Crystal Balls Week 13 - Rivalries rule Pac-10

There’s four games on the schedule on this Thanksgiving weekend in the Pac-10, and three of the games feature matchups between traditional rivals.

Washington and Washington State meet for the Apple Cup, Arizona State hosts Arizona for the Territorial Cup, and UCLA visits USC for, well, bragging rights. They really should come up with something a little more catchy don’t you think? I can almost hear Brent Musberger right now…(cue contemplative harp music)…”you are looking live at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where today the UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans do battle for the newest and shallowest trophy in all of college football–the coveted Plastic Surgeon’s Scalpel.” Hey, that still sounds better than bragging rights, doesn’t it?

And to round out the week, Notre Dame visits Stanford, and there’s no truth to the rumor that the Irish A.D. Jack Swarbrick will try to sway Jim Harbaugh into coaching Notre Dame in the second half of that game.

Let’s peer into the crystal ball to see what will transpire in week 13 in the ‘Conference of Champions’…

Washington State (1-10, 0-8) at Washington (3-7, 2-5) - Saturday @ Husky Stadium - Seattle, WA - Remember when the Huskies were ranked? I thought it was a little silly that a team that had lost 16 straight games jumped into the polls with one win over USC, but I didn’t think that U-Dub was this bad either. The Huskies are 1-6 since their win over the Trojans that propelled them to #24 in the AP Poll. But, at least this season the Huskies will get to end their season on a high note, as the Little Sisters of the Poor, I mean the Washington State Cougars come to the Emerald City.
The Cougars are dead last in the nation in total defense and second-to-last in total offense. At least they’re consistent. They’ll lose big again.
Crystal Balls Prediction : Washington 42…..Washington State 13
Bodog.com Thursday Line: Washington -24.5
ATS Pick: Washington -24.5

Notre Dame (6-5) at Stanford (7-4, 6-3) - Saturday @ Stanford Stadium - Stanford, CA - Just when you thought nothing could stop the runaway train that was the Stanford Cardinal, the Cal Golden Bears went to Stanford and came up victorious in the “Big Game”. Stanford has had trouble in their last three games defending the run. Oregon’s LaMichael James (125 yards), USC’s Joe McKnight (142) and Cal’s Shane Vereen (193) all had their way against the Cardinal’s front seven.
Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis is probably coaching his last game for the Irish. AD Jack Swarbrick said last week that the reported $18 million buyout of Weis’ contract wouldn’t be a deterrent from relieving from his duties, and earlier this week, the university cancelled Weis’ California recruiting trip. Hope ol’ Charlie spent at least some of the week cleaning out his office.
The Cardinal are favored by ten, but Notre Dame has lost by an average of only 3.6 points in their five losses this season.
Crystal Balls Prediction: Stanford 34…..Notre Dame 30
Bodog.com Thursday Line: Stanford -10
ATS Pick: Notre Dame +10

UCLA (6-5, 3-5) at USC (7-3, 4-3) - Saturday @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Los Angeles, CA - USC has had a week off to marinate even more in the beating that Stanford handed them two weeks ago on their home field. UCLA is coming off a 23-13 win over Arizona State in which their defense scored two touchdowns.
When Rick Neuheisel became coach at his alma mater, he made some bold statements about taking over the Los Angeles college football scene. The UCLA athletic department jumped into the fray too, remember this ad? And, he may be on to something. The gap between the Trojans and the Bruins is as narrow as it’s been in quite some time, but not because of any real improvement by UCLA. USC is having a bad season. They’ll end it in style on Saturday.
Crystal Balls Prediction: USC 27…..UCLA 13
Bodog.com Thursday Line: USC -13
ATS Pick: USC -13

Arizona (6-4, 4-3) at Arizona State (4-7, 2-6) - Saturday @ Sun Devil Stadium - Tempe, AZ - Arizona’s Nick Foles will get his first start in this rivalry on Saturday, And interestingly enough, Foles was on the other side of the rivalry when he committed to ASU coming out of Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. The Sun Devils made a coaching change, and Foles transferred to Michigan State, before transferring again to Arizona. And he’s been great since taking over for Matt Scott early in the season. Foles is third in the conference in QB Rating, and tied for 2nd in touchdown passes.
ASU is in the midst of it’s second consecutive losing season (the first time that’s happened since the mid-40’s) and is also trying to avoid having a 6-game losing streak for the 2nd straight year. Samson Szakacsy gets his 2nd straight start at QB for the Sun Devils, but he turned the ball over four times last week against UCLA.
Crystal Balls Prediction: Arizona 27…..Arizona State 17
Bodog.com Thursday Line: Arizona State +3
ATS Pick: Arizona -3

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