2011 Pacific-12 Football: Week 8

Last week I went 3-3. Yikes - one of my worst weeks in a long time. Who knew Utah would go on the road and kick ass after getting worked in the Pac-12? And that Cal would roll over like that? Oh, and apparently BYU has a good offense. Oh well - 3-3 sends me to 40-13 on the season. I need to do better.

Couple things I figured out last week:

1 - Oregon doesn't need LaMichael James. That may sound odd considering he could be the best running back in the nation, but Kenjon Barner filled the star back role just fine. James is very, very good, but the Ducks can win without him.

2 - Oregon State needs to quit making the mistakes. If the Beavers could cut down on the turnovers on offense they would have at least two more wins now - maybe more. The defense, which is just as young as the offense, is forcing turnovers like crazy, but the offense is giving it right back. Until they can keep it to two or less and win the turnover battle, they will continue to struggle. Love all the talent they have on both sides, and an expanded role for Malcolm Agnew at running back this week should be a positive.

Also, I'm pleased the Beavers are finally on a station this week I get in HD. After three straight weeks on Fox College Sports Pacific (which is not in HD), getting a game on Root Sports is something worth celebrating. Plus, besides the lack of HD the production on Fox College Sports Pacific is pathetic. The cameramen keep losing the ball, their is a distinct lack of replays, and the score and time on the screen is almost always wrong. Bad announcers I can deal with, since that's common on most all channels, but bad production? It's like Fox just hired meth-addicted monkeys to put on the show.

And with that, on to this week's picks! Rankings in parentheses (AP, ESPN). All times Pacific.
(Time - Matchup - Network - Pick)

Thursday

6pm - UCLA at Arizona - ESPN - ARIZONA

Saturday

12:40pm - Oregon (9, 8) at Colorado - ROOT Sports - OREGON
4pm - Utah at California - No TV? - UTAH
4:30pm - USC (28, NR) at Notre Dame (27, 27) - NBC - USC
5pm - Washington (22, 24) at Stanford (7, 5) - ABC - STANFORD
7:30pm - Oregon State at Washington State (in Seattle) - ROOT Sports - WASHINGTON STATE

Stanford is bowl-eligible with six wins. Oregon and Washington can become bowl-eligible this week with wins. USC also could get it's sixth win, but is not eligible for the postseason.

Who do you pick?