Here's my final bowl wrapup.
Oregon +3* (W)
OR/OSU Over 77* (L)
Oregon St./Pitt. Under 52.5* (W)
La Tech-1.5/N.Ill 1/2 Unit (W)
Nevada-1.5/MD* (L)
BYU+3/AZ* (L)
HI+2.5/ND* (L)
Cal-6.5/Miami** (W)
Pitt.+3/Or St.*(Push)
Cal-2 and Pitt.+9** (W)(teaser)
USC-10/PSU* (W)
USC/PSU U45* (L)ALA-10.5/UT* (L)
So that makes it 6-6-1 for the bowls (+1.5 units) Better than a stick in the eye. I admit that I totally underestimated Utah just because of the way they escaped a few close games such as when they played Oregon State. I count myself lucky for getting the push in the Sun Bowl (OR St./Pitt) The Beavers could have one it by 2 TD's easily but were denied on the goal line twice. The Hawaii loss was my worst pick but I still can't play on Notre Dame and it will be a while before I do.
My 2008 season was very successful with a 51-30 final tally (63% / +27.5 units.) Adding just a little more to that total was nothing to holler about but the bowls for me were very entertaining right up to the NC game. OVerall I had a very good season and I attribute it to reading my ass off in all the blogs and newspapers and I was just as busy reading up on the teams I don't particularly give a shit about as well as the ones that I do. So my advice to anyone that wants to do as well is READ READ READ!! Read it all and then look for more.
I think next year will be similar to this one in the Pac-10. Both Washington teams will be at the bottom even though Udub's starting to look more like USC every day (in the coaching dept.)
Speaking of USC, they made PSU look like boys playing men. It's no use explaining it to homies that will NEVER learn. But the fact is that this was only Mark Sanchez's first year at QB and he will return with almost his entire offense still in tact. I doubt that he will go to the NFL after just one year where he hardly made a dent in his true potential and ability.
As far as the rest of the conferrence goes for '09, I expect to see moe of the same from Oregon with Chip Kelly as their new HC. 2 of Bellotti's assistants have been told they will not be with the team when Kelly takes over at HC so I think Bellotti will be leaving sooner than later. Cal will be better off in '09 without Longshore and Kevin Riley taking over at QB. Both Cal and Oregon should be there perhaps challenging USC for the conference title depending on how well Carroll's new coaching staff woks out. Personally I think the changes could help USC but we'll see. And as far as the Beavers go, they'll be there... somehow... they always are, They may be good for 8 wins per year at least until kingdom come or until Mike Riley moves on which may never happen.
Pretty much nothing happened this past year that I didn't expect except perhaps ASU falling on their faces but even that was predictable considering that they lost 7 big producers to the NFL after their successful '07 season. Zona may be the one team that will have a hard time next year exceeding this year's output. In the post Tuitama era, can Danny Sullivan cut it in his first year as their starter? That's a very big question but they do return both Grigsby and Gronkowski... also that little scat back Antolin that reminds me of Quizz, so they won't be hurting too bad. UCLA should be better but I am thinking that maybe Neuheisel won't be their answer. Losing Walker to NM St. will be huge. Tjere was some talk about Nick Holt bolting from the Trojans to UCLA across town but that won't hapen because Sarkisian already lured him to coach the Huskies defense.
So to wrap it all up, I think once again it's up to anyone that wants to do well next season to start following the teams today! Thre will be plenty of wholesale changes in the conference and there's no better way to keep up with the changes than to do a lot of reading... including my threads as well as UoD's.
Have a good year everyone.
It's been a pleasure doing this.
PS... 3 Heisman hopefuls from the Pac-10 in '09 will be (in order of most likely to win)
1. Mark Sanchez
2. Jahvid Best
3. Jeremiah Masoli (dark horse depends on how well Oregon does in '09)
