- Washington State is not nearly as tough on the road. Would be very nervous about that game on the road, but we have an excellent shot at home. They struggled to stop the run with that DL although they did come through late in the game on short yardage plays but were literally that close to losing. Outside of crushing a badly depleted Stanford team (had 3 starting DBs down) on the road, WSU struggled against an ASU team down to their 4th string QB and just struggled to beat at Beaver team down to their 3rd string QB. Hopefully we get out of these next 2 games as winners and healthy on defense. If we do, WSU is going to have a tough time moving the ball against us and their defense can be ran on for sure. They'll get their points because Marks is a stud and Cracraft is Spruce like while Falk has such a quick, accurate, trigger. We should run all over them though. WSU ends their season like CU. 3 out of 4 games at home and their home slate features Cal and Arizona as pushovers before they come to Boulder and end the season in the apple cup against Washington. They probably see themselves running the table like us so we need to put them in their place.
- Washington has a tricky schedule to end the season. They are on the road at Cal which can be rather unpredictable since Cal hasn't lost at home all season. Their top WR Hansen will likely be back for that one. Webb is playing as well as any QB in the conference right now so that could be trouble. They then get SC at home. SC isn't the same on the road as they are at home so UW lucks out here, but it's still a very resurgent SC team that while sloppy is capable of beating any team in the conference. They then travel to WSU to play in that always tricky Apple Cup that will almost certainly determine the North winner since WSU will at most have 1 conference loss coming into that game. While I think UW will go into the Apple Cup undefeated, it's not a sure thing after that Utah performance. Both Cal and SC are big potential stumble points.
- Cal has the same season ending schedule as CU and WSU with 3 of their last 4 at home. They may repeat the bowl season of a year ago if they can keep on winning at home. I give them no shot at WSU, but they play Washington, Stanford, and UCLA at home. They just need to win 2. With all the fuss over Davis Webb, it does look like he will save Cal. They go win-less without him.
- Stanford will end the season strong with all of their tough games out of the way. They have road games at Cal, and at Oregon, with home games against Oregon State and Rice. No school has an easier end of year schedule. The Cal and Oregon games might be tricky as both teams are good at home on offense even though they are terrible defensively. Their home games are walk overs. Stanford could salvage their season with 9 wins and a top 20 ranking. This will be a marquee victory for CU when the season is over.
- USC could very well run the table to end the season. They are the school we should worry the most about. While they do have road games at Washington and a rivalry game at UCLA that will both be very tough, winning both is not impossible for the way they are playing. Home games against Oregon which looks like a walk over and a paltry Notre Dame team that is talented but terrible puts SC in great position if CU loses a game. SC must hope WSU beats us and then we beat Utah and they are in if they run the table. That's a lot of hope but it is not a wholly unlikely scenario either. They are the reason we don't want to lose another game. If they can solve their sloppy play, I honestly think they will run the table and the loss to them will not look bad when they are ranked about #16 in the polls.
- Arizona has a crazy offense with QBs that can run all over the field, but can't always complete passes. One of my most frustrating games last year was that homecoming game. Watching Randall run out of our endzone for 30 yards and then score that drive when our freshmen middle LBs run into each other on a wheel route. All we need to do is stop the QB and keep them from making the big play (their only offense) and it will be damn near impossible for them to score. Offensively, just keep making 1st downs and their defense will wilt quickly. They can't tackle dirt. It would crush our season to lose to these guys as they are worse than they were a year ago. Dawkins seems to be their QB now so they keep getting worse year after year at QB too after having Nick Foles and Matt Scott.
- ASU could finish the season winless. Thank goodness for their OOC schedule that was weak enough to go 3-0 in. They are stuck at 5 games and getting to 6 won't be easy. They get a bye week to regroup and hopefully get their QB situation straight because the next game is a home game against a Utah team that understands they must win out to get to the championship game. They then finish the season off with 2 road games. They've won 1 road game all season and that was a prayer against UTSA. ASU after starting 4-0 could very well be staying home this off season. They will have to win one of their last 2 road games at Washington and at Arizona. You know Arizona would love to have the company of a non bowl eligible ASU in their misery. Recruiting could tank for ASU down the stretch.
