Editor’s Note: As some of you might know, UOSportsDude.com is expanding the site in order to bring to you deeper, more expansive and hopefully better coverage of the Oregon Ducks this coming season and beyond. Please welcome our newest contributor, incoming freshman Matthew Thill, to the mix. Despite growing up in Beaver country, Matt managed to grow up a Duck fan. He was the co-editor of his high school newspaper, but more importantly, Matt brings a brash, youthful exuberance to the blog. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Earlier this week, Jeff Spiegel laid out his Pac-10 power rankings. Now it’s Matt’s turn. See if you can find the common denominator.

Sophomore quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Andrew Luck are the two of the biggest keys in the Pac-10 race.

1. Oregon – Sure the loss of Masoli will hurt temporarily, but in the long run I see LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner and crew picking up the slack and carrying this team. Brandon Bair will clog up the middle and do his part in leading yet another high-octane Duck D. Oh, and for my 2 cents, I think Darron Thomas should get the nod.

2. USC – Aside from all the legal troubles they’re going through, they’ve still got a heck of a football team. The loss of 5* frosh Seantrel Henderson bites, but they have a burgeoning star in Matt Barkley at QB, a stable of highly rated running backs (Dillon Baxter looks special), and Brice Butler at wideout, so they’ll be plenty dangerous. Good, but not quite great; that’s why they’re in my #2 spot.

3. Oregon State – Mike Riley has proven he can win without a top-flight QB,  and the Rodgers brothers remain 5-star threats, but I just don’t see enough overall talent for the Beavers to be Rose Bowl contenders. Look for Quizz to put up huge numbers though.

4. Stanford – With Gerhart gone, their chance of a Rose Bowl berth is nearly nil; however, they do have one hell of a QB in Andrew Luck. The Cardinal will be solid this season, but without the threat of the run game, a top three finish would be considered a good year for Harbaugh and Co. Look out for incoming freshman LB Shayne Skov, though. He’s my pick for breakout player of the year.

5. Washington – Husky fans should be excited to watch Locker this season. Whether or not he lives up to the hype, every time he touches the ball there’s a chance something special will happen. Despite my anti-Husky bias, he is a legitimate candidate for the No. 1 overall pick next year. With Sark starting to settle in, these guys are definitely on the rise.

6. Arizona – The Wildcats always bring a scrappy, competetive team to the table every year. Nick Foles is extremely talented and will turn heads this season – in case you missed on him last year. But with the loss of seven defensive starters and nearly every single assistant coach, expect a drop-off from their impressive third place finish last season. Although they do still have the offensive firepower to pull an upset any given Saturday.

7. UCLA – With Kevin Prince running the offense these guys should be another solid team. With the talent they bring in, UCLA will always be looked at as a program that should contend. Neuheisel is eagerly awaiting the chance to prove his doubters wrong and show people UCLA is legit. Will this finally be the year?

8. Cal – Kevin Riley has had a roller coaster ride of a career as the Golden Bear’s signal caller. Now a senior, can he finally put it all together and deliver a full season of consistent play? Because of all the talent Cal lost – including now Detroit Lions RB Jahvid Best – he will have to if there’s any chance for them to finish in the top half of the conference.

9. Arizona State – Just like Cal, ASU will be doing some rebuilding this year. The Sun Devils are breaking in a new quarterback this season, in an offense that doesn’t exactly return much talent from last season – the unit finished 9th in the conference with 18.1 points per game (thank God for WSU). While not expected to be a factor this year, ASU may be worth watching just because of Vontaze Burfict alone. Only a sophomore, the linebacker was named to the 2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List.

10. Washington State – Ahh, finally we get to the Cougs. While they are improving, and moving from “they just suck” to “likable underdog” territory, they are still a long ways off from making noise in the Pac-10. Jeff Tuel is a talented QB and does offer some much needed hope for the future to the depressed WSU faithful.

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Editor’s Note: As some of you might know, UOSportsDude.com is expanding the site in order to bring to you deeper, more expansive and hopefully better coverage of the Oregon Ducks this coming season and beyond. Please welcome our newest writer, recent University of Oregon grad,  Jeff Spiegel, to the mix. He also writes for bumcitybloggers.wordpress.com and scoutingthesports.com. You can follow him on Twitter here.

