Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
With only 10 Pac-10 games remaining this regular season, I’m guaranteed to finish the year with a winning record against the spread. But I’m not to mail it in down the stretch, unlike a few Pac-10 teams I suspect that wouldn’t mind.
On with this week’s selections:
No. 20 (AP) Oregon State (7-3) at Washington State (1-9): The last time these two teams played in Pullman, the Martin Stadium crowd was announced as 22,660. But it was closer to 15,000, and less than half of that during the second half as OSU was on its way to a 52-17 rout of the Cougars. That crowd is going to look like the Yankees parade-filled streets compared to the group that assembles Saturday at WSU. In fact, there’s a good chance Beaver fans will outnumber Cougar fans. Why am I writing about crowd size? Because you already know the outcome of the game: over by halftime. (Line: OSU by 31) Pick: Beavers 52, Cougars 13
No. 11 Oregon (8-2) at Arizona (6-3): The Ducks have flat out owned this series since 1994, winning all but three games. Even those three were excuse-filled: Oregon was mailing it in 2006, had the Dennis Dixon catastrophe in 2007 and ran into an Arizona buzzsaw in 1998. The Ducks are nothing close to those teams in 2009. They’re motivated and a machine on offense. I’m not buying Arizona in a big game, not this year. The defense that was supposed to be one of the best has been a sieve in big games. And while Nick Foles is a remarkable story, he’s still a sophomore quarterback with six career starts. Arizona doesn’t bring enough to the table in a big game like this. (Line: Oregon by 6) Pick: Ducks 45, Wildcats 31
California (7-3) at No. 14 Stanford (7-3): This has got rout written all over it. Stanford is hot, and wins at home this season as if the other team doesn’t exist. But like last week when the Bears played Arizona, something doesn’t add up. My gut feeling is Cal would bring something it hadn’t shown in a while and beat the Wildcats. I think the Bears will bring it again. Problem is, it’s going to take something more. Like the game of a lifetime from quarterback Kevin Riley. Since there’s a better chance of the new and improved Stanford showing up than Riley at his best, the Cardinal stays in the Rose Bowl race. (Line: Stanford by 7½) Pick: Cardinal 37, Bears 26
Arizona State (4-6) at UCLA (5-5): The Bruins’ offense has had a spectacular nine-quarter run the past three weeks, racking up 1,211 yards. But was it the competition (Washington and Washington State, and an OSU team that had the game seemingly in the bag), or a vastly improved offense? Guess Arizona State will provide the answers. (Line: UCLA by 4½) Pick: Bruins 24, Sun Devils 17
Your picks are great. It's too bad they're on Buster Sports, a site that supposedly encourages fan interaction while rampantly deleting posts (or, in the newest wrinkle, turning off comments entirely on some posts). FAIL.
Spot on as always Nick. Your articles are always a good read.
Gridiron Goddess apparently can't handle criticism of her so called "work" and disabled comments. If people are speaking out against you, just take away their voice. Classic.
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Gridiron Goddess apparently can't handle criticism of her so called "work" and disabled comments. If people are speaking out against you, just take away their voice. Classic.