After Stanford failed to top Cal earlier in the evening, Jermiah Masoli provided some late-game heroics for his Oregon Ducks. In double overtime, Masoli took the snap at the Arizona Wildcats’ 1-yard line and ran the ball in for a touchdown. The Ducks will now face Oregon St. next week to see which team advances to the Rose Bowl.

The Rose Bowl race is no longer complicated: The winner of Oregon (7-1) versus Oregon State (6-2) on Dec. 3 (a Thursday) in the most important Civil War ever played will earn the Pac-10′s automatic bid to Pasadena.

Arizona, the only Pac-10 or Big Ten Conference team never to play in the Rose Bowl, is still that team after a wrenching defeat pinned a third league loss on the Wildcats. Arizona had already succumbed this season, to Washington, on a game-winning touchdown that deflected off a receiver’s foot.

What else could bounce off something to torture Arizona?

How about Oregon’s kicker, Morgan Flint, tying the score, 24-24, in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard field goal that deflected in off the crossbar?

Assuming the Ducks win their all-state showdown, they’ll finish the season with a record of 10-2. They would then meet the Ohio State Buckeyes, another 10-2 team ranked in the top 10, in the Rose Bowl. We’ll see how the other Bowl games take shape, but this one at least sounds appealing.

- Raise your hand if you thought Stanford would upset USC again when the score was tied 17-17 at halftime. (Hand raised.)

- Not that a ton of people care about Conference USA, but what a statement by Houston. I don’t know what was more impressive, the fact that the Cougars scored 70 points or that they held Tulsa to only 30 points.

- Iowa’s Shonn Grenne (30 carries, 211 yards in a 22-17 win over Purdue) is a legit Heisman candidate for 2009.

- What happened to Kansas? I realize they didn’t play any of the top teams in the Big 12 last year, but they’re better than 6-5 aren’t they?

- They might have won 34-7, but Penn State’s win over Indiana was the least impressive 34-7 victory in some time.

- One of the more underrated rivalries in college football is Georgia-Auburn. And the Tigers easily have one of the more underrated defenses in the nation.

- Early upset watch for Week 13: Nevada over Boise State. The Wolf Pack’s offense is good enough to keep pace with the Broncos’ explosive attack and Boise hasn’t faced a tough opponent all year. (Unless you consider when they faced Oregon and their fourth string quarterback a tough opponent.)

- Worst…Michigan…season…ever.

- Underrated game of the week: No. 14 Ball State at Central Michigan next Wednesday.

- College football fans were cheated by not getting to see Beanie Wells run for a full season. He was amazing against Illinois.

- How about Troy hanging with LSU in Baton Rouge? Had they not turned the ball over three times, the Trojans could have pulled off one of the best upsets in college football this season.