Your Pac-10 Preview
by Amy Lamare of www.gridirongoddess.net
I can make this real quick football fiends: USC will win its 7th straight Pac 10 championship and head to a BCS bowl game.
And that concludes your 2008 Pac-10 Preview. UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State - all y’all might as well stay home. Rey Maualuga, Mark Sanchez, Joe McKnight and the boys have got this one sewn up.
In all seriousness though, the Pac-10 does not back down from a challenge when scheduling its non-conference games. This year teams in the Pac-10 face: Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, BYU, Boise State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Purdue, just to name a handful. No 1-AA cupcake rivals here!
ARIZONA WILDCATS:
It’s do or die time for Coach Mike Stoops. He’s going to have to get his Wildcats to win 6 games to at least have a shot at keeping his job. If he can do this, Arizona will get to Bear Down for their first bowl game since 1998. I’m betting in Stoops’ favor since his non-conference lineup is fairly easy with games against Idaho and Toledo and at New Mexico.
Senior QB Willie Tuitama is going to have to step it up and generate some scoring this season for the Wildcats to be competitive in the Pac-10. The defense returns only 3 starters, and that’s not the only bad news for the Wildcat D. Their most experienced defensive lineman, Jonathan Turner, was suspended from the team’s summer practices after being charged with sexual assault last spring. He is awaiting his trial.
Junior college transfer Nick Booth hopes to boost the Arizona running game. This 225 pound running back joins Nic Grisby, Xavier Smith and true freshman Keola Antolin on the Wildcat depth chart.
Arizona’s Non Conference Schedule: Idaho, Toledo, New Mexico
Arizona reports to pre-season camp on August 4th
ARIZONA STATE SUNDEVILS:
ASU was picked to finish 2nd behind USC in the pre-season Pac-10 poll. The Sun Devils are prepping for their second season under Coach Dennis Erickson and they have one MAJOR issue: The Offensive Line. They don’t have one. Seriously, last season QB Rudy Carpenter spent so much time on his back that I started to wonder if those were not linemen lined up in front of him, but rather, Fatheads.
Dennis Erickson is incorporating a quick release spread offense this season to help Carpenter’s protection. A good portion of his 55 sacks last season were due to him holding onto the ball too long. Five players have left the team since the conclusion of spring practices, including tight end Dane Guthrie. (Academic reasons for former defensive end Guthrie.)
ASU plays a doozy of a non conference game when it faces Georgia on September 20th. If the Sun Devils do not solve their offensive
24 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
John Berkowitz 11 months ago
Rick Neuheisel has more friends than enemies in Seattle, and while he thinks he will be booed when he returns he may just end up with some scattered applause.
Rick didn't drive the once proud Husky football program into the ground, what accomplished that was 13 years of mismanagement by an inept athletic director, and indifferent attitude from the upper campus.
Rick led Washington to it's last Rose Bowl in 2001, and came extremely close to taking them to two more.
Rick of course had his flaws, he wasn't a thorough evaluator of talent and character. He didn't spend enough time looking at HS film in those days, and that led to some highly ranked classes he recruited his last two years not living up to it's potential. He also wasn't much of a disciplinarian which led to respect, and behavior problems on his team. Rick was a friend in many cases rather than a father figure, and as any good parent knows that doesn't work.
Rick also was very Clintonian in his attitude about the truth. He thrived in the gray area's, and when he was caught continued to try to debate his way out of it rather than simply say I'm sorry.
His final error was to place a friendly bet in a neighborhood final four pool. His reaction at first was to deny, and that denial was the last straw with UW administration who had grown tired of his pinnochioism's. The NCAA tried to make an example out of him before the case was fairly heard. The UW administration abandoned him, and in the end both parties had to pay him millions of dollars to correct their errors. Rick actually had permission from the UW compliance director that final Four pools were fine if they were among friends.
Rick spent five years in college football exile. He assisted with some HS coaching to keep his hand in the game, then he moved on to the NFL as an assistant before getting a chance to coach at his alma mater UCLA.
People in the Northwest should remember Rick for what he truly was, and that was a real nice guy whose heart was in the right place most of the time. He was a joy to coach for, his players loved him, and he always put them first.
I personally think UCLA is getting a great coach who has learned from his past mistakes. His biggest mistake was being anti football establishment. In the end if you buck the group, they turn on you and eat you. Rick survived that banquet, and is now getting the chance he deserves at UCLA.
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Corey 11 months ago
So Amy, and all other USC fans, got a question for you (and I'm not a USC fan).
