Weekend Wake Up: Ducks' Grit, Les Miles' Lapse, UFC 106 Recap, Hornets' Surge

Ducks Set Up War For Roses. The Arizona student section was so sure their Wildcats would come away with a second straight upset of Oregon at home that they spilled onto the sidelines with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter. Then the Ducks scored on a perfectly lofted fade from Jeremiah Masoli. And then they scored twice more in overtime to take a 44-41 victory. Sure, the Ducks made the 'Zona fans look silly, sending some climbing back into the stands, but it's Oregon's climb back to the top of the Pac-10 that's more exciting for them: The winner of their Civil War rivalry game with Oregon State will go to the Rose Bowl.

LSU Lets One Slip. I'll come back to this for The Hangover Cure, I promise, but the bizarre decisions made by Les Miles and LSU in the waning moments of their loss to Ole Miss deserve at least some mention this morning. On a drive with a half-dozen jailbreak blitzes from the Rebels, the Tigers called one correct play in response, played for the touchdown when they only needed a field goal, and wasted 18 seconds before improbably converting a pseudo-Hail Mary on fourth-and-forever, which left them with one second left. It's no surprise that they promptly tried to spike the ball: Nothing else on that drive made a lot of sense, either.

A Low-Key UFC Night? There were approximately zero household names on the UFC 106 bill, but there was some decent fighting. Forrest Griffin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira were the big winners, and The Rumble has much more reaction and analysis.

Who Needs CP3? The most impressive NBA week was probably the one put together by the New Orleans Hornets. The Chris Paul-less Hornets have wins over the Suns and Hawks, the best teams in the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, and teams that beat them by 20+ at home just one week prior. They're doing it with versatility: Three different players have led them in scoring this week, and rookie Darren Collison's 22 points and 11 assists, plus fellow rookie Marcus Thornton's 21, led them to their win over the Hawks last night. And they have a chance to extend their run to the road with a game in Miami tonight.

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