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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pac-12 struggles to fill bowl allotment

Quarterback Kevin Prince, left, and UCLA are in the chase for the Pac-12 South title and a bowl bid. (Associated Press)
John Marshall Associated Press

PHOENIX – Washington has struggled to become bowl-eligible over the past decade or so, needing a last-game win over rival Washington State last season to get into the Holiday Bowl after missing the postseason the previous seven years.

This season, the resurgent Huskies can relax a bit down the stretch after clinching bowl eligibility with last week’s win over Arizona.

With four games left in the season, there’s still plenty of stress going around the Pac-12, leaving the conference in jeopardy of failing to fill its bowl allotment.

Now, the Pac-12 has certainly been solid at the top.

No. 4 Stanford (8-0, 6-0 Pac-12) and sixth-ranked Oregon (7-1, 5-0) are on pace to play in BCS bowls, one of them possibly even earning a spot in the national title game.

Washington (6-2, 4-1) has continued its progress from a 0-12 season just three years ago, while Arizona State (6-2, 4-1) has experienced a turnaround of its own, taking control of the Pac-12 South while becoming bowl-eligible for the first time in four seasons.

Southern California (6-2, 3-2) has played well, too, but still isn’t bowl-eligible because of NCAA sanctions. The rest of the field is a little more jumbled.

California, UCLA and Utah are all 4-4, needing to win two of their final four games to become bowl eligible, while Washington State needs three of four down the stretch. Even Arizona isn’t out of the picture despite firing its coach midseason, though at 2-6, the Wildcats will need to win out.

That means, with seven bowl contracts to fill, the Pac-12 has some ground to make up. The way things have gone so far this season – well, other than at the top – it could be a wild finish.

“It’s getting worse for coaches and better for fans every year because the competition at the bottom of the league has risen since I’ve been back in the league, since 2003,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “There’s just a lot of good teams and now you’re in a deal where if you don’t play well, you’re going to lose because somebody’s going to pull the rug out from under you.”

UCLA appeared to be one of the rug-less teams – not to mention on the verge of costing coach Rick Neuheisel his job – just two weeks ago when it was blown out by Arizona, which had fired its coach and was winless in conference.

After a decisive win over Cal last week, not only is UCLA back in the bowl hunt, it has a chance to take the Pac-12 South lead with a win over Arizona State at home on Saturday.

Cal seemed to be rolling toward a bowl game after opening with three straight wins, but has put that in jeopardy with four losses in five games.

Still, the Bears have a shot at making it to the postseason, just needing to win any combination of two games against Washington State, Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona State.

“Every team in this conference is very good and you need to come ready to play and execute,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “And if you don’t execute you’re going to get beat and that can happen with any given team on any given weekend.”

League All
WLWL

Stanford

6080
Oregon5071
Washington4162
Oregon St.2326
California1444
Washington St.1435
LeagueAll
WLWL
Arizona St.4162
Southern Cal3262
UCLA3244
Utah1444
Arizona1526
Colorado0518