After today’s Big Game beatdown of Cal, Stanford remained a game back of the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-10 standings. Technically the Cardinal can still win the conference but it would require Oregon losing at home to Arizona and on the road to Oregon State in the upcoming Civil War game. While it’s certainly conceivably Oregon could lose these games, the odds are fairly slim. Nonetheless, Stanford still has plenty to play for in terms of a potential BCS bowl appearance.
Although Oregon and Stanford are running away with the Pac-10, the middle of the conference still has plenty to play for in these final weeks of the 2010 NCAA football season. Today’s games did not lock up bowl appearances for anybody in the Pac-10, but it did put several teams in position to lock up bowl appearances in the next two weeks.
Oregon State 36 – USC 7: While the USC Trojans will be sitting at home this bowl season because of their various program violations, the Oregon State Beavers are battling for their bowl lives. This rather stunning beat down of USC improved the Beavers to 5-5. While they do have two games remaining, they unfortunately are at Stanford next week and at home against Oregon in the Civil War. It’s safe to say the odds are long that Oregon State ends up in a bowl game.
Washington 24 – UCLA 7: The Huskies entered the game 3-6 while the Bruins were 4-5. After this Huskies win, Washington finds themselves needing two wins at Cal and at Washington State to pull out their first bowl appearance since 2002. The Bruins are 4-6 and will need to win out at Arizona State and at USC to secure their second straight bowl appearance.
Stanford 48 – California 14: We’ve already discussed Stanford’s bowl opportunities. However, Cal still has a shot at a bowl even if they finish 6-6. They face Washington next week in a game that will eliminate one of the two teams from postseason play.