To preface, I get tired of bickering with all of the other fans from the other teams around the league about whos next, or whos going to "dethrone" USC. I think its comming in the next two years. Should have been last year actually, if Dennis Dixon didnt go down.
But, as everyone else seems to be blinded by their own teams promiss, perhaps the only people truly able to judge are the fans on top, who have a birds eye view of who is really ready to challenge, the USC fans. So, Who has the best future of taking down the trojans? Next year and over the next 4?
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Kevin 11 months ago
For starters USC only has 1 *real* BCS National Championship, USC for some reason loves the claim 2003 as a championship year but yet USC didn't even play in the NC (National Championship) game, LSU and OK did but yet USC wants to complain that they didn't get a shot for the NC title and then claimed it as their own. Yet the VERY next year both OK, USC and Auburn go undefeated USC and OK get picked to play for the NC, USC wins and Auburn wins leaving both Auburn and USC are undefeated but yet they crown USC as the only champion? If we go by USC's standards Auburn should have a share of the title, leaving USC with 2 half titles.
You also mention that USC has won the past 6 years of the PAC-10 championships. That just goes to show that the PAC-10 doesn't play anyone in their own conference. Need I remind you USC plays 1 less game than the big12, SEC and the ACC and that last game is a conference championships so you can't even "claim" a real championship. USC recruits all the big players out of high school, and then the left overs go to the other PAC-10 schools. While in the SEC you have AU,UA,UF,LSU,UG along with the other SEC and ACC schools competing for the same recruits.
While we are on the conversation of USC not playing anyone, USC played a total of 5 teams in the top 25, LSU played 8. It is rather amusing to see how you USC fans think they are the best in the nation year in and year out when in reality if USC played in the SEC they would just be mediocre team. Come play in the SEC week in and week out and then we will see what USC is really made of. But I guess we will never find out as USC won't want to actually have to work for a NC.
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Lisa Horne 11 months ago
Kevin-
You are correct, USC has only one BCS championship. No one has claimed two. They do have back-to-back National championships because the NCAA doesn't award the NCAA championship, thus the discrepancy over who is #1. When you are handing a trophy by the AP that says champion, that makes you a champion. While I agree Auburn might have gotten shafted, did anyone hand them a trophy? No. Thus, they cannot claim an NC.
Interestingly, you seem think the SEC is a better conference. Very well, please explain how the Pac-10 is 9-6 against the SEC since 2000, and to prove the point that it's not just "the big boys winning it", take out LSU and USC and it's a 5-2 advantage over the SEC.
More points to ponder...in the last three years, your divisional champs have lost to USC and Cal. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to your conference, the divisional champs are the two best teams in your conference.)
Let me repeat this...last year, the Vols were your divisional champs, and they lost to a "weak" Pac-10 team.....Cal, WHO LOST SIX OF THEIR LAST EIGHT GAMES.
Prior to that, Arkansas, another divisional champ in the SEC, let SC spank 55 points on them in Fayetteville. Your divisional champs can't even beat a supposed "weak" Pac-10 team.
As far as recruits, again, you are misinformed. The players come from all over the country, including the South. John Booty, Joe McKnight, Damian Johnson, Mitch Mustain to name a few. If you can't keep them in your backyard, blame yourselves.
Keep drinking that kool-aid. The disrespect some SEC fans have towards anyone else is beyond belief. When is the last time any SEC team spanked 70+ points on another SEC team? USC SCORED SEVENTY ON THE HOGS. Give me a break. You can spin that anyway you want, but the bottom line is that the Pac-10 has owned the SEC since 2000, and your arguments are weak.
Schooled.
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rod wood 11 months ago
This response is for Kevin and Lisa, who responded to Kevin's comment.
Lisa pretty much refuted every claim in your comment. Is there really anything left to say. Let's give it a shot because I think there is an argument lurking in this conference superiority debate that other SEC folks on this website are unwilling to confront because it undercuts their claims of the SEC as the # 1 conference. I would like to see if you will.
At what point does claiming that your conference is the best in the country cross the line and becomes a member institution trying to take credit for the success of another member school in their conference? Like I've posted elsewhere, what does Tim Tebow winning the Heisman mean for the state of the Arkansas Razorbacks football program? What does a Tennessee Volunteer team winning the national championship mean for the state of the LSU football program? Those individuals and teams that were rightfully recognized should deserve the praise and attention but when a team tries to use that other team's success in order to bolster the perception of their own football programs, then I see it as a team trying to take credit for another team's hard work. Why don't you stand on the merits of whatever your own school or team has accomplished. Is it because your own team may not have the history and merit to match up when compared to USC's or maybe another school? Everything is earned on the field and if you need to point to what another school has accomplished in order to fill in the gaps of what your own team has been unable to achieve then I'm sure to you it makes sense to reach over into another school and take credit for what they themselves pushed themselves to accomplish.