The official Pac-10 preseason Media Poll comes out this week. That said, we thought it’d be a good time for our writers over here at UOSportsDude.com to give our individual predictions for the conference as well. Up first: Mr. Spiegel.

Make sure to leave your thoughts below in the comments!

As someone who made the trip to Palo Alto last November, I can tell you first hand that Andrew Luck is LEGIT.

1) Oregon – When the defending champion returns 17 starters, nine of whom were part of the best offense in the conference last year, they deserve to remain at the top. The loss of Jeremiah Masoli hurts the Ducks, but with a defense that will continue to improve, and the best running back corps in the conference (and maybe nation aside from ‘Bama), I don’t expect the Ducks to miss a beat this season.

2) USC – While many people are picking them to finish near the top, I think USC remains one of the biggest wildcards in the conference. Based on talent alone, they definitely deserve this ranking. However, it remains to be seen how motivated they will be without the possibility of a postseason, and how well Lane Kiffin can handle the pressure that comes with being the head coach at USC.

3) Stanford – While the Cardinal will severely miss Toby Gearhart this season, Andrew Luck is a dark horse candidate for conference player of the year.  While everyone is busy hyping up Jake Locker, many seem to forget how good Luck is. And with arguably the best coach in the conference in Jim Harbaugh, I’m predicting a big season in Palo Alto.

4) Oregon State – The biggest question mark this season will be who plays quarterback for the Beavers. Although whoever ends up under center will have some serious help in James and Jaquizz Rodgers. While the Beavers need both of these guys to stay healthy in order to remain successful, Mike Riley always seems to make things happen in Corvallis, and I don’t think this season will be any different.

5) Washington – Even though I mentioned earlier that I thought the Jake Locker hype machine was a little excessive, I must also add that it isn’t without reason. This guy has all of the tools you look for in a quarterback, and now in his second season in the Sark system, Locker could make the jump into the elite group of quarterbacks in conference history. Combine all that with the emergence of Chris Polk, and the Huskies know that their success hinge solely on whether or not their inexperienced defense can rise to the occasion.

6) California – The Golden Bears remain an interesting team to predict, given the history of quarterback Kevin Riley. No player in the conference has experienced such highs and lows over their career, and yet, here he stands as the starting quarterback for his senior year.  While I don’t think he has the tools to consistently lead an elite college program, the Bears have plenty of talent overall, and should remain in the middle of the pack this season.

On the other side of the Bay, Kevin Riley is no Andrew Luck.

7) UCLA – Call me an optimist, but I think this is the year that UCLA finally emerges under Rick Neuheisel as a serious competitor (Eds note: Since when did 7^th place become seriously competitive?).  With the return of quarterback Kevin Prince, and a new offensive scheme, I think UCLA is poised to compete, as long as their defense can maintain their high level of play.  That said, this is a defense that loses Brian Price and Alterraun Verner – which is why I have them finishing seventh.

Arizona – Not much to say here other than that I’m not expecting much from the Wildcats this season. The offense does have some playmakers, but overall this team just doesn’t jump out at me. I have a hard time believing they’ll be anything other than bystanders in the conference race.  A player to watch this season, however, is quarterback Nick Foles, who quietly put together a very impressive rookie season last year, and emerged last season as the conference’s best kept secret.

9) Arizona State – Unfortunately for ASU, the quarterback competition between Threet and Osweiler – not exactly Rudy Carpenter vs. Sam Keller – may be the most exciting and talked about storyline for the program this season. The team lost seven players on each side of the ball, and with a new quarterback and a new system, folks shouldn’t be expecting much come fall.

10) Washington State – The Cougars will be much, much, much better this season, and may even sneak out of the cellar. However, it’d be a miracle for the Cougs to finish outside the bottom three. The Cougars are a young team with some nice pieces, but in the tough Pac-10, they’re still a long way from being relevant again.  Jeff Tuel has a chance to become a good college quarterback, but it remains to be seen if he has enough help around him to make a difference.

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That is all.

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Like AddictedtoQuack mentioned in their pre-game thread, the key to the game is The Three H’s: head, hustle and heart.

