Bye Weekend

The University of Washington Huskies has a bye this week (that means they didn't play). So their record remains 6-1 over all, 3-1 in conference. This, ironically after yesterday, puts them in third place in the Pac-12 North behind the Washington State Cougars (7-1 overall, 4-1 in conference) after they beat Colorado last night, and Stanford (5-2 overall, 4-1 in conference as they had a bye this week).

The Pac-12 North is going to be interesting with three teams (UW, WSU, and Stanford) all vying for the top slot.

Elsewhere in the conference, USC was demolished by Notre Dame in a non-conference game by a score of 49-14. Interesting to have a non-conference game this late in the season (Notre Dame is an independent). They are still on top of the Pac-12 South, though, with a 6-2 overall, 4-1 in conference record. But Arizona (!) is not far behind at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in conference. Arizona beat Cal in overtime yesterday.

Next week the Huskies take on UCLA  (4-3 overall, 2-2 in conference) at 12:30 at Husky Stadium. It's going to be on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2. Check your listings. I saw an interview with Husky coach Chris Petersen in the Seattle Times and he said having a bye week after last week's loss is both good and bad. You have more time to work on issues, but you have to go two weeks with that loss hanging over your head.

The Polls

Stanford, despite having a bye week, moved up two slots to #20. UW and WSU didn't move, still at #12 and #15 respectively. After getting beat by Notre Dame, USC fell to #21 from #11. Which makes the Huskies the highest ranked Pac-12 team right now, and USC the lowest.