I've written more on this topic in the comments here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/38644-conference-allegiance-in-college-football-who-am-i-rooting-for-again
You can holler and whoop it up all you want. But, quite simply, this conference debate is nothing more than a few schools looking to bolster their football programs by talking about what some of their most successful brothers accomplished on the field, such as Alabama and Tennessee, in order to try and show that their football program and team is stronger than it really is.
rodwood
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rod wood 11 months ago
Kevin and Lisa, as an observer,
You know Kevin, I've watched Pac-10 sports all my life and I've never seen a school in this conference try and take credit for what some of the other members have accomplished in order to bolster the image of their own programs. It seems to be an SEC mentality.
But, I tell you what, if it is so important to you that the SEC be regarded as the "toughest football conference" then I'll go out of my way and proclaim that for you. I will go out and say that the SEC is the "toughest football conference" for all to hear. If you will do one thing for me.
I will go out and say that if you will go out and say, based on the objective evidence below, that the Pac-10 conference is the greatest athletic conference of all time, hands down.
While the evidence is certainly there that the Pac-10 is the greatest athletic conference of all-time, have you even heard any other member institution try to use that to talk of their own athletic programs? No, because we out here in the West prefer to stand on the merits of our own athletic achievement instead of trying to take credit for what another school has done, as our neighbors in the SEC do. Take a look at this link and tell us who the top three schools are:
http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/champs_listing1.html
Be waiting to hear from you, Kevin. Although I doubt I will seeing the corner I backed you in.
For all the other USC and Pac-10 folks, feel free to use the information I have provided in my comments and these links in these conference debates. It seems like our neighbors in the SEC have been talking without being fully informed of the overall rich history and tradition of the Pac-10 conference.
rodwood
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David Hedlind 11 months ago
the AP voted USC #1 awarding them the trophy. AU in 04 was not ranked #1 so they have no such claim, by anyones standards.
USC plays 1 less game than 2 teams from any of those conferences but not the whole conference. Need I remind you that the Confernece Championship games are not required and are held at the choice of the conference. even with 12 teams the conference still doesnt have to have one. they can have one but there are no rules in the NCAA that says they have to.
As for crowing a real champion the PAC 10 plays a full round robin meaning they play ALL the other schools in the conference. in a conference championship your teams get there without playing as many as 3 conference teams, sometimes replaying teams and sometimes the two best teams dont even play for the title.
USC played 5 ranked teams and LSU played 8. this is true. at the end of the season when the ranking mean a bit more LSU had played 5 teams in the final rankings, USC played 4.
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Ryan Staab 11 months ago
I'll be at the Ohio State-USC game, and I am scared sh*tless of those SC linebackers. Once again, you'll be the best team in the Pac, and once again, I'll have to put up with my insufferable SoCal friends ;)
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
As usual, the national pundits are clueless on what is really going on at USC and severely UNDERESTIMATING USC.... and NEVER reading the blogs from the guys actually watching the practices and workouts.
QB Mark Sanchez will be WAY better than Booty was-
The WR's are top 10 at a minimum, the RB's are #1 in the country, hands down,, with just McNight ALONE much less the hungry ones behind him.
The OL has the best OL coach in the country and is far more experienced than the pundits will lead you to believe.
If the USC Offensive Coordinator can finally IMPROVE and even be HALF as good as a Norm Chow at gameplanning and playcalling,,
USC will ANNIHILATE people this year.
The Ohio State game is OVER - take it from a long time socal football player and fan -
if you want to know the TRUTH about what's gonna happen in that game.. take a look at the
USC-Oklahoma national championship game. (also see all of USC's non-conference games the last 5 years. )
I don't even need to MENTION the USC 'D',, if you don't have them down as the BEST,, you are clueless and need to plug into the local blogs to get the facts.
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
Watch USC Safety Taylor Mays this year,,
may be the hardest hitting and best Safety in college football HISTORY.
just WATCH.
If you have any doubts.. check the stats on his size, speed, strength,,
and watch what happens when balls are thrown over the middle this year.
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Herb Seitz 11 months ago
Hey Kevin put on your big boy pants and stop whining about the past. USC didn't claim a share of the championship it was given to them by the poll. SEC's claim to fame is the fact it is so big, statistically they should have some great teams and that of course translates into a tough conference. Go take your skirt off.
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Kevin 11 months ago
Yeah NOT the BCS poll the AP poll which most of the voters in the AP poll are biased towards the PAC anyways. So you wanna tell me why Auburn didn't get the AP poll in 2004 they went undefeated as well? Oh wait I forgot USC is the Jesus child of PAC-10.