We all saw how lethargic Oregon looked against Oregon State on Saturday in what seemed to be a “must-win” game. So now the question is, how will the Ducks respond?

If Ernie Kent has taught us anything this year, it’s this: don’t count on it.

Not when Oregon’s opponent, the Arizona Wildcats, have something that the Ducks haven’t had since Aaron Brooks (notice I said brooks, not EK?) led us on an Elite Eight run back in 2007: two players than can take over the game at any moment.

Nic Wise and Derrick Williams are  difference makers.

Williams, a freshman, averages 17 and 7 on 57% shooting from the field, while Wise might be the quickest player and best 3-point shooter in the Pac-10.

Don’t fool yourselves, Tajuan Porter and Michael Dunigan don’t even come close.

Without great coaching, the difference is players who can create for themselves. Oregon has none. Arizona, meanwhile, has a great coach, two stars and several solid role players.

If you don’t believe me, just watch these Nic Wise highlights. Can Garrett Sim create like that? Didn’t think so.

With wins almost meaningless at this point, I’m forced to hope for another blow out so we can move on from the Ernie Kent era.

It’s a sad, sad time for Oregon basketball.

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Monistat: USC's first choice for effective yeast infection relief. courtesy: http://duckvoodoo.com

Normally I would be angry about the Ducks having a week off, but to tell you the truth, I could use a break. I am completely spent from that down to the wire, pulling out my hair, covering my eyes, instant classic, comeback win down in Arizona.

I was so nervous in the fourth quarter it felt like I had just drunk 17 cups of coffee. And then when Jeremiah Masoli found Ed Dickson in the back of the end zone on that beautiful post route, it was like I had a Starbucks double-shot to account for the giddiness.

To sum up, I was shaking more than a Shakira music video.

But now we get to look ahead to a game even more important and nerve-wrecking than last Saturday: the 113th Civil War.

And just so we can properly hype up this game to the mammoth proportions it deserves, there will be a Super Bowl-esque break beforehand.

With how much attention the game is drawing already, it will take about seven overtimes for this game to live up to the hype.

But that’s enough about that, for now.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, I’m making my picks for the rest of the Pac-10 early.

Stanford 38, Notre Dame 24: The Fighting Irish have taken a beating this year, figuratively and literally. If the media hasn’t been hard enough on Charlie Weis and his team this year, fans are going above and beyond to get the message across that 6-5 just doesn’t cut it in South Bend.

After last week’s devastating home loss to Connecticut, quarterback Jimmy Clausen was punched in the face by a disappointed fan. And much like Notre Dame this season, Clausen did not fight back and left.

If the Fighting Irish can’t handle a single fan at a sports bar, imagine what Heisman candidate Toby Gerhart will do to them this Saturday. I don’t like their chances.

Arizona 34, Arizona State 17: This has let-down game written all over it for Arizona. It will be hard for the emotionally bruised Wildcats to bounce back from the disappointing loss to Oregon, especially on the road.

But luckily for them, the Sun Devils just aren’t a very good football team. And hey, they are still in the running for the Holiday Bowl, so don’t tell me they have nothing left to play for.

Washington 28, Washington State 17: As bad as these teams were last year, the Apple Cup was one of the more exciting (yet pathetic) games of the season.

Both of the Washington schools got off to relatively promising starts this season, so it is disappointing for these teams to have a mere combined two Pac-10 wins coming in to this year’s game.

If you have nothing better to do Saturday afternoon, it might be fun to watch these two teams battle for supremacy in the state of Washington. But then again, that’s like being the tallest midget or smartest retard. Even if you win, you still suck.

USC 24, UCLA 17: On the bright side, USC fans won’t have to complain about suffering through another Rose Bowl. With a win, the Trojans will make the execs over at the Holiday Bowl the happiest people alive. And the Bruins? Well, they would be happy with the Poinsettia Bowl.

Can you imagine that if USC loses this game it would fall to 4-4 in conference? I can’t even remember the last time that happened. I am going to attribute the fall of the Trojans to the beating Oregon put on them in Autzen on Halloween. Take that, Matt Barkley! Fear the Juju!

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(singing from American Pie) How sweet it is to be loved by you!

