Last week: Among the highlights last week was Oregon State's dismantling of BYU in Provo, 42-24. Despite playing with a new quarterback on the road against the fifth toughest defense in the country, the Beavers didn't skip a beat. In the most publicized and analyzed game of the week, Stanford lost a heart-breaker in overtime at Notre Dame, 20-13. The game hinged on a controversial goal line stand by the Irish, which is still the subject of much debate. UCLA bounced back from a bruising loss at Cal to beat Utah at home. So midway through the season, the Pac-12 has two unbeaten teams (Oregon at 6-0 and Oregon State at 5-0), two teams with one loss (USC and Arizona State at 5-1), and a pair with two losses (5-2 UCLA and 4-2 Stanford). Also in the hunt for a bowl bid are Arizona and Washington (both 3-3) and perhaps Cal (3-4) and Utah (2-4).

I spent part of last Saturday in the South Bay watching the first half of the San Jose State-Utah State game with former Arizona and San Jose State coach Dick Tomey and former Stanford/Notre Dame/Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, a member of our Board of Directors. I also had a chance to reconnect with Utah State coach Gary Andersen, who was the defensive coordinator at Utah when the Utes upset Georgia Tech in our 2005 game, then known as the Emerald Bowl. Both SJS and Utah State might be in our mix if Navy fails to become bowl-eligible.

Along those lines, the encouraging news for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl last week was the performance of Navy at Central Michigan. The Midshipmen won impressively, 31-13, behind freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds. Reynolds threw three touchdown passes, most by a Navy QB since 1997, and the defense was stout throughout the game. The Mids now stand at 3-3 and are hoping to win at least three of their next five contests to get to six wins before the Army-Navy game, which is scheduled a week after selection Sunday. Their upcoming opponents: Indiana, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Troy, and Texas State.

This Week: Navy hosts an Indiana team that took Ohio State to the wire last week before losing, 52-49. The Hoosiers are 2-4, with close losses to Ball State, Northwestern, Michigan State and the Buckeyes. It will be a tough test for Navy, which has a 26-42-3 record all-time against teams currently in the Big Ten and last beat a team from that conference in 1979 (13-12 over Illinois). The Pac-12 game to watch is Washington at Arizona, a clash of two 3-3 teams that need a win to boost their post-season hopes. Others on the docket include: Utah at OSU, Oregon at Arizona State, and the Big Game in Berkeley. This week's game will be the 44th Big Game I've attended (out of 46) since my first one as a Stanford freshman in 1967.

The Play: This year's Big Game also marks the 30th anniversary of "The Play", which Cal fans consider the greatest play in the history of college football. Stanford went into that game with a 5-5 record and Cal was 6-4. However, Stanford had a contingent bid from the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama, because it had John Elway at quarterback. I was Associate AD at Stanford back then and was in charge of overseeing the TV highlights show, as well as negotiating our bowl appearances. So I'd been on the phone with the Hall of Fame Bowl during the game, and I was up in the broadcast booth when The Play unfolded. The thing I remember most is that, when Mark Harmon kicked the field goal to give Stanford the lead with four seconds left, our color analyst, former Stanford linebacker Gordy Ceresino, exclaimed, "Pack your bags, we're going to Birmingham!"

Well, not so fast.

Crystal Ball: Here's what the pundits are currently predicting for the match-up in our game on December 29.

Phil Steele:   Navy vs Washington

USA Today (Erick Smith):  Navy vs Washington
USA Today (Paul Myerberg):    Navy vs Washington
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm): Navy vs. Utah
Scout.com                    Navy vs Stanford
ESPN (Mark Schlabach):  Navy vs Washington
ESPN (Brad Edwards):     Navy vs Washington
SB Nation:                      Navy vs Arizona State