Monday, November 10, 1997
Judgement Day delayed as nine teams still hope for Bowl
berth
FOOTBAL: Unexpected results in Pac-10, Big Ten add to possible
scenarios
By Brent Boyd
Daily Bruin Staff
Saturday was termed "Judgment Day" in college football. But, for
those involved in the Rose Bowl race, Judgment Day was pushed back
one more week.
Certainly, Michigan’s dominating victory over Penn State left
the Wolverines firmly in command of the Big Ten race, but in the
Pac-10, the race only got more confusing with Washington’s upset
loss to Oregon.
While most teams only have two games remaining on their
schedules, nine teams still remain eligible for a berth to the New
Year’s Day bowl game in Pasadena.
That number was 10 before the weekend and was expected to
significantly decrease, but only fell by one when Iowa lost at
Wisconsin, 13-10. The loss left the Hawkeyes with three conference
losses and out of contention for first place, while the Badgers
improved to 5-1 in conference play and are in the thick of the
race.
Michigan is the only Big Ten team to control its own destiny
after a 34-8 shellacking of then-No. 2 Penn State. As a result, the
Wolverines improved to 6-0 in the conference – the only undefeated
team remaining – and took over the top spot in the Associated Press
poll.
In other meaningful Big Ten games, Purdue came back from an
11-point deficit with just over two minutes remaining to defeat
Michigan State, 22-21, and Ohio State beat Minnesota, 31-3. Both
schools stand at 5-1 in the conference, one game behind
Michigan.
Over on the West Coast is where things are really interesting,
as Oregon shocked the sixth-ranked Huskies, 31-28, giving
Washington its first Pac-10 loss and taking some of the luster of
next Saturday’s showdown at UCLA. Playing without star quarterback
Brock Huard and tailback Rashaan Shehee, the Huskies battled back
from a 24-3 deficit to take the lead, only to see the Ducks score
with two-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Washington now stands in a four-way tie for first in the Pac-10
at 5-1, along with UCLA (who had a bye), Washington State (who beat
Southwest Louisiana in a non-conference game, 77-7), and Arizona
State (who beat UC Berkeley, 28-21).
Washington is the only team that controls its own destiny, but
the other three still have decent shots to make it.
So, two spots are open, nine teams are fighting for them, and
there are only three weeks left to play. Here’s an analysis of both
conference races, and what each of the nine schools need to happen
to find themselves in Pasadena on the first day of 1998.
Pac-10:
* Washington (at UCLA on Saturday; vs. Washington State on Nov.
22): If the Huskies win out, the Rose Bowl berth is theirs.
* UCLA (vs. Washington; at USC): The Bruins need to win out and
hope Washington State loses once.
* Arizona State (vs. Oregon; vs. Arizona): The Sun Devils’ hopes
got a lot brighter when Washington lost to Oregon.
As a result, Arizona State needs to win out and hope for both
UCLA and Washington to lose at least one game – and since the
Huskies and Bruins play one another next weekend, all it would take
is for the winner of that game to lose the following weekend and
ASU would be headed for Pasadena.
* Washington State (vs. Stanford; at Washington): If the Cougars
win out, they need either Arizona State to lose at least one game,
or UCLA to win both of its remaining games.
The Cougars may actually be rooting for UCLA to defeat USC in
the final game of the year, to tie them for first. Make sense?
Probably not, but here’s why.
Say WSU wins its last two games and finishes 7-1 in conference
play, as does Arizona State. ASU would go to the Rose Bowl as a
result of its 44-31 win over WSU on Nov. 1. However, if UCLA also
wins out and forces a three-way tie for first, the Cougars go to
Pasadena. Huh?
Since none of the three teams would have swept the other two,
the tiebreaker goes to non-conference record and most recent Rose
Bowl appearance. ASU would be the first of three eliminated because
they went to the Rose Bowl last year, leaving just WSU and UCLA.
WSU beat UCLA in the season opener, meaning the Cougars would be
Rose Bowl-bound.
In the very unlikely scenario that all teams finish 6-2 in the
conference, Washington State would go to the Rose Bowl, but we’ll
worry about that next week.
Big Ten:
Although more teams are eligible in this conference, the picture
here is a lot clearer.
* Michigan (at Wisconsin; vs. Ohio State): If the Wolverines win
out, they are in. They could even lose a game and still have a good
shot at going to the Rose Bowl, but that’s just too confusing to
come up a scenario.
* Wisconsin (vs. Michigan; at Penn State): If the Badgers can
somehow pull off both of these upsets, all they need is for Purdue
to lose one of its final two games.
* Ohio State (vs. Illinois; at Michigan): Like Arizona State in
the Pac-10, the Buckeyes could be punished for advancing to the
Rose Bowl last season. To make a repeat appearance, Ohio State
needs to win out and hope for losses by both Wisconsin and Penn
State.
* Penn State (at Purdue; vs. Wisconsin; at Michigan State): The
Nittany Lions must win out and hope for Michigan to lose its final
two games.
* Purdue (vs. Penn State; at Indiana): The Boilermakers could be
hurt big-time by their early non-conference loss to Toledo. They
would hold all tiebreaking advantages, but now lose almost all. As
a result, Purdue needs to win out and hope that Ohio State loses
this week to Illinois (the Fighting Illini are 0-9), then beats
Michigan the following week in Ann Arbor. Translation: Don’t expect
to see Purdue at the Rose Bowl.
So that’s it: That’s all there is to it. If it was too confusing
this time around, come back next week. After key games like
Washington vs. UCLA, Michigan vs. Wisconsin, and Penn State vs.
Purdue have been played, the picture should be a lot clearer.
If not, Judgment Day will just have to be pushed back yet
another week.
The Associated Press
Anthony Thomas (No. 32) of Michigan races for a touchdown,
escaping the tackle of Penn State’s David Macklin (No. 27) on
Saturday.