Season Saver

UCLA and California football players will need to check the baggage at the Rose Bowl gate today, or so goes the mantra as they focus on a final destination -- whether that will be a January trip back to Pasadena or a journey to a backwater bowl.

What-ifs hover smog-like above both teams.

What if . . . UCLA had picked up those gimme victories over Utah and Notre Dame, when they were double-digit favorites? The Bruins might be ranked second and looking to take a seat at the adults’ table this holiday bowl season.

What if . . . Cal had handled Oregon State at home last week? Fans would be going berserk-ly in Berkeley, with California ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since 1951.

“I think about that every night before I go to sleep,” UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis said about where the unranked Bruins could be. “It’s tough to swallow. But we can’t do anything about that now. Like everyone else, we have to hope everything will take care of itself.”

Bears players can sing that tune in harmony.

While the Bruins’ latest gaffe -- a 20-6 loss to previously winless Notre Dame -- has healed some after two weeks, Cal’s loss is still an open wound.

The Bears needed only to defeat already thrice-beaten Oregon State to claim the top spot in the first Bowl Championship Series standings.

“Getting over it has actually been really tough,” Cal tackle Mike Gibson said this week. “That feeling is going to linger on for the rest of the season, but the sky is the limit for us. We can still run the table with one loss. We can make it to the national championship game. We can make it to the Rose Bowl.”

That would require the Bears winning in the Rose Bowl today.

Though Cal (5-1 overall, 2-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play) is one game behind UCLA (4-2, 3-0) in the league standings, the Bears are 10th in the Associated Press poll and 12th in the BCS.

The reasons seem sound. Foremost among them, the Bears have a formidable offense.

Running back Justin Forsett leads the conference in rushing, quarterback Nate Longshore is long in talent and experience, and receiver-returner DeSean Jackson is still being pitched as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Forsett gained 150 yards against Oregon State last week, yet the Beavers neutralized Jackson, holding him to five yards in four receptions.

Longshore didn’t play because of a sprained ankle. He is listed as questionable, which could leave the offense to redshirt freshman Kevin Riley.

Riley passed for 294 yards last week but also made the ill-advised decision to scramble instead of ditching the ball to stop the clock on the last play, denying the Bears a chance to kick a field goal to tie the score.

“I don’t really think rebounding is the issue,” Bears Coach Jeff Tedford said. “The issue is who we play and how we play next.”

Yet another thing the Bears have in common with the Bruins.

UCLA has had two weeks to ponder its Notre Dame performance. It was the Bruins’ second “oops” moment, following the 44-6 loss at Utah that dropped them from 11th in the AP poll to the others-receiving-votes category.

Those losses had many putting the Bruins in the overrated pile, even though UCLA and Arizona State are the Pac-10’s only teams still undefeated in conference play.

“If you dwell in the past, it affects what you do in the future,” cornerback Trey Brown said. “What we have ahead of us is the Cal Bears.

“We’re undefeated in the Pac-10 and we have another Pac-10 opponent right in our backyard. You just have to take what you learned from those previous games.”

What the Bruins learned from their previous game is you can never have enough quarterbacks ready to play.

When Ben Olson went out because of a knee injury against Notre Dame, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a non-scholarship player, was the only option. He had four passes intercepted and also fumbled once.

The week off allowed Patrick Cowan time to return from an injured right knee and he will start today. But while Bethel-Thompson remains the primary backup, Osaar Rasshan, a quarterback for two seasons before being switched to receiver this year, practiced at his original position.

Whether that should have been done sooner is another what-if, and the Bruins say they are done looking at the scenarios in the rearview mirror.

“We have to go out and take care of that game in front of us,” Davis said. “Do that each week and who knows? College football is kind of crazy this year, we might end up back up there.”

Times staff writer Thomas Bonk contributed to this report.

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chris.foster@latimes.com