Arizona | Arizona St |  California | Oregon | Oregon St | Stanford  
UCLA | USC | Washington | Washington St

Offensive Player of the Midseason
Jacquizz Rodgers, RB Oregon State

Defensive Player of the Midseason
Nick Reed, DE Oregon

Ten best Pac-10 players in the first half
1. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB Oregon State
2. Mark Sanchez, QB USC
3. Nick Reed, DE Oregon
4. Alex Mack, C California
5. LeGarrette Blount, RB Oregon
6. Will Tukuafu, DE Oregon
7. Syd’Quan Thompson, CB California
8. Toby Gerhart, RB Stanford
9. Zack Follett, LB California
10. Willie Tuitama, QB Arizona

Biggest Surprise – Stanford
The Cardinal has already toppled Oregon State, Washington, and Arizona. Although the program was expected to keep improving in Jim Harbaugh’s second season, it’s exceeding expectations behind the tough running of Toby Gerhart and a frenetic defense that disrupts opposing passers. With two wins in its final five games, Stanford will be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2001. Give yourself a hearty pat on the back if you saw that coming.   

Biggest Disappointment – Arizona State
According to Dennis Erickson’s timetable, this was the season that the Sun Devils competed for a Pac-10 championship and made a splash on national level. Oh, they’ve gotten national attention this fall, but for all the wrong reasons. From a No. 15 ranking in the preseason, Arizona State has circled the drain with a 2-4 start and a four-game losing streak. It all started with an inexcusable loss at home to UNLV, and hasn’t gotten better since. The Sun Devils might need to pull an upset just to become bowl eligible, a far cry from the team that had a trip to the Rose Bowl as one of its 2008 goals.

The Pac-10 Champion will be ... USC
The Trojans are flawed. Who isn’t in the Pac-10? Sure, USC’s loss at Oregon State exposed the program as something less than perfect, but there isn’t a team in the league capable of capitalizing on the opportunity. The only other ranked team is Cal, which is just a couple of weeks removed from getting thumped by Maryland. The Trojans’ depth and talent still dwarfs every other league member, and if they remain focused each weekend, they’ve got a shot to run the table and contend for a spot in the BCS Championship game.    

Best Game of the First Half

UCLA 27 ... Tennessee 24 OT
 A wild finish ended when Tennessee PK Daniel Lincoln missed a 34-yard field goal in overtime after UCLA's Kai Forbath nailed a 42-yards on the Bruins' possession. Both offenses struggled through most of the game with UCLA getting its first touchdown on a blocked punt for a touchdown from Sean Westgate, while Tennessee picked off Kevin Craft four times with Nevin McKenzie returning a pick 61 yards for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the first half. And then the quarterbacks got hot in the final eight minutes with UCLA marching 70 yards in nine plays with Ryan Moya catching a three-yard touchdown pass for a three-point UCLA lead with 27 seconds to play. But Tennessee would come back with Daniel Lincoln nailing a 47-yard field goal to force overtime.

Worst Game of the First Half

USC 69 … Washington State 0
In one of the most dominant blowouts in the history of the Pac 10, USC got five touchdown passes form Mark Sanchez including two to Patrick Turner and two to Ronald Johnson in the first half. The running game took over in the second half as C.J. Gable finished with three short touchdown runs and Broderick Green ran for two scores. Wazzu gained just 116 yards of total offense and gained four first downs. This was USC’s biggest shutout since a 69-0 win over Montana in 1931.

Coach of the Midseason – Jim Harbaugh, Stanford
By making the Cardinal competitive in the Pac-10, Harbaugh is doing the improbable in just his second season on The Farm. Stanford has already won as many games as last season, and is 3-1 in league play. The program has ditched the basement, leaving behind the likes of Washington and Washington State, and is within range of its first bowl game in seven years. The credit goes to Harbaugh and his staff, who’ve made it fun again to play for and root for Stanford football.

Player who'll step up in the second half – Arizona TE Rob Gronkowski
An illness kept Gronkowski on the shelf for the first three games of the season. He’s healthy again, which is going to make opposing defensive coordinators sick over the next two months. A tremendous athlete at 6-5 and 260 pounds, he’s much more than a safety valve who runs seven-yard patterns. He’s the largest deep threat in the country and a mismatch when covered by a linebacker. Gronkowski has been underutilized over the last three games, but that’ll change in the second half.

