Nothing is ever guaranteed in the Pacific-10 Conference, except when it comes to the meaning of two losses.
The last time a team with two losses won the conference crown was 1993, when UCLA, Arizona and USC each went 6-2 in the Pac-10. In fact, only four times since 1958 has a team with a pair of losses shared the conference title.
The odds, then, are stacked heavily against the Ducks (6-2 overall, 2-2 Pac-10), who lost their second straight game Saturday for the first time since 1999.
With conference play half completed, Washington State (7-1, 4-0) and Arizona State (7-2, 4-0) are in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl. USC (6-2, 4-1) is behind.
“It’s a special year already,” WSU head coach Mike Price told The Seattle Times. “It’s a special team, a special year, and I’m proud and honored to be on the sidelines with this football team.”
The No. 8 Cougars would like to make it even more special with a trip to the Rose Bowl. And an advantageous schedule could help make that happen.

When the teams meet in Pullman, Wash., this week, either Washington State or Arizona State will be knocked off the undefeated pedestal. The Cougars then host Oregon the following weekend, Washington on Nov. 23 and round out the regular season at the Rose Bowl against UCLA.
After playing WSU, No. 16 Arizona State hosts California, then heads to No. 11 USC before finishing the season at Arizona.
USC’s three remaining Pac-10 games are at Stanford on Nov. 9, at home against ASU and at UCLA on Nov. 23. The Trojans also host Notre Dame on Nov. 30.

Running rampant
The state of Oregon boasts two of the nation’s best
tailbacks.
Oregon’s Onterrio Smith (1,015 yards) and Oregon State’s Steven Jackson (1,004) are neck-and-neck in the race for the Pac-10 rushing title.
At 126.9 yards per game, Smith is eight in the nation, with Jackson right behind at 125.5 rushing yards per game.

Suggs sacks record
With 4.5 sacks in a 27-16 win over Washington on Saturday, Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs tied the NCAA single-season record of 17.5 quarterback sacks.
Suggs, the nation’s sack leader who has said he shaves his entire body before each game, has four Pac-10 games and, presumably, a bowl game to break the record set by Syracuse’s Dwight Freeney last year.
“I’ve never really had more than two (sacks) in a Pac-10 game before,” Suggs told. “The Pac-10 is a great conference. I just challenge myself to turn it up another level because of what the Pac-10 is and that’s what I did (Saturday).”
Ironically, Suggs does not hold the ASU single-season sack record. Al Harris set that mark in 1978 with 19 sacks. The NCAA did not start keeping sacks as an official record until 2000.

UW sacked, again
Washington’s Cody Pickett was sacked eight times by the Sun Devils as the Huskies (4-4, 1-3) lost their third conference game in four tries.
Pickett finished the game with 210 passing yards, ending his streak of seven-straight games with at least 300 yards passing.
“I don’t know how many times (Pickett) got hit,” Husky offensive lineman Elliot Zajac told UW’s The Daily. “There were a lot of times I turned around and he was already on the ground.”
Until the fourth quarter in Tempe, Ariz., Washington’s high-powered offense had only managed a field goal, and trailed 21-3.
“Our team has got to suck it up,” UW head coach Rick Neuheisel said after the game. “That’s the bottom line — there’s no sugar-coating it.”