Pac-12 Goes Bowling - Comments and Predictions

The Pac-12 bowl matchups are set for the 2012 season. I think the league has a very good shot at running the table in bowl season. The matchups just favor the Pac-12 teams.

Below is who is playing who in which bowls and a few thoughts on each game...

FIESTA BOWL - Oregon vs. Kansas State on Jan. 3

Oh boy. This could be a HIGH scoring game. Oregon's O is a wicked and multi-faceted TD scoring machine on hyper drive. KSU's offense is run by 2013's version of Cam Newton. In situations like this, it's usually the team with the stiffest (gets stops) and most opportunistic (gets turnovers) defense that ends up winning. I say that between the two of these squads, that's Oregon.

Oregon 47-KSU 36


ROSE BOWL - Stanford vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 1 You won't be able to tell which team is which because both have the exact same colors, field similar "big beefy" squads who play smash mouth football, and sport very similar uniform styles - including white helmets with a single red block letter on both sides.

Wisconsin is in their third straight Rose Bowl, having lost to Oregon last year and TCU the year before. I say the third time is the charm and that the big guys in red and white from the Midwest beat the big guys in red and white from the Bay Area.

Wisconsin 28-Stanford 24

SUN BOWL - USC vs. Georgia Tech on Dec. 31
USC had a disappointing season. The Sun Bowl ain't why QB Matt Barkley came back for his senior season. However, they are playing a team in Georgia Tech with a losing record. That's right. The Ramblin' Wreck sports a 6-7 record. They're in this bowl because they petitioned the NCAA on the grounds that they should not "penalized" by being left out of a bowl by reaching but losing the ACC championship game. No matter, USC will win this.

USC 38-GT 14

ALAMO BOWL - Oregon State vs. Texas on Dec. 29 This ought to be a good matchup and worth watching. OSU is much better than expected this season and any time you get a Pac-12 team vs. Texas...seems like it proves entertaining. (Note many Holiday Bowls from previous years.) I think the Beavers win this.

OSU 27 - UT 24

FIGHT HUNGER BOWL - Arizona State vs. Navy on Dec. 29Hmmm. Will anyone outside of the ASU campus and Navy personnel watch this? Probably not...or at least not too many. Will it be a good game? That's less known. ASU might dominate this thing or perhaps it'll be close. I'll say that the Sun Devils do accelerate away from the Midshipmen to win it.

ASU 47-Navy 20

HOLIDAY BOWL - UCLA vs. Baylor on Dec. 27
I'd say that outside of Oregon vs. Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, this is the best matchup for Pac-12 teams...likely to deliver a lot of scoring, dynamic athletes and "wow" plays. Like the Fiesta Bowl, the team with the better defense is likely to win, and that team is UCLA.

UCLA 48-Baylor 44

LAS VEGAS BOWL - Washington vs. Boise State on Dec. 22
This is a good matchup too, and I think we'll see both squads out to prove something. It's also interesting that these same two teams play again in their very first game of the 2013 season. If Kellen Moore was still QB at Boise, I'd say they will win. He's not. He's now in the NFL. I think Washington eeks out an entertaining win.

UW 28-BSU 22

Duck Record Defended

The other day the local sports radio station was discussing college sports in the northwest generally, and the subject of the rivalry between my alma mater the University of Oregon Ducks and the hated Oregon State Beavers came up. 

One of the on-air personalities said, "no doubt about it, Oregon State has the better football program...nobody other than USC has won more games over the past five seasons."

Well, that's not true. Must be wishful thinking from a sour Husky-lover.

Yes, it is true that USC has dominated in Pac-10 college football. No question there.

But, on the question of UO vs. OSU, the realities are that over the past five football seasons:

• UO has won 41 football games, OSU has won 40...so, who has won more games? The Ducks.


• UO has finished ranked #9 (2008), #23 (2007) and #12 (2004) while OSU has finished #18 (2008), #25 (2007) and #21 (2006)...so, who has finished with higher rankings? The Ducks.


• UO football finished 2nd in the Pac-10 in 2008, fourth in 2007, fifth in 2006, second in 2005 and fifth in 2004. OSU finished third in 2008, third in 2007, third in 2006, seventh in 2005 and fourth in 2004. So, a mixed bag, and clearly not enough to back up the "OSU is a better program" brag. OSU is more consistent as the third best Pac-10 program, but Oregon has more top 2 finishes over the past five seasons.


• It is true that OSU has won 3 of the past 5 "Civil War" games, so give them their due. But it also needs to be noted that those wins were very, very close games (2 were OT wins) while the two Oregon wins were absolute blow outs...including the UO win in the recently concluded season. So again, not a clear indication that "OSU is the better program" by any stretch.

So, there you have it...proof that the statement "Oregon State is clearly a better football program than Oregon over the past five seasons" is false. You can see that in fact, the Oregon Ducks have won more games and finished higher in the season-ending rankings over the past five seasons than the Oregon State. Meanwhile, other typical measures to compare the two are a wash at best.

Sorry for the tangent everybody, but Duck honor needed to be defended...this needed to be set straight.