Pickin’ the Pac, Full CFB Schedule and Gameday Open Threas

Rivalry week has gotten a bit watered down since the onset of the “12” era in the PAC. The scheduling peculiarities that come with the California schools all needed to play one another every season means that the last week of the regular season cannot 100% be reserved for those games.

Nevertheless, the arrival of rivalry week opens up one of the oldest and most difficult questions to answer about our conference: What is the “best” rivalry of the PAC?

Is it the Territorial Cup?

The Territorial Cup is certified by the NCAA as the oldest trophy awarded in a rivalry game. It’s roots go all the way back to 1899, before Arizona was even a state (thus, the name).

Besides being the oldest, the Wildcats and the Sun Devils might have the most competitive of all of the rivalries. Arizona leads it all time by a margin of 49-40-1. However, if you start counting when ASU became ASU (in 1945), the Sun Devils have a couple of game lead in the series.

It is always one of the more unpredictable rivalry games, but it is somewhat watered down by the fact that there have been so few Territorial Cups played where a conference championship or postseason berth was on the line.

The Big Game?

Stanford and Cal have an emotional if not quite as evenly matched rivalry as some others. Stanford holds a commanding all-time of 63-46-11.

Interestingly, Cal for a short while referred to their game against Washington as “the Big Game”.

Maybe its the Civil War?

This one definitely gets my vote as the most nasty of all of the rivalry games in the PAC (I’m excluding the Utah-BYU rivalry here). These two schools have a history of hatred that makes tensions between Christians and Muslims look like child’s play.

The frustrating thing about this rivalry is that it is rare that both teams are good at the same time. As such, there have been many a blowout.

What about the Apple Cup?

We all love us some Apple Cup. But is it good enough to be known as the “greatest” rivalry in the PAC?

Maybe. It has had its fair share of meaningful games (those with postseason implications), upsets and crazy moments. You also will have a hard time finding such a radical dichotomy between two fan bases as you will find between the smug, pinky-out, cabernet sippers of Seattle and the thick, cow-tipping, natty lite chuggers of Pullman.

Could it be UCLA-USC?

If your rivalry game isn’t even important enough to name, how can we consider it one of the best of all time?

We can’t.

If I had to pick, it would be a close call between the Civil War and the Apple Cup. The argument might change if I were to scope in adjacent rivalries such as Stanford-Notre Dame, Washington-Oregon, USC-Notre Dame and the Holy War.

Regardless, we can count on some good football this weekend. Even if some of those rivalry games have already been played.

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Game of the Week

#8 Notre Dame at #21 Stanford

(Sat, 5pm, ABC, Stan +2, o56.5)

Stanford has already done everything that it can do to get into the PAC 12 championship game. The rest of their journey is in the hands of the Washington Huskies now.

Whether or not Stanford is perceived to be a “legit” Pac 12 North division champ is within their control. It is pretty simple. Beat a top 10 Notre Dame on Saturday and prove that it was near defeat to Cal last week that was the fluke more so than the win over Washington the week prior.

Certainly, the Cardinal have the talent required to go toe-to-toe with the Irish. Their offensive line matches up pretty well and Bryce Love, even a little hobbled, appears to have a great big advantage as a rusher.

Things do even out for the Irish when they have the ball. Their own offensive line matches up very well against the Stanford d-line, even if Harrison Phillips is at the top of his game. Notre Dame is going to emphasize its rushing attack which takes away to some degree, the advantage that the dinged up Stanford secondary has against most teams.

It works out well for Stanford that this game is at home. That will give QB KJ Costello a more comfortable setting in which to settle into a rhythm. If he can quickly make some connections with a couple of his big receivers, he might be able to get the Irish guessing on his way to one of his best outings of the year.

If he can’t and Stanford becomes one-dimensional, look out. Notre Dame is the best offense the Cardinal will have seen all season and could easily have 30 on the board before David Shaw even knows what hit him.

In fact, that is kind of what I think is going to happen.

Gekko’s Pick: Notre Dame 34, Stanford 20

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Rest of the PAC

Arizona at Arizona State

(Sat, 1:30p, PACN, ASU +2, o74.5)

Has the steam in the Arizona engine started to vaporize? In his last three games, Arizona QB Khalil Tate has averaged just 6 yards per attempt passing compared to nearly 11 per attempt in his previous four. In addition, he was bottled up to just 32 yards rushing last week by an Oregon team whose defense isn’t really all that much better against the run than the Sun Devils.

The question as to whether or not Khalil Tate can lead a team from behind is one that is on the table. Fortunately, ASU has the kinds of offensive weapons in QB Manny Wilkins, WR N’Keal Harry and RB Demario Richard that can set them up with an early lead. But can they?

I’m not sure. ASU seems like a team that is running on fumes themselves. The end of the Todd Graham era seems imminent. The fact that this game is a home game doesn’t seem to matter that much.

Gekko’s Pick: Arizona 49, ASU 38

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Cal at UCLA

(Fri, 7:30pm, FS1, UCLA -7, o66)

Every time I think about this game, I think about the UW bowl game against BYU that became Marques Tuiasosopo’s claim to fame as a head football coach. Substitute coaches can often get something more out of their team than the preceding head coach when the pressure to win is removed from the equation.

This is what I think happens tonight against the Bears. QB Josh Rosen has a beaten and battered cast to work with, but there is still enough talent here to put up a big game.

This isn’t a knock on the Bears. They’ve had a great year in exceeding expectations in every way possible. But a bowl game just isn’t in their future as far as I can see.

Gekko’s Pick: Cal 28, UCLA 41

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Oregon State at Oregon

(Sat, 4:00p, ESPN2, Oregon -25, o63)

Wow. Oregon with a 25 point line seems excessive. Except that it isn’t.

Justin Herbert and Royce Freeman should be able to do some serious damage in a game that has the potential to be the last game of the Willie Taggart era.

Or not.

Gekko’s Pick: OSU 13, Oregon 42

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Colorado at Utah

(Sat, 7pm, FS1, Utah -10.5, o56.5)

One of these two teams is going to go bowling.

And it’s going to be Utah.

Sorry Colorado fans. But I just can’t see the scenario where your disappointing season suddenly takes a turn for the better by going into Salt Lake and taking out a Utah team that seems to be gelling more with every coming week.

I like this one to be close, mind you. But I think that Tyler Huntley and the Utes take advantage of a couple of extra possessions thanks to Buff turnovers and win it.

Gekko’s Pick: Colorado 24, Utah 27

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