Bruins Back in Pac-10 Race (for a Day) Against Huskies

The UCLA Bruins, forced to endure two more weeks of circling the drain, today at least get the chance to take someone down with them. A 12:30 p.m. meeting with Washington at the Rose Bowl will provide both sides the opportunity for redemption.

The Huskies can take a major step toward winning the Pacific 10 title and a New Year’s Day return trip to Pasadena, one day shy of the one-year anniversary of UCLA’s clinching the conference crown at their expense in Seattle.

The Bruins can momentarily defend what is still, officially, theirs.

“We’re in a position where we’re trying to end everybody else’s chances,� UCLA defensive end Santi Hall said.

Washington’s, namely. The Huskies are tied with Stanford for first place in the Pac-10 but have the edge in the tiebreaker because they beat the Cardinal on Oct. 30. So wins in the final two games, today and next week against Washington State, put them in the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1992 season.

The Huskies are in charge of their own destiny, or their own misery. A victory today will not clinch anything, only continue a roll that has included wins in the last three games and six of the last seven after a 0-2 start.

The only certainty is that this is one of three games today that will have an impact on deciding the eventual champion, including Stanford at Arizona State and Oregon at California. Oh, and one of two that will decide if the historic USC-UCLA matchup, next week at the Coliseum, is for last place.

Washington can improve to 6-1 in the conference or fall to 5-2, as can Stanford. Oregon and Arizona State can both fall from contention by tonight at 4-3, or be 5-2.

One loss by the Huskies could have a major impact, all the way to knocking them out of the Rose Bowl. A split of the final two games would put them at 6-2, and Arizona State will also be 6-2 if it beats Stanford and Arizona. Arizona State has the tiebreaker over Washington. Just a thought.

“It’s exciting on one hand and it’s mortifying on the other,� Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “While you know that you can get it done by yourself, you also know that you can mess it up by yourself.�

The Bruins have their own options at 1-5, depending also on what happens today when USC plays at Washington State in a mild skirmish between teams with the same record: an eighth-place finish for the first time since 1992, ninth place for the first time since ’89 and 10th for the first time since the conference expanded to 10 teams in 1978. The last time the Bruins finished last was 1971, the 2-7-1 season under Pepper Rodgers in the Pacific 8.

So today is UCLA’s chance to have a lasting impact on the top of the conference after all. To the (former) victors goes the spoiler role.

“Washington might be the Pac-10 leader, but we’re the defending champs,� flanker Freddie Mitchell said. “They’re still going to have to knock us off the throne. And it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, they’re still coming into our house and trying to beat us, and that’s not going to happen.�

Well, at least maybe not.

“That doesn’t happen too many times, people coming in and beating us,� Mitchell said. “Basically, I’m getting tired of people coming in and disrespecting us. We’re still the Pac-10 champions.�

There is little to play for other than pride--which didn’t get them much in the last three games that included some of the worst offensive and defensive performances in years. And there is the opportunity to cause discomfort for Washington and the chance to continue the eight-game winning streak against USC. Guess which one everyone else in Westwood is focusing on.

“Everywhere I go, people are talking about SC,� said Hall, whose three sacks are second to Kenyon Coleman’s on the team. “Everywhere I go, it’s, ‘You ready for SC?’ My response to that is that we want to beat SC, but we’re playing Washington first.

“I’m in class and I have [teaching assistants] telling me, ‘You’re going to beat SC, right?’ It seems all the fans’ minds are just on SC. But right now, we want to beat Washington so bad. Our minds are on them. We just need a win.�

To help themselves emotionally. To hurt Washington actually.