California (both the state and school) continue to roll

By Andy Gray

No, these aren't the California Sports Rankings, it just seems that way. This week's top four teams all hail from the Golden State. The reason, in a nutshell, is men's water polo in which the nation's top four teams just happen to be the same four at the top of our rankings. While we realize that not every school has water polo, it is nonetheless one of the NCAA's eight fall sports (football, field hockey, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, and women's volleyball being the others). The No. 1 team, California, is nationally ranked in all fall sports except cross country, which explains its top billing.

Cal fans breathed a major sigh of relief after it was revealed that Marshawn Lynch's injury won't keep him out of action this Saturday against Washington State. Peter Read Miller/SI

These rankings are calculated by taking the Top 25 in all fall sports (a No. 1 ranking gets 25 points, a No. 25 gets one point, etc.). We give a little more weight to football (No. 1 gets 37.5 points; No. 25 gets 1.5 ) and come up with our final tally.

1. California (91 points) - The No. 10 football team recorded its most impressive win of the season with a 45-24 victory over Oregon. The Golden Bears received a scare when Heisman candidate Marshawn Lynch went down with an injury, but junior Justin Forsett filled in admirably with 163 rushing yards. The defense also had a huge game, holding Oregon to only 70 rushing yards (the Ducks entered the game with a Pac-10 leading 227.5 per game).  
The unit was led by sophomore linebacker Desmond Bishop, who had 10 tackles and an interception, and safeties sophomore Bernard Hicks and junior Brandon Hampton, who each had picks. Bears fans can exhale. Lynch is expected back for Saturday's game against Washington State. 

2. Stanford (89) - The woman's volleyball team (13-2, 4-1) has a big weekend ahead with games against No. 4 USC (17-0, 6-0) and No. 3 UCLA (19-0, 6-0). The squad swept No. 7 California last Friday night in the annual Big Spike, 30-20, 30-22, 30-21, to win their 26th straight at home against the Bears. Senior outside hitter Kristin Richards was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after recording 13 kills without an error in the match against Cal. Richards hit .565, contributing six digs, an ace and three blocks.

3. UCLA (86) - The Bruins will be without starting quarterback Ben Olson, who went down with a sprained left knee in the first quarter of their 27-7 victory over Arizona. Pat Cowan, a sophomore from Pico Rivera, Calif., filled in and had a strong day, going 20-for-29 for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Until Saturday, Cowan had never thrown a pass in a college game. As if the win wasn't enough, Cowan earned a Monday Award for Random Player of the Week.

4. USC (81.5) - The men's water polo team continued to roll, defeating  No. 9 UC Santa Barbara 15-8 and No. 5 Pacific 23-12 to improve to 11-0 overall and 3-0 in MPSF play. The team retained its No. 1 ranking for the fourth straight week (after spending three at No. 2). The team takes its 30-match winning streak into this weekend's Southern California Tournament. Other schools participating include No. 2 California, No. 3 UC San Diego, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 LMU, No. 7 Pacific, No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, No. 13 Pepperdine, No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 16 Air Force.  

 5. Wake Forest (75) - The fifth-ranked men's soccer squad survived a tough overtime battle at No. 23 UConn and won, 1-0. Junior Julian Valentin scored the game's lone goal in the 103rd minute as the Demon Deacons extended  their prefect road record to 5-0-0 (11-2-1 overall). Junior Brian Edwards recorded the shutout, his eighth of the season and 26th of his career. Edwards is one shutout away from the school record. The Deacons travel to Chapel Hill on Friday night to face the third-ranked Tar Heels.