- Utah. I did not give them enough credit last week. They won too many games with lucky situations previously. Caught just about every team at the perfect time and just won some of the luckiest games. Well, their luck ran out as they lost the game in an unfortunate way against the top team in the conference. That's a strong loss for them, but a tough loss since now they go into a bye wee as losers. They finish the season off with a trio of games, the first being at ASU whom might get their starting QB back by then, and then at home against an improving Oregon team, and then on the road at CU. Utah could finish strong or they could really struggle down the stretch. That is not an easy slate to finish the season considering they may have run out of their luck catching teams at the right time. It will be interesting to see how they manage that schedule. I still think they are a top 25 team and hope the polls don't toss them out. Both Utah and SC belong in the polls with CU and Washington. The east coast bias is really ridiculous.
- Washington has a tricky schedule to end the season. They are on the road at Cal which can be rather unpredictable since Cal hasn't lost at home all season. Their top WR Hansen will likely be back for that one. Webb is playing as well as any QB in the conference right now so that could be trouble. They then get SC at home. SC isn't the same on the road as they are at home so UW lucks out here, but it's still a very resurgent SC team that while sloppy is capable of beating any team in the conference. They then travel to WSU to play in that always tricky Apple Cup that will almost certainly determine the North winner since WSU will at most have 1 conference loss coming into that game. While I think UW will go into the Apple Cup undefeated, it's not a sure thing after that Utah performance. Both Cal and SC are big potential stumble points.
- Cal has the same season ending schedule as CU and WSU with 3 of their last 4 at home. They may repeat the bowl season of a year ago if they can keep on winning at home. I give them no shot at WSU, but they play Washington, Stanford, and UCLA at home. They just need to win 2. With all the fuss over Davis Webb, it does look like he will save Cal. They go win-less without him.
- Stanford will end the season strong with all of their tough games out of the way. They have road games at Cal, and at Oregon, with home games against Oregon State and Rice. No school has an easier end of year schedule. The Cal and Oregon games might be tricky as both teams are good at home on offense even though they are terrible defensively. Their home games are walk overs. Stanford could salvage their season with 9 wins and a top 20 ranking. This will be a marquee victory for CU when the season is over.
- USC could very well run the table to end the season. They are the school we should worry the most about. While they do have road games at Washington and a rivalry game at UCLA that will both be very tough, winning both is not impossible for the way they are playing. Home games against Oregon which looks like a walk over and a paltry Notre Dame team that is talented but terrible puts SC in great position if CU loses a game. SC must hope WSU beats us and then we beat Utah and they are in if they run the table. That's a lot of hope but it is not a wholly unlikely scenario either. They are the reason we don't want to lose another game. If they can solve their sloppy play, I honestly think they will run the table and the loss to them will not look bad when they are ranked about #16 in the polls.
- Arizona has a crazy offense with QBs that can run all over the field, but can't always complete passes. One of my most frustrating games last year was that homecoming game. Watching Randall run out of our endzone for 30 yards and then score that drive when our freshmen middle LBs run into each other on a wheel route. All we need to do is stop the QB and keep them from making the big play (their only offense) and it will be damn near impossible for them to score. Offensively, just keep making 1st downs and their defense will wilt quickly. They can't tackle dirt. It would crush our season to lose to these guys as they are worse than they were a year ago. Dawkins seems to be their QB now so they keep getting worse year after year at QB too after having Nick Foles and Matt Scott.
- ASU could finish the season winless. Thank goodness for their OOC schedule that was weak enough to go 3-0 in. They are stuck at 5 games and getting to 6 won't be easy. They get a bye week to regroup and hopefully get their QB situation straight because the next game is a home game against a Utah team that understands they must win out to get to the championship game. They then finish the season off with 2 road games. They've won 1 road game all season and that was a prayer against UTSA. ASU after starting 4-0 could very well be staying home this off season. They will have to win one of their last 2 road games at Washington and at Arizona. You know Arizona would love to have the company of a non bowl eligible ASU in their misery. Recruiting could tank for ASU down the stretch.
- Utah. I did not give them enough credit last week. They won too many games with lucky situations previously. Caught just about every team at the perfect time and just won some of the luckiest games. Well, their luck ran out as they lost the game in an unfortunate way against the top team in the conference. That's a strong loss for them, but a tough loss since now they go into a bye wee as losers. They finish the season off with a trio of games, the first being at ASU whom might get their starting QB back by then, and then at home against an improving Oregon team, and then on the road at CU. Utah could finish strong or they could really struggle down the stretch. That is not an easy slate to finish the season considering they may have run out of their luck catching teams at the right time. It will be interesting to see how they manage that schedule. I still think they are a top 25 team and hope the polls don't toss them out. Both Utah and SC belong in the polls with CU and Washington. The east coast bias is really ridiculous.