I’m usually a pretty confident guy, arrogant even, you could say. But coming into the Arizona game this weekend, I was more nervous than any other Saturday this season–and it had absolutely nothing to do with the players on the field.

It didn’t matter that we were playing on the road in front of a raucous red-out, or that our Rose Bowl hopes had crashed and burned in our last two trips to Tucson’s house of horrors, or even that Sunshine-look-alike Nick Foles had a ridiculous 69 percent completion and might tear up the depleted secondary.

You could throw that all out that window.

Why?

I had to watch this game with my girlfriend.

On the outside, that sounds like a nice Saturday evening. We go to different schools and live in different states, so any time I could spend with her sounds like a good thing, right?

Well, not when it comes to Oregon Ducks football.

I have watched two games with her this season, and guess which ones they are. You got it–Boise State and Stanford.

So the thought of watching my beloved Ducks’ Rose Bowl hopes vanish right before my eyes while cuddling with my almost-as beloved girlfriend would have been remarkably bittersweet.

I almost threw her out of the house after Oregon didn’t convert on the late fourth down conversion, but when I imagined the following month-long silent treatment punishment, I decided against it.

Fortunately, that never had to happen, as the Ducks emerged victorious in one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen, even though I was watching the entire game-tying drive and overtimes through the cracks in-between my fingers.

Hopefully my girlfriend doesn’t read this.

Here are my thoughts on the game:

• Hands down, the best game of the year. It had every element you could want. College Game Day, tons of points, a fourth-quarter comeback, two overtimes and a Ducks victory. I’m still giddy.
• What the hell got into Jeff Maehl? Was he drinking the “special stuff” that Bugs Bunny created in Space Jam? Seriously. I take back and apologize for everything bad I’ve ever said about Jeff Maehl (which is a lot).  He absolutely came to play today and we won because of it.
• The end of the game couldn’t have been scripted better if it were a movie. The second those Arizona students started hopping onto the field, I knew we had a chance. The football Gods love irony.
• Jeremiah Masoli’s reaction: “I saw it and I actually smirked,” Masoli said. “It was kind of funny. I wasn’t really worried about it.”
• And when the cameras found Masoli smirking, I knew we were all about to witness greatness.
• The only thing greater than that drive was watching the student section slink their way back up into the stands after Ed Dickson came down with the catch of the year. Absolutely priceless.
• But then an Arizona student had to go and throw a water bottle at an Oregon cheerleader. Not cool, bro.
• I’m pretty sure my heart stopped when Morgan Flint’s field goal attempt ricocheted off and through the goal posts.
• Congrats to my ever-growing man crush, LaMichael James, for breaking Jaquizz Rodger’s Pac-10 freshman rushing record.
• Sneakiest play of the night: the fourth-quarter draw to LMJ on a second and eleven. Big Balls Chip at his finest.
• Speaking of Chip Kelly, I think the abilities of his half-time speeches might have become a little exaggerated, especially when the idiot kicker (the kicker!) decided to taunt Oregon’s sideline right before half. If that doesn’t fire you up, I don’t know what will.  Not too impressive the past couple weeks.
• But then again, who needs coaching when you have Masoli’s six touchdowns?
• I’ve said it before, but I have to say it again, Nick Foles is a dead ringer of Sunshine from Remember the Titans. I don’t think I have ever seen two people look more alike in my entire life.
• Did anyone else see Brent Musberger’s suit last night? That image will be burned into my retinas forever.
• Could there be a more perfect set-up for the 113th Civil War next Thursday?
• Rose Bowl on the line, vengeance looming, rivalry game, ahhhh I’m excited.
• One more reason to hate Oregon State: The Beavers were caught blasting Miley Cirus after the game. And there goes the man cards for the entire team.
• And I’m obligated by every Oregon fan out there to end this column with “I Love My Ducks.” There I said it! Now let’s go get that Rose Bowl!!

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Remember Sunshine, the gay quarterback from Remember the Titans?

See the resemblance?

I don’t even need to write anything else.   No matter how good Nick Foles’ stats are, I can’t take this team seriously when Sunshine is their quarterback.

Prediction: Oregon 42, Arizona 24

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