You talk about the SEC not playing a tough non-conference but thats all you got for an argument as you sure as hell can't say a SEC team has a weak conference schedule like USC does. Why don't you put your pants on and bring that holy grail of a team in the Pac-1(0) to the SEC and play LSU, UA, AU, UF, UG all back to back to back to back to back and then come tell me how great your little team is.
Oh and btw how many bowl games did you win last year? For some reason I think the SEC won more bowl games than the PAC-10 could even send. Yeah you are right...the SEC is weak.
I have never seen a more biased location for PAC-10 and USC football anywhere on the net. I am glad someone decided to consolidate all the wannabes in a single location.
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David Hedlind 11 months ago
Id like to see any team from the SEC play that schedule as well but I cant find one that does. see thats the problem that just because all those teams are in the confrence no team actually plays all of them. and no one sure as hell plays them all in a row. the SEC is notorious for sprinkling in the Sun Belt teams and DIAA teams. also you got Vandy or Ole Miss in there.
I could say an SEC team has a weak schedule look at Auburn. the west is ok but only LSU along with AU them selves is worth anything right now. Alabma is playing off potetial not to mention AU has owned them for like 6 in a row. Miss st had one decent year last year but untill i see consistancy im not ready to proclaim them a tough game. Ark and Ole miss are going into the whole new coach new scheme thing so who knows what they will come with. besides wich Ole miss is coming off an 0-8 confernece record. then from the East they got Tenn who is ok but I dont see them any better than 4th this year. maybe fight for 3rd. UGA is good but then Vandy?? not to mention all the though ones (lsu, Tenn, UGA) are all at home.
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John Berkowitz 11 months ago
Taylor Mays is pretty good, but he has a ways to go before would call him the best ever. To me the two best ever in the Pac Ten, and probably nationally were Kenny Easley (UCLA), and Ronnie Lott (USC).
Easley just took over college games, and that isn't easy for a defensive safety to do. The guy was everywhere, and he turned mistakes into instant points for a low scoring UCLA team. I watched him take Washington out of a Rose Bowl, and a possible National Championship one time almost single handedly, the guy was that good.
Before I say Mays is the best I want to witness him take over a game like Easley did. In the history of college football there aren't many defensive players who were able to achieve that feat.
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
THE USC LB's and DB's are each top 3 in the country...
so he won't have the chance to 'take over' the game,,
after he sends a few WR's out on a stretcher,, the opposing offenses won't be
throwing much over the middle.
He won't have the stats that Easley or Lott did because his teammates are so much better,,
but WATCH TAYLOR MAYS this year. :)
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Mitch Rowe 11 months ago
Wow another pac 10 preview that is identicle to the rest... "USC is so much better than everyone else, why not just give them the pac 10 championship without playing any games...heck just give them the national championship". I am yet to be sold on USC they lost so many players from their offense and defensive lines from a great team last year. They continue to replace with top talent but experience counts in the pac 10 and college football. USC has a couple of mediocre QB's that have not played many games yet, and they did lose two pac 10 games last year.
USC is the best pre season team in the Pac 10, But I am tired of sports writers crowning them before the season starts. There are other good teams in the Pac 10 that have a shot at slaying the giant.
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Lew Wright 11 months ago
Hey Amy,
Nice work. Though you clearly are a Homer for USC, there's a saying that comes to mind. "It's hard to be humble when you know that you're great."
By the way, what was USC's record with the highly touted Mark Sanchez under center when Booty went down? No need to worry about Sanchez with Mustain in the wings...along with a couple of other studs. With the Trojan O-line and six (yes, six!) outstanding running backs, do you really care who hands the ball off this season?
Have to make one significant correction. Coach Wulff will not, repeat, not be running a spread offense this season. His no-huddle philosophy is geared toward specific matchups. You'll see shotgun, one-back, two-back, under center and no back formations. And you'll see lots of them. The Cougs defense might not be a good as the one last season...which gave up a ton of points.
Write on Amy!
Lew
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Herb Seitz 11 months ago
Kevin
I didn't say the SEC was weak. I said lift your skirt, give it a scratch and get on with life and the coming season............or is the past all you have to talk about?
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Lisa Horne 11 months ago
Kevin...please my response to your original comment...you are so far off base, I'd like to see you defend your comment now.
