-49 loss at North Texas. The Hilltoppers have now surrendered 130 points in consecutive losses to Middle Tennessee and North Texas. We still have four winless teams in the FBS, plus three more that are oh-fer against the FCS (Duke, Virginia and Temple), and two more that have only beaten the FCS (SJ State, Akron). Here are my *ten rounding out the bottom:

1. Western Kentucky [2] (0-8) Defense hoping to give up 59 or less next week. Next loss: Troy
2. Eastern Michigan [1] (0-8) Gave up 7 TDs to Razorbacks. Next loss: @ N. Illinois
3. New Mexico [5] (0-8) Can't even beat San Diego State. Next loss: @ Utah
4. Rice [4] (0-8) Idle. Next loss: Southern Methodist 
5. San Jose St [10] (1-6) As DST ended, Boise State cleaned their clocks. Next loss: Nevada
6. Washington St. [7] (1-7) Moral victory: beat the spread @ Notre Dame. Next loss: @ Arizona
7. Akron [NR] (1-7) Only win was Morgan State. Next loss: Kent State
8. Ball St. [6] (1-8) Ohio caps their winning streak at one. Next loss: @ N. Illinois (Nov. 12)
9. Miami (OH) [3] (1-8) Beat Toledo. Next loss: @ Temple
10. Vanderbilt [NR] (2-7) Only wins were Rice and W. Carolina. Next loss: @ Florida
11. *USC's defense: gave up 110 points in last three games.

Dropped out: Illinois (first win over FBS school was inexplicable beatdown on Michigan), North Texas (Got freebie against Western Kentucky)

Not far ahead: North Texas (2-6), Illinois (2-6), Florida Int'l (2-6), Maryland (2-6), Colorado (2-6), Memphis (2-6), Tulane (2-6), Utah St. (2-6), Hawaii (2-6), Arkansas St. (2-5), Florida Atlantic (2-5)

Crummy Game of the Week: North Texas over Western Kentucky

Shocking Redemption of the Week: Illinois over Michigan

Next week's Crummy Game of the the Week: Kent State @ Akron

Next week's Blowouts of the Week: Vanderbilt @ Florida, New Mexico @ Utah

Remaining Unbeatens After Week 9

We started the eighth and ninth weeks of play with 7 undefeated teams in the NCAA's FBS, and that's where we ended the weekend. Only Iowa struggled, needing a late rally and a few calls to come from behind for the victory.

• #1 Florida - beat Georgia. Next game: Vanderbilt
• #2 Alabama - Idle. Next game: LSU
• #3 Texas - won @ Oklahoma St. Next game: UCF
• #5 Cincinnati - won @ Syracuse. Next game: Connecticut
• #6 Boise State - beat San Jose State. Next game: @ Louisiana Tech
• #7 Iowa - beat Indiana. Next game: Northwestern
• #8 TCU - beat UNLV. Next game: @ San Diego State

It's possible they will all survive. My best guess: they will.

My College Football Results, 2009 Week 9

My picks and rooting interests this week were disasters. I went 5-13 (since I didn't put my picks up until Saturday morning, I won't count my 1-1 on Thursday and Friday nights), but it wasn't so bad on my money picks. I was 3-4 in the games I thought I had a peg on. That means, among other things, I knew which games NOT to bet on. I was 2-9 in games where I didn't think I had any insight. On the season I am now 78-87-1 against the spread overall, but still 33-28 in games I actually thought were worth wagering on. Here's how I did.

L North Carolina @ #14 Virginia Tech -16½
W #20 West Virginia @ South Florida +3½
L #5 Cincinnati @ Syracuse +16½
W New Mexico St. @ #17 Ohio St. -43½
L Indiana @ #7 Iowa -17
W * #24 Mississippi @ Auburn +6
W * Southern Miss @ #15 Houston -6½
W San Jose St. @ #6 Boise St. -36½
L #18 Miami (FL) @ Wake Forest +7
L * Georgia v. #1 Florida -14½
L * UNLV @ #8 TCU -35
L * #12 Penn St. @ Northwestern +17
L Kansas St. @ #22 Oklahoma -27½
L * Washington St. v. #25 Notre Dame -27½
L #11  Georgia Tech @ Vanderbilt +12
W * #21 South Carolina @ Tennessee -6
L Wyoming @ #19 Utah -18
L #4 USC @ #10 Oregon +3
L #3 Texas @ #13 Oklahoma St. +9½
L Tulane @ #9 LSU -36

In unranked Pac-10 play, there are just two more games:
L Cal @ Arizona State +6½
W UCLA @ Oregon State -10½

I was not at all surprised to see the SEC's 4th and 5th teams go down in "upsets". I was not surprised to see USC lose (hint: if I pick USC but don't lay money on them, it means I really don't expect them to cover), but I was shocked out of my brain to see USC get blown out. Even on the road in the Pac-10. Even at Oregon. I was also surprised to see Oklahoma State get beaten so soundly, but now that USC has two losses, I'm glad to have seen it.

My College Football Top 25, Week 10

If I had an AP vote, here is what my ballot after week nine would look like:

1. Texas (2)
2. Alabama (1)
3. Florida (3)
4. Boise State (8)
5. Cincinnati (5)
6. TCU (6)
7. Iowa (7)
8. Oregon (10)  
9. LSU (9)
10. Penn State (11)
11. Georgia Tech (12)
12. USC (4)
13. Houston (16)
14. Pitt (15)
15. Ohio State (17)
16. Miami (18)
17. Utah (19)
18. Oklahoma State (13)
19. Notre Dame (21)
20. Oklahoma (22)
21. Arizona (23)
22. Virginia Tech (14)
23. Cal (NR)
24. South Florida (NR)
25. Wisconsin (NR)

I dropped:South Carolina (20), West Virginia (24), Ole Miss (25)

I almost went with: Texas Tech

I'm not yet completely buying: Utah in the top 20, Houston in the top 15

I now believe in: Iowa, TCU,  Boise State

I think they're overrated: LSU, Houston, USC, Utah

I knew it!: Ole Miss

I can't believe anyone gave votes this week to: Tennessee, Idaho, Temple, Richmond

What's the Opposite of the Day After the Baseball All-Star Game?

Today!

On the day before and the day after the MLB All-Star game, there are no major sporting events in the United States. Today however, we have:

• 1 World Series baseball game
• 12 NFL games
• 7 NBA games
• 4 NHL games

If your interests reach beyond the four major pro sports, you can also watch

• College Football (Marshall @ Central Florida)
• NASCAR (the AMP Energy 500)
• MLS (including the Galaxy v. Chivas USA)

Oh, and the PGA was supposed to be in play, but the Viking Classic has been canceled due to unplayable weather conditions. There are four big tennis tournaments going on around the world, too, but none in the U.S. Unfortunately, there is no town hosting events in all four major pro sports today. If I lived in Philadelphia, I would try my damnedest to go to the Eagles game at 1 p.m. and the World Series at 8:20 p.m.