Not sure I'd even need to run a poll for this one as I'm assuming many/most/all UW fans will be rooting for the Buckeyes to beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl Friday.

Or am I wrong in that? Is there any Pac-10 pride that takes precedence over the hatred of the rivalry?

Those who root for the conference are obviously hoping for a good game from the Ducks today with the Pac-10 now at 2-4 in bowl games, and really getting pretty dominated in all the losses (the Sun Bowl was close on the scoreboard but not anywhere else) and not really looking all that great in its two wins.

It's a bowl season that could mirror the only other time the Pac-10 had seven bowl teams, 2002, when the conference went 2-5. Then, however, it could at least revel in a dominating win by USC over Iowa in the Orange Bowl (the other winner was UCLA 27-13 over New Mexico in the Vegas Bowl). The Pac-10 has not had a losing bowl season since then but clinched one with Stanford's defeat today.

If you're watching today to get a feel for the kind of team you might see when UW plays at Oregon next Nov. 6, the answer is potentially almost the exact same one.

Here's Oregon's depth chart (this one is actually for the Oregon State game as I can't find one for the Rose Bowl on the school's web site --- you'd think out of all that NIKE money floating around they could get that done somehow). And the starting lineup features just one senior on offense --- tight end Ed Dickson; and only three on defense --- end Will Tukuafu, tackle Blake Ferras and safety T.J. Ward.

But all the other starters figure to be back, which means Oregon will almost certainly be the pick to win the Pac-10 heading into next year, especially if it plays well in the Rose Bowl. In fact, a solid win against Ohio State could have Oregon again mentioned as a national title contender heading into next season as they were this year before bombing out in the opener against Boise State.

I was never all that impressed by Ohio State or the Big Ten this year, so I've had Oregon penciled in as the winner of this one from the minute the matchup was made. Not sure what to make of how so much of the rest of the Pac-10 has imploded so far and whether that should be ominous for Oregon against Ohio State. The Big Ten doesn't have much to go on so far, just 1-1 to date with Wisconsin's win over Miami and Minnesota's loss today to Iowa State.

Once again, Jim Moore begs to differ with me, though I was too distracted by the pictures he provided to read anything he wrote so I have no idea if for once he might have made some sense with his pick. Ted Miller also picked Ohio State, which actually makes me feel even better about going with Oregon. Nick Daschel, however, went with the Ducks, so now I'm not sure what to think.

I'm doubting few of you reading this really want links on the Rose Bowl, so I'll just provide one to the home page for The Oregonian, which will likely write more words on this game than Dickens did in Tale of Two Cities. If there's something you really need to know about the Rose Bowl not provided there, then you need to know too much.

IN OTHER NEWS. ...

--- The UW picked this afternoon --- a time when everybody is sure to pay attention --- to announce the upcoming construction schedule for the SoundTransit station being built on Montlake Blvd., that will incredibly disrupt things in terms of parking and tailgating for 5-6 years or so. In essence, construction starts Jan. 4, so if you drive by and see a lot of stuff going on, it has nothing to do with the stadium.

--- Here's a preview of Saturday's Offense-Defense Bowl, which will include future Huskies Erik Kohler, Chris Young, Jamaal Kearse and Darius Waters.

--- Nick Montana competed in the skills challenge at the Under Armour game today but didn't finish in the top three. This pay story from Scout.com said Montana looked better on the deep ball today after apparently struggling at that in earlier sessions.

--- There's a two-way tie with 13 points so far in the football blog bowl extravaganza. I have just eight.

All for now.