Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
You’ve only got so much time each Saturday to watch football. Yet during the Pac-10 non-conference season, there are as many as nine games to watch.
That's a lot of rump time on the couch, not to mention a workout for the TiVo or DVR, not to mention your liver. To make things a little easier, here are our ratings of the Pac-10’s 30 non-conference games, from No. 30 (only gamblers, insomniacs and old men who still wear jerseys will watch) to No. 1 (the can’t-miss non-leaguer of the year).
Starting with No. 30 ….
30. Idaho State at Arizona State, Sept. 5: Any school that stages a coloring contest to decorate its season tickets probably isn’t a good fit for a decent Pac-10 team.
29. Eastern Washington at California, Sept. 12: Even though the Eagles are expected to contend for the Big Sky title, they’re no match for a Cal team that is a potential Pac-10 champion.
28. Louisiana-Monroe at Arizona State, Sept. 19: The second of two body-bag games for the Sun Belt’s Louisiana-Monroe, which opens the season at Texas.
27. Northern Arizona at Arizona, Sept. 12: A traditional game for Arizona, though it might not quite be the paid workout the Wildcats are accustomed to playing. Arizona is breaking in a new quarterback, and Northern Arizona is ranked 21st in the Sporting News FCS preseason poll.
26. Portland State at Oregon State, Sept. 5: Jerry Glanville hasn’t made much of an impact at Portland State in two seasons. Wouldn’t surprise me if this is the first game of his last year in Portland.
25. Hawaii vs. Washington State in Seattle, Sept. 12: What a choice if you’re a football fan in Seattle on Sept. 12. You can go to this game at Qwest Field, or ….
24. Idaho at Washington, Sept. 12: This one at Husky Stadium. If you’re into history, this game might be the better call. Assuming the Huskies lose their opener to Louisiana State, they’ll need to beat Idaho to avoid setting a Pac-10 record for consecutive losses
23. San Jose State at USC, Sept. 5: The Spartans are usually worth a little bit of an upset look now that Dick Tomey is running the show, but they are wildly overmatched against USC.
22. Southern Methodist at Washington State, Sept. 19: These teams figure to be improved from 2008. They better be. Otherwise, a 1-11 vs. 2-10 match-up is No. 30.
21. San Diego State at UCLA, Sept. 5: The New York Times has San Diego State at No. 103; Buster Sports has the Aztecs at No. 108. Perfect way for UCLA and its challenged offense to break in the 2009 season.
20. San Jose State at Stanford, Sept. 19: The Cardinal has won six of the past seven games against San Jose State by an average margin of 28 points. No wonder the Sparts want to bag this series.
18. Central Michigan at Arizona, Sept. 5: This game will be a popular upset pick, because Central Michigan is far from the usual directional-school cakewalk.
17. Washington State vs. Notre Dame in San Antonio, Oct. 31: There’s a good chance of a blowout here, but a better chance that a good time will be had by all in the uber-fun city of San Antonio.
16. Washington at Notre Dame, Oct. 3: Notre Dame vs. USC. And Stanford. And Washington State. And the Huskies. Enough already, Irish. Just get it over and join the Pac-10.
15. Kansas State at UCLA, Sept. 19: Not sure the return of legendary coach Bill Snyder will offset the loss of talented quarterback Josh Freeman. This one smells like a victory for the Bruins.
14. Oregon State at UNLV, Sept. 12: Beavers fans seem pretty geeked about this non-league roadie. Is it the chance of hanging out in Vegas for a few days, or the prospect that OSU might actually have a chance to win a non-league road game for a change?
13. Stanford at Wake Forest, Sept. 12: This will be seen as quite a coup if Stanford can head east and beat Wake Forest, even if the Deacs are a bit down after playing in three consecutive bowl games.
12. California at Minnesota, Sept. 19: The most dangerous non-league game on Cal’s schedule. The Bears are kicking off at 9 a.m. PDT, and have a strong look-ahead game the following week at Oregon.
11. Notre Dame at Stanford, Nov. 28: What if this is Stanford’s breakout season, and Notre Dame is as good as many think it will be? Then it’s the country’s best non-league game north of Florida-Florida State in November.
10. Maryland at California, Sept. 5: The Bears have been seething for almost a year over their loss at Maryland. The country might get an eyeful of what Cal is capable of doing here.
8. Cincinnati at Oregon State, Sept. 19: One loss (a painful 65-38 rump-roasting to Oregon) was all that separated these two teams from both playing in a BCS bowl game a year ago.
7. UCLA at Tennessee, Sept. 12: This game is elevated in status not because of the teams, but their lightning-rod coaches. Might be the first time in a while that fans outside the program are rooting for Rick Neuheisel.
6. LSU at Washington, Sept. 5: There is potential for a blowout here. But it’s an interesting game from a curiosity standpoint. How does a Steve Sarkisian team play? Will Jake Locker under a new coach play at a higher level? Will the Huskies’ renewed energy make a difference?
5. Utah at Oregon, Sept. 19: The unsung game of the year. Utah may not be the Utah of 2008 when it ran the table and gave Nick Saban a noogie in the Sugar Bowl, but the Utes are plenty good. They’ll probably carry a 16-game winning streak into Autzen Stadium that will get the Ducks’ attention.
4. Arizona State at Georgia, Sept. 26: All of the West Coast woofing about the Pac-10 having the goods to run with the SEC? Here’s a big chance to back it up.
3. USC at Notre Dame, Oct. 17: It’s up to Notre Dame to determine how big this game will be. The Irish could be 5-0 heading into this game; anyone trust that will happen? Didn’t think so.
2. USC at Ohio State, Sept. 12: The national boys will pick this game as the no-brainer best Pac-10 out-of-leaguer of 2009. They might be right, except for this: Does anyone outside of Columbus really believe USC is going to lose? The Buckeyes have a recent history of throwing up on themselves in these marquee games.
1. Oregon at Boise State, Sept. 3: No. 1? First, it’s two top-15 teams with serious long-term implications for both schools. And unlike USC-Ohio State, there’s no telling which direction this game will head. Boise State is always amped up at home, and Oregon is bent on avenging last year’s cheap-shot fest in Eugene.
Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com
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