Kevin Gemmell, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Pac-12 morning links

I spent four lonely days in a brown L.A. haze, and I just want you back by my side.

Leading off

It's time to take our weekly stroll through The Eliminator. Not that one. This one.  (But kudos to you if you know the reference).

The good news is, no Pac-12 teams were officially "eliminated" this week, per our Mark Schlabach. But a few teams were relegated to the "on the fence" category. One-loss Stanford and USC were already dangling. This week they are joined by Arizona State, Oregon State, Utah and Washington -- all who dropped their first games of the season over the weekend.

Here's Schlabach's take on the Huskies:

After trailing Georgia State by 14 points at home two weeks ago and then mustering little offense in a 20-13 loss to Stanford on Saturday, we're guessing the Huskies won't be occupying this spot for very long. Washington coach Chris Petersen was so desperate to generate some sort of offense against the Cardinal that he tried a fake punt on fourth-and-9 at his team's 47-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. It was stuffed for no gain, and Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan ran for the go-ahead touchdown five plays later.

Three Pac-12 teams officially remain in contention. That's Arizona, Oregon and UCLA. Of course, one of those teams won't be undefeated by the time Friday morning rolls around. The Ducks and Wildcats are set to square off Thursday night in Eugene.

More playoff projections

If you believe Yahoo's Pat Forde, then we're finally going to get to see the matchup we've dreamed about for years in the College Football Playoff: Oregon vs. Alabama. Forde projects the Ducks as the No. 2 seed and Alabama as No. 3 team. His take on the Ducks:

Oregon has won six straight Pac-12 home openers, and none of them has been close. Average score in routs of California (2013), Arizona (2012), Cal (2011), Stanford (2010), Cal (2009), and Washington (2008): 46-13. And three of those opponents were ranked at the time. Next: Sorry, Arizona, you’re the opening Pac-12 cannon fodder in Autzen Stadium on Thursday night.

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports has the Ducks as the No. 3 seed facing No. 2 Auburn. There's also some good stuff on Notre Dame-Stanford.

Tune in

Yours truly joined Bill Riley and Sean O'Connell on ESPN700 in Salt Lake City yesterday if you're aching for some pod.

News/notes/team reports

  • Both sides still remember what happened last year between Arizona and Oregon.

  • A Q&A with ASU's Mike Bercovici.

  • Some thoughts from Sonny Dykes on Cal's academic task force.

  • The Buffs picked up a commit from a two-way athlete.

  • Oregon motivated by last year's errors against Arizona.

  • Sean Mannion said the USC film was painful to watch.

  • Handing out Stanford's grades for the week.

  • Some post-practice video with Brett Hundley.

  • USC feeling a lot better about itself heading into its showdown with ASU.

  • Utah has some offensive issues to fix before UCLA.

  • News and notes from Chris Petersen's Monday meeting with the media.

  • Highlights, of which there are many, from Mike Leach's Monday press conference.

Just for fun

It's been a long, long time since we've seen a Cal locker room celebration. This was awesome.

 

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