Pac 10 Preview
1. USC – No surprise here, I think everyone is calling them to win their conference this year and they have a good shot at running the table and going to the BCS Championship game. They have 16 starters back, including 10 on defense and senior QB leadership in John David Booty. They do have a tough shedule, going on the road to play Nebraska, but get Notre Dame, Oregon, Arizona State, and Cal at home. Prediction: 11-1 (8-1).
2. Oregon – I think Oregon is a much improved team this year. Look for Dennis Dixon to be one of the most improved QBs in the country, plus they get 5 Pac 10 games at home. They do play Michigan early in the season though. Prediction: 10-2 (8-1).
3. Arizona St – This is the first year under a new coach, and teams in that situation are hard to pick. But Dennis Erickson has 8 home games in his first year and an easy start to the schedule. Starting hot helps players buy into a new head coach’s system and philosophy and that confidence only grows as the season progresses. The schedule works out that this team start out 7-0, possibly even 8-0. Prediction: 9-3 (6-3).
4. UCLA - I almost put UCLA at #2 in this conference as they have 20 returning starters and a relatively light schedule. It’s not unreasonable to think that this team could be 11-0 going into the USC game. They could be, but I don’t think they will. They still have Karl Dorell as coach and will lose a couple they should win. They have the talent, we’ll see if it materializes this season. Prediction: 8-4 (6-3).
5. California – They only have 13 returning starters and had 4 close wins last year that might not be in the cards for the Golden Bears this year. They have to face Arizona St, UCLA, USC, and Oregon all on the road, and have non conference games against Tennessee and at Colorado St. But they have one of the better QBs in the conference leading the team and should see the post season. Prediction: 7-5 (5-4).
6. Oregon St – The Beavers won’t repeat last years 10-4 record. The schedule is tough and they have to replace their QB and several other key position players. Still, this team won’t be an easy win for any of the better teams in the conference. Prediction: 7-5 (4-5)
7. Arizona - Mike Stoops is closing the gap on the top tier teams from when he took over this team. But this team still has a ways to go. 5 of their 6 road games are against teams who played in a bowl last year and they will have to keep QB Tuitama healthy. They can’t be competitive have play QB Lotto like they did last year. Still, this team is a few close wins away from being in its first bowl game in 9 years. Prediction: 6-6 (3-6)
8 – Washington – Ty Willingham is in his 3rd year at Washington and the Huskies are improving. Thankfully for Ty, the Washington administration looks like they are going to give him the time he needs to build up the program. They start a redshirt freshman QB and face a very tough schedule. Looks like another rebuilding year for the Huskies. Prediction: 4-9 (3-6).
9. Washington State – Hard to pick this team here as I think they will be competitive in most of their games. But they return just 12 starters, 6 on each side of the ball and have 5 conference road games. Prediction: 4-9 (2-9)
10. Stanford – Oh, the lowly Cardinal. I’m not optimistic that this team can win a conference game this year. In fact, their nonconference games are against Notre Dame, TCU, and San Jose St. And San Jose St beat them last year! However, they have a new head coach in Jim Harbaugh (hey, didn’t I have his rookie card?) and an entirely new coaching staff, that includes several ex-NFL assistant coaches. But they have a LONG way to go. A very LONG way. If they work tirelessly and pull of a few recruiting miracles, they could be a decent team in a couple years. Prediction: 1-10 (0-9).