Arizona State’s 34-9 win over UCLA last week was downright bizarre.  The Sun Devils did not score an offensive touchdown, with the points coming on two field goals and four defensive touchdowns.  Only 122 yards of offense was generated by ASU, and their longest drive was a mere 26 yards.

So Arizona State may have the phoniest three-game conference winning streak in college football history, as the UCLA win followed up beatdowns of dreadful Washington and horrific Washington State by a combined 70-19.

Then this week, QB Rudy Carpenter exhibited his senior leadership by getting kicked out of a high school girls basketball game for verbally abusing an official from the stands.

But while it has been a while since it was profitable to knee jerk to underdogs in rivalry games, certain rivalry games continue to see significant road and underdog patterns.  The battle for the Territorial Cup is one such series.  The past 16 Arizona/Arizona State meetings have seen underdogs go 12-4 to the pointspread, with the road teams enjoying an equal 12-4 mark to the number.   And to top it all off, Arizona is 3-8 as a Pac Ten favorite under Mike Stoops.

I’d love to fade Arizona State this week.  But the past history of these teams and the inability of the Wildcats to stretch out to leads in games they should control makes it very difficult to lay double digits with Arizona.