Mitchell leaving early?
UCLA finished off its regular season Saturday against the
Trojans and now it is time for head coach Bob Toledo to evaluate
next season’s outlook.
Foremost on the mind of the coach is whether any of his talented
juniors, in particular, receivers Freddie Mitchell and Brian
Poli-Dixon and linebacker Robert Thomas, will be jumping ship for
the NFL draft.
“There’s only one guy on our football team that I
think is ready, and that guy is Freddie,” Toledo said.
Following the loss to USC, Mitchell made it known that he wanted
to sit down with the coach and discuss his plans for the
future.
“If they tell him he’ll be a top pick, I’d
venture to say he’ll go,” Toledo said.
Mitchell’s departure would leave a large void in the Bruin
offense. He was recently named one of three finalists for the
Biletnikoff Award, presented to the best wide receiver in the
country. Pittsburgh’s Antonio Bryant and Florida
State’s Marvin Minnis are the other two finalists.
Mitchell’s departure would not only mean the removal of
UCLA’s biggest offensive threat, it would also leave the team
unprepared to properly recruit a viable replacement.
Bowl confusion
Only two Pac-10 games are left but uncertainty still remains in
the conference bowl picture. In fact Pac-10 teams might not find
out their post-season fates until Dec. 3.
With Oregon’s loss to Oregon State over the weekend, three
teams claimed a share of the conference championship, including
Washington, who holds the tie-breaker advantage and will be
selected to the Rose Bowl for a New Year’s matchup against
Big-10 champ Purdue. There still remains an oddball chance for
Washington to qualify for the championship game, if Oklahoma were
to lose one of its two remaining games and Miami were to lose to
Boston College.
A more likely scenario would pit Oregon State in one of the
other BCS games by gaining an at-large bid to either the Sugar or
Fiesta Bowl. The Beavers will be hindered, however, by their lack
of a powerful fan base as well as their almost non-existent
national exposure.
The two remaining Pac-10 games will be vital in shaping the
conference picture. On Friday, Arizona State will take on Arizona
in a rival game that will determine who the fifth Pac-10 bowl team
will be. If Arizona wins, they would leap-frog in the bowl picture
over UCLA, and if Arizona State were to win, the bowl-picture would
become even cloudier because the Sun Devils and Bruins would retain
the same conference and non-conference records.
Of course, only five Pac-10 teams will be bowl-eligible, and all
five will likely make it to some bowl.
Another discrepancy that clouds the conference bowl picture is
the way the Pac-10 delegates berths to its bowl partners.
Traditionally, berths are decided by conference record: the
conference champion (Washington) would go to the Rose Bowl, the No.
2 team (Oregon State) would go to the Holiday Bowl, the No. 3 team
(Oregon) to the Sun Bowl, and the No. 4 and No. 5 teams to the
Aloha and O’ahu Bowls respectively.
Based on contractual obligations, however, Oregon’s
ability to qualify for the Sun Bowl may be in jeopardy, because
they played there last season and have already played Wisconsin,
the likely Big-10 selection for the Sun Bowl, during the regular
season.
Such complications could result in Oregon gaining an invitation
to the Insight.com Bowl over the Sun Bowl in December.
The other Pac-10 game, USC’s match at home this Saturday
against Notre Dame, will be more important to the BCS picture than
it will be for the Trojans.
If Notre Dame wins, they will likely be guaranteed an at-large
bid to either the Sugar or Fiesta Bowl, but if the Irish lose,
Oregon State’s chances for a BCS spot will improve. It will
also be to the Beaver’s advantage if Oklahoma wins its Big-12
championship game against Kansas State, because it would leave
another spot available for the Fiesta Bowl, where the Big-12
champion usually goes.
The Fiesta Bowl is likely Oregon State’s best shot at a
BCS invitation, because of the Tucson location and the Pac-10 fan
base in the area.
Hope for the future
Coach Toledo thinks next year’s Bruins will be better, and
it’s hard to argue with him, based on the fact that the team
will be losing only six starters on offense and defense: guards
Brian Polack and Oscar Cabrera, tight end Gabe Crecion, linebacker
Tony White, cornerback Jason Bell, and free safety Jason
Zdenek.
None of those starters are the primary playmakers in the already
potent UCLA attack now.
Notes compiled by Joshua Mason, Daily Bruin Contributor.