Alex Shoemaker

Sports Editor, EDN  In his senior year at the University of Oregon, Alex Shoemaker is crafting his skills as a sports writer and editor. Alex's passion is writing about NW sports, and as a native Eugenian and Churchill High School alumni, he understands how important sports are to the Eugene community. You can check out his "Sports Desk" column every Sunday and read his callouts every morning.

Sports Desk: Hey Stanford, Thanks for Turning Everything Upside Down

My exact words when the clock hit 0:00 in Stanford’s upset win last night, “bring on the terrible ‘Luck puns’.” I was not disappointed. Thanks, Washington Post.

Well I just don’t know anymore. As soon as I think I know a team, they go and shock the world. And by they, I of course mean the now No. 9 Stanford Cardinal. The Pac-12 has been impossible to figure out all season long. After Stanford’s abysmal 20-17 win over San Jose State in week one, I had completely written them off as a sub par Pac-12 foe.

Who needs Andrew Luck? Who needs Jim Harbaugh? They got Josh Nunes and David Shaw. But how does this all come back to the Ducks?  Well, our matchup with Stanford on Nov. 17th just got a lot more interesting.

But the theme of this column will be that “we’re back!” King of the mountain. Oregon, according to our good ESPN Pac-12 expert Ted Miller says that “Oregon returns to the top.”

Technically he’s right, as far as the rankings are concerned, but what you should take away from USC’s loss is that the preseason polls really are just for fan entertainment. All of USC’s hype was premature and ultimately a curse.

The pressure on those Trojan players must have been something words couldn’t give justice. And these guys aren’t the same ones who were competing for Rose Bowls and national championships year in and year out. Only the redshirt seniors on the team even played in a BCS bowl.

“Dethroning” Oregon as kings of the conference was a joke. This is the same team that had competed in three consecutive BCS Bowl games with two of the most proven running backs in the country. Know how to tell you’re really good? Your backup running back is in nearly every Heisman watch list. Those same Trojans fell all the way to No. 13 in the writer’s poll. Their complete lack of depth was evident in how the Stanford d-line pushed around the USC backup center like a rag doll.

There will be a lot of telling games coming up for the conference. We’ll find out whether OSU’s defense is the real deal against UCLA. Whether Utah can follow a huge win in the “Holy War” with a win on the road in Tempe, AZ. Oregon will get a real test against a top 25 team in Arizona. Can USC bounce back with a win over Cal? Can Cal bounce back?

Ultimately, there is only one thing I am sure about the Pac-12. The University of Colorado Buffaloes are absolutely terrible and will not win a single conference game this year. You can quote me on it. Watch Washington State’s struggling offense put 40+ points on Colorado.

Here’s a callout to Ducks fans.

Your No. 9 Oregon Ducks volleyball team (9-0) will play host to rival Oregon State Wednesday September 19th at 7pm at Matthew Knight Arena. Watch them try to keep their perfect season and open up Pac-12 play with a win.

And if you don’t want to watch the game live, tune into the Pac-12 Network for all the action. Oh and if that’s too much, we’ll have all the highlights for you in the morning.

Now watch this video and if it doesn’t get you excited, you might want to check for a pulse.