Below is the Week 8 Bruin Rooting Guide. We will rank the games in order of importance to Bruin fans – from least important to most important to game of the week. Our Bruins had a bye and we took a much needed bye this past weekend while our opponents played for something. We’re 1-2 in conference play, so until we’re officially eliminated from Pac-12 championship contention, I will have to suffer in making this rooting guide.
Byes: None
San Diego State @ San Jose State
The Aztecs pulled out their best win of the season versus a pretty tough Wyoming team. Now they play a pretty sneak Spartan team who just loss in a shootout to LCU alum Malik Henry. San Jose State is favored, but we expect and want the Aztecs to gain bowl eligibility this week before the schedule picks up.
#21 Cincinnati @ Tulsa
After knocking UCF out of the cinderella picture, Cincinnati made another statement against one of the most talented teams in the American (albeit the tanking that team is doing). Cincinnati plays one of the weaker teams this week and we expect them to beat them by at least two touchdowns.
#5 Oklahoma vs West Virginia
The score doesn’t reflect the defensive showing the Sooners had this past Saturday against a pretty good Texas team. Hurts probably played his worst game against one of the better Big 12 defenses, but we should expect him to light up West Virginia this week in Norman. However, in the interest of the Pac-12 and Oregon, we want OU to lose now and to one of the lower teams in the conference. We’re going for the Mountaineers.
Cal vs Oregon St
Cal’s offense has been non-existent since ASU took out Garbers. They still have a chance to win the Pac-12 North, but they need a lot of help and those chances seem slim now with Modster behind the wheel. Oregon St was brought back down to earth by a real football team in Utah. We want Cal to win this one even if it doesn’t help our perception much.
Washington St vs Colorado
Mike Leach’s crew is still seeking to bounce back since the comeback in Pullman as they continue to skid. The Buffs were dominated last Friday against the most impressive defense in the conference. This one of the bounce back games of the week, but either outcome doesn’t affect us much. We still need to beat Colorado regardless of what happens, but it’ll be better playing a 4-4, at worst, Colorado team. So go Buffs?
USC vs Arizona
Clay holds on for another week and Arizona was dominated in the 2nd half. Both of these teams have a bit to prove this week after tough opponents, respectively. This game always means a bit more to Tate as this is his homecoming, so we hope that he comes out guns blazing to send the Trojans to the sub .500 club with us!
#25 Washington vs #12 Oregon
This game could either do two things – give Oregon a virtual lock to win the North or bust the competition wide open with a Husky win. Oregon also needs to win this game if they want a chance at the playoffs. If they keep up the momentum of the defensive side, we can see them sending Washington back to outside the top 25. We want them too. It’s time for the cracks to show with Peterson.
Scout & Game Of The Week: #13 Utah vs #17 Arizona St
The first game of the week on the Pac-12 Network of the season are between two ranked Pac-12 South opponents in the middle of the season. Who would’ve imagined that? Herm is showing that he should no longer be laughed at and former-UCLA lean Jayden Daniels is showing why he made the right choice to go play in the desert. We want ASU to win only to give Utah another conference loss and have ASU ranked higher when we play them next week.
Order of the games (PST) | Rooting Interest
Our game: UCLA @ Stanford – 6 PM on ESPN
- #13 Utah vs #17 Arizona St – 3 PM on P12N | ASU W
- #25 Washington vs #12 Oregon – 12:30 PM on ABC | OU W
- USC vs Arizona – 6:30 PM on P12N | USC L
- Washington St vs Colorado – 4 PM on ESPNU | Colorado W
- Cal vs Oregon St – 11:30 AM on P12 | Cal W
- #5 Oklahoma vs West Virginia – 9 AM on FOX | OU L
- #21 Cincinnati vs Tulsa – 12:30 PM on ESPNU | Cincy W
- San Diego State @ San Jose State – 4 PM | SDSU W
Byes: None
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