Best performance so far – After top-ranked USC thumped Ohio State in front of a national audience, you couldn’t find a pundit that didn’t think the Trojans were invincible. Oregon State, however, had other ideas two weeks later. For the second time in the last three years, the Beavers floored their heavily-favored visitors from Los Angeles. Oregon State ran the ball right down the throat of the USC defense, and played its best defensive game of the year. Even more impressive, when the Trojans rallied in the second half, the Beavers didn’t buckle, holding on for a 27-21 victory.

Top Freshman – Oregon State RB Jacquizz Rodgers
Rodgers wasn’t even the starter in the opener. Six games later, the true freshman is a candidate for Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. While he’s best known for his breakout, 186-yard game in the upset of USC, he’s been on a roll for over a month. Rodgers leads the league in rushing and has scored a touchdown in each of the last five games. A dynamite all-around runner, he plays a lot bigger and stronger than his 5-7, 190-pound frame.

Coach who needs to have a big second half – Arizona head coach Mike Stoops
Sure, Tyrone Willingham is in a heap of trouble, but his situation appears to be beyond repair. The fate of Stoops, on the other hand, could rest on how well the Wildcats play over the final six games. Arizona has been hard to figure so far, showing flashes of potential, yet losing as a favorite at New Mexico and Stanford. The ‘Cats may be 4-2, but if they slump down the stretch and fail to qualify for a bowl game, Stoops is likely to pay the price.  

Player who needs to have a big second half – USC RB Joe McKnight
Wasn’t McKnight supposed to spend this season doing an impression of former Trojan Reggie Bush? The sophomore hasn’t had many “wow” moments in the first half, even becoming a liability in USC’s only loss to Oregon State. He obviously has the potential to be one of the nation’s most explosive players and is coming off a 143-yard game versus Arizona State. Now it’s up to McKnight to get his injured toe healed and sustain that level of excellence on a week-in, week-out basis.     

Best remaining conference game – Cal at USC, Nov. 8
If anyone is going to dethrone USC this season, Cal is the most likely candidate. The Bears have regrouped from their only loss with blowout wins over Colorado State and Arizona State before losing to Arizona. Cal will be the heavy underdog, but with Jeff Tedford on the sidelines and a healthy Jahvid Best running the ball, you never know what might happen in the Coliseum. In an otherwise ho-hum second half of games, this one has the potential to be dynamite if the Bears continue holding up their end of the equation.  

Team Mid-Season MVPs & Predictions

Arizona – QB Willie Tuitama
predicted wins: at Washington State, Oregon State, Arizona State
predicted losses: USC, at Oregon   
predicted record: 8-4

Arizona St – QB Rudy Carpenter
predicted wins: at Washington, Washington State, UCLA 
predicted losses: Oregon, at Oregon State, at Arizona
predicted record: 5-7

California – LB Zack Follett
predicted wins: UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, Washington
predicted losses: at USC, at Oregon State     
predicted record: 8-4

Oregon – DE Nick Reed
predicted wins: at Arizona State, Stanford, Arizona
predicted losses: at Cal, at Oregon State
predicted record: 8-4

Oregon St - RB Jacquizz Rodgers
predicted wins: Arizona State, Cal, Oregon    
predicted losses: at UCLA, at Arizona
predicted record: 7-5

Stanford – RB Toby Gerhart
predicted wins: Washington State,
predicted losses: at Oregon, USC, at California
predicted record: 5-7

UCLA – DT Brian Price
predicted wins: Oregon State, at Washington,
predicted losses: at Cal, at Arizona State, USC 
predicted record: 5-7

USC – QB Mark Sanchez
predicted wins: at Arizona, Washington, Cal, at Stanford, Notre Dame, at UCLA
predicted losses: None  
predicted record: 11-1

Washington – LB Mason Foster
predicted wins: at Washington State
predicted losses: UCLA, Notre Dame, at USC, Arizona State, at Cal
predicted record: 1-11

Washington St – WR Brandon Gibson
predicted wins: None 
predicted losses: at Stanford, Arizona, at Arizona State, Washington, at Hawaii 
predicted record: 1-12