|
Sport Sections |
|
|
| | |||||
| Tuesday, October 24 Any trip to Pasadena goes through Eugene, Ore. By Bob Harig Special to ESPN.com | |||||
You don't hear them mentioned as a national championship contender, but perhaps the 10th-ranked Ducks should start quacking. Oregon was making a case for consideration before a thrilling 14-10 victory over Arizona on Saturday night. How can the Ducks be ignored now?
At 4-0 in the Pac-10, the Ducks are off to their best conference start in 43 years. They've knocked off Southern California, UCLA and Washington, a triple not achieved in 52 years. Now they've defeated the only other unbeaten team in the conference and control their destiny.
"We're at the point where we can set our sights pretty high," said Oregon linebacker Matt Smith.
And just think how high they'd be were it not for an early season loss at Wisconsin.
At the time, the Badgers appeared to be the national title contenders, while the Ducks were just pretenders. Wisconsin has since stumbled, while Oregon is making a name for itself.
Nov. 18 will be the day for some of the country's biggest games, including Florida at Florida State, South Carolina at Clemson, Michigan at Ohio State. But who would have guessed Oregon at Oregon State would be so big? Oregon controls the Pac-10 race, but No. 17 Oregon State is right there with just one defeat after a win over UCLA -- the first time the Beavers have ever defeated USC and UCLA in the same season. A few weeks ago, both schools were ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time together since Oct. 20, 1941 -- and both dropped out the next week. They have not finished together in the AP's final rankings since the poll began in 1936. Looking ahead After a big victory at Ohio State, his alma mater, Minnesota coach Glen Mason warned that his team might not be ready for such success. The Gophers had just won in Columbus for the first time since 1949 and were tied for the Big Ten lead. Although thrilled with the win, Mason wondered if his team could handle it. "It's so important in a program that you're trying to turn around that you fight for everything you can get," said Mason, whose team was tied for the Big Ten lead with Purdue. "You have to be totally focused and once you allow yourself that luxury to speculate, and that's all it is, speculation." Mason's fears were realized Saturday. The Gophers haven't been to the Rose Bowl since 1962, and their chances took a serious blow with a 51-43 loss at Indiana. The Hoosiers were coming off a 58-0 loss to Michigan. Purdue, which defeated Wisconsin in overtime, leads the Big Ten and will go to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1967 with victories in its last three games. No news is good news Missouri coach Larry Smith isn't exactly feeling the heat, despite a 2-5 record, a loss to Texas just two victories in his last 13 games against Division I-A games. That's because he tries his best to ignore what is being said and written about him and his program. "First, I don't read any of your papers," he told media members who cover the team. "I read USA Today to find out what's going on in the world. And that's all I do. I don't listen to any radio shows or TV shows. You say I live in a cocoon; no, I don't live in a cocoon. Basically, what I have to do -- and I've been through this many, many times -- is shut all that (stuff) out. "It isn't going to do any good to sit around and worry about it and listen to everything that's said or written or whatever. That doesn't do a bit of good. So why get upset about it? I'm not going to." Bob Harig covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times. | ALSO SEE What you might have missed Oregon leads Pac-10 race after nipping Arizona | ||||
|
Copyright ©2000 ESPN Internet Ventures. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Click here for a list of employment opportunities at ESPN.com. |
