Pac-10 Football: Not everyone backs OSU

In Corvallis, you've got this cuddly story — one-time perennially losing football program on the brink of the Rose Bowl — and who could resist it?

Saturday, you've got Phil Knight's gazillion-dollar shoe empire (Oregon) against the program that used to play on a 13-year-old asphalt surface — no, wait a minute, that was AstroTurf — (Oregon State).

So who could possibly be rooting against the Beavers on Saturday afternoon?

Well, more people than you'd think. OSU holds a lot of folks' futures in its hands, and many are covering their own tracks before they're pulling for the school that hasn't cinched a Rose Bowl trip since the autumn (1964) that Lyndon Johnson drubbed Barry Goldwater.

• The Rose Bowl committee itself no doubt isn't high on the Beavers, not because they're not a good story, but because they'd be paired against Penn State and bowls hate rematches — especially when one team swatted the other 45-17 as the Nittany Lions did in September.

• Big Ten teams like Northwestern and Iowa, not to mention Ohio State, are lemon-and-green fans this week. The Buckeyes are seen as the most likely replacement for the extra BCS slot that probably goes to USC if the Beavers end up in Pasadena.

Monday at his weekly news conference, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said he was "absolutely" behind the Ducks. If Ohio State nabs a BCS berth, Northwestern (9-3) holds a lot of cards against Iowa (8-4) as a strong candidate to go to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1. Everybody moves up a notch in the bowl lineup if Ohio State joins Penn State.

• Pac-10 programs? Depends on whom you ask. If you're an athletic director, you'd probably like to cash that check of about $400,000 that comes with an extra BCS appearance by the conference.

But if you're a coach who recruits against Oregon State, it might not be so clear-cut. For instance, Washington and Washington State, already struggling mightily, might not be eager to see OSU gain more cachet with prospects.

USC fans? Can you say Catch-22? The Trojans would like to be conference champs, but if they end up winning it (with an OSU loss), they go to the Rose Bowl. And having been there four of the past five years is not necessarily the rush for some of the Trojans and their fans as would be the Fiesta or Sugar.

"We'd love to win it outright," USC coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday. "[But] I understand the interest in something new."

• And what about the twosome with their noses pressed wistfully against the window, California and Arizona? If OSU makes it, the Bears become the Pac-10 program away from Pasadena the longest (1959). Arizona, now in its 31st season of Pac-10 membership, has never been there.

This just in ...

Cal's "Old Blues" backers gulped when they picked up newspapers around their tailgates last week with the news that running back Jahvid Best was out for the Stanford game with an ankle injury.

Of course, it was only another good prank by Stanford students, who produced the phony papers. They could only wish their bogus story was true, because Best rambled for 201 yards rushing in a 37-16 victory.

The trick was reminiscent of one in 1982, when, days after Cal's famous "Play" — the five-lateral extravaganza that ended on a Stanford trombone player's duff in the end zone — Stanford planted phony Daily California papers headlining that the NCAA had reversed the 25-20 victory because of the play's irregularities and given the game to Stanford.

And what's more ...

• WSU is only 3-7 in overtime games all-time but the Cougars have gotten their money's worth with the wins, including Saturday's Apple Cup triumph. The other two: A 35-34 win over Arizona in 1997 that saved a Rose Bowl trip, and in 2002, a 30-27 win over USC that was the tiebreaker to go to Pasadena over the Trojans.

• UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel makes a return home when the Bruins visit Tempe on Friday night in a loser-out game for bowl eligibility. Referring to his old high-school yearbook picture, Neuheisel cracked, "I can't believe I had puka shells on."

• TE Tony Thompson (concussion) has been ruled out of WSU's game at Hawaii.

• Stanford RB Toby Gerhart became the school's leading rusher with 1,136 yards.

• OSU coach Mike Riley said Tuesday that RB Jacquizz Rodgers is "very doubtful" for the Civil War game with his sprained shoulder.

• Oregon coach Mike Bellotti sounded as though he might be staking some psychological turf in saying the Ducks "have as much to play for as [the Beavers] do," referring to the slim chance of a three-way tie for the title. But in the next breath, he said, "There's less pressure on us."

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com