This Weeks Picks in the Pac-12
By Jeff Taylor
The Huskies have a bye this week, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t Pac-12 football to be played. So, we’ll do our weekly picks once again. Last week I went 3-2 to bring my overall record to 35-7. I happily missed the Washington-Utah game. In addition, I admitted that the WSU-Colorado game was the hardest of the week to predict. Given the late WSU comeback, that was indeed the case. As I mentioned in last week’s picks, my head told me to go with the Cougars, but I went ahead and stuck with the Buffs anyways. But, enough about last week, let’s look at the games ahead.
Normally, I’d publish this post on a Friday, but with a Thursday night game between California and Oregon in Eugene, I decided to publish it a day earlier. There are several tough games to predict this week especially in cases where the seemingly better team is on the road. You just never know how those games will turn out.
California at #9 Oregon: Oregon will put a big victory on the board in this nationally televised game. But, Cal will score some points. Let’s go with the Ducks 45-27.
Arizona at Oregon State: I am tempted to go with the upset here with the Beavers at home and all. But, something tells me that Coach Stoops lets Nick Foles go to throw for 400 yards and the Wildcats put up 40+ in the victory. Let’s go with UA 42 OSU 24
Arizona State at Utah: Again, I am tempted to go with Utah at home, especially since they know what is at stake with another Pac-12 loss. But, Arizona State seems too strong and Utah is without Jordan Wynn this week. I am going with ASU 30-21.
Colorado at Stanford: No doubts in my mind about this one. The only uncertainty is how big of a margin the Cardinal will win by. Stanford 45 Colorado 17
Washington State at UCLA: Toughest game to predict of the whole week. To me, this may be the game that shows whether Washington State is for real and has a chance at a bowl game or if they have just benefited from a weak schedule. Rick Neuheisel knows his job is at stake and a loss to the Cougars at home would probably be the nail in the coffin. UCLA 31 WSU 28