And wouldn't you know it, Oregon State controls its destiny to reach the Rose Bowl. However, their next two opponents, Arizona and Oregon, are 6-4 and 8-3 respectively.
First, the Beavers must survive the desert storm. For another reason to watch next Saterday's game, Arizona has upset a Pac-10 team that were seemingly headed for the Rose Bowl or the BCS National championship game.
Mike Stoops, former defensive coordinator for Oklahoma and his brother Bob, took over the Arizona program in 2004. Since his second year in 2005, Arizona managed to upset a ranked Pac-10 opponent that was likely headed to a BCS bowl.
Exactly one year ago, on Thursday, November 15, 2007, Arizona upset No. 2 Oregon at Tucson. Remember, the Ducks were three games away from securing a spot in the BCS Title game while Dennis Dixon could have been the Heisman winner.
In 2006, Arizona also beat No. 8 Cal in November in Tuscon. Cal's only previous loss was at Tennessee in the season opener, but bounced back by winning all of its games before the loss to the Wildcats. The Bears were also in the driver's seat for the Rose Bowl because USC was already upset by Oregon State.
In November of 2005, Arizona (2-6) on home field upset undefeated No. 7 UCLA. That year, Arizona won only three games.
This is the best Arizona team Mike Stoops has coached so far. With second year offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, previously from Texas Tech, the Wildcats are ranked No. 1 in Pac-10 scoring offense. Meanwhile, the total defense is No. 2 in the league. Arizona is also 4-1 in home games this year, averaging over 42 points per contest. Oregon State is 0-3 this season when the opponent scores over 30. All three of those losses were on the road.
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