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Kevin 11 months ago
Lisa I have no problem responding to your comment. You cannot automatically assume that since you are the divisional champ that you are the best or even the second best in the SEC. It just ends up being the way it falls. You actually think that Tenn was a better team than UGA? Tenn beat UGA, UGA beat FL, FL beat Tenn. Just ended up that Tenn got it as they beat UGA in a head to head, if FL wouldn't have lost to either UA to AU it would have been different. So your point about the "Division" champion doesnt means jack. UGA had a better team at the end of the season tenn just happened to beat them at the beginning of the season and didn't get any luck with the "right" team beating tenn. As a USC fan I can understand how you wouldn't get that as you play two *tough* games all season, 3 if you are lucky. USC doesn't play a conference championship they just show up and get a trophy. How many teams did the PAC-10 have over .500 last season? SEC had 10 out of 12... yall had a whopping 5 out of 10. USC on the other hand just wins some games and get a conference championship. How many teams did you send to a BCS bowl last season? And yeah LSU only played UF, UK, AU, UA back to bakc to back, all being ranked in the top 25.
As for a beating another team by 70 points or whatever it is, please show some class. You don't think that LSU coudn't have run up the score on OSU last year, or UGA running up the score on UH? The pac-10 is notorious for running the score up so they can brag about it later. Just like you are now. Putting up 80 points up on a team just to show that you can shows how arrogant and cocky you are. Please put up 80 points on an SEC team that wins the SEC championship and then get back with me.
BCS PLEASE learn more about the SEC and the way they schedule games. Please go do more research before spouting off.
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rod wood 11 months ago
Kevin,
Your logic is hapless at best and on the verge of contradicting oneself. For starters, let me pose this question to you and see if you can untangle yourself from your own rationalizations:
If your premise is that USC does not play anyone in their own conference, then should we discount all of the national titles that Alabama won in the 1960's and 1970's? They were the premier team of that conference back then while playing LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia. Since Alabama was able to thoroughly dominate those teams during that era, it stands that Alabama's success back then should not carry any significance because it faced a low level of competition from its conference members. If you choose to view USC's current run of success based on the competition it has faced currently, then Alabama's run in the 1960's and 1970's must also be viewed in the context of why no other team from that conference was able to challenge Alabama. An argument could be made that Alabama had a weak in-conference schedule and then when it met Notre Dame in the 1973 Sugar Bowl, it wasn't prepared for the tougher competition as it ended up losing that bowl game.
Should we discount Alabama's national titles, Kevin? BTW, still waiting to hear your attempt at logic on why SEC teams feel the need to take credit for another team/program's success. This has got to be good seeing how no other sport sees their teams trying to take credit for another team's success because of the division/conference they play in, except for the SEC.
rodwood
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Kevin 11 months ago
When the SEC wins a championship all prize money is split between all the schools in the SEC, when 1 team wins they all win. The PAC show boats 1 team that wins and for the most recent past that has been USC, please come to me when split your BCS prize money with 11 other teams. When you have the best traditions in college football, the largest stadiums, the most attendance and the majority of the "biggest" rivalries in the NCAA (UA vs AU, LSU vs AU, UT vs UA, FL vs LSU, AU vs UGA). The SEC is the red headed step child of the media, all because most of the media IS biased toward the PAC/Big-11 conferences BECAUSE they went to school there or are from the area. Please write your schools and tell them to schedule more SEC teams PLEASE because they won't. They know they would get ripped apart playing week in and week out of the SEC. If Vandy played the same schedule as USC they would end up with 1-2 losses as well. Keep bragging about them big wins and them "tough" 3-7 "conference wins" please. In reality though USC cant compete when they play the big boys of the SEC after the team has went through the rough of an SEC schedule
Please define "Quality opponents" before throwing statistics around when none of the stuff is actually valid in the first place when you state that "Boise State" is a quality opponent. And don't give me this BS that Washington or Ill was a "quality opponent".
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rod wood 11 months ago
Kevin,
Your avoidance of my question has become a reflection of what is SEC football scheduling. Is it too difficult for you to confront what the premise of my arguments has been about these conference superiority debates? But, just for the record so we have a record that you, like SEC conference scheduling, dodge what is too difficult for most of your members to comprehend is this:
Why is the SEC the only conference in any major sport where its members routinely try to take credit for goals and accomplishments that were earned by another team in their conference? Is it because their individual programs don't match up to USC's rich tradition or any other school for that matter? I do not see other teams from other major sports - pro baseball, pro basketball, world soccer, pro football - engage in this behavior. Why is it only the SEC?
The ball is in your court now, Kevin. Be waiting to hear from you. After all the talk of tough SEC competition, it would be a shame that you would not be up to the challenge of a little question.
rodwood
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Kevin 9 months ago
/Wave PAC-NONE
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