Conference Rankings

5. Pac-10


The forgotten conference. The conference that suffers from East Coast Bias. The Conference that is all flash and no content. The conference that features Washington and Washington State....weve heard all the criticisms of the Pac-10 over the years. Id like to think that the conference is improving, and it is, but it is still very Top-Heavy. USC, Cal, Oregon, and even Oregon State figure to be major players this year, and it will remain to be seen if Stanford and UCLA can resurrect their programs. After that though, the bottom of the conference doesnt stack up to other BCS conferences.

Lets get the hard stuff out of the way. Washington State is probably the worst BCS conference team. Their 2 wins last year were against Portland State and Apple Cup rival Washington. Well, why isnt Washington the worst team in the BCS then? Because they show a sign or two of improvement. Unfortunately for everyone watching (all 5 people), the Wash-Wash St game went to OT, as if neither team wanted to win. In a 4 game stretch against Oregon State, USC, Stanford, and Arizona, Wazzu gave up acombined 252 points, a 63 pt average. Oops. They also gave up 63 to Oregon and 66 to Cal. I think its safe to say the defense must improve. The defense features 6 juniors/sophomores, so they could improve. There isnt even a gimmie on the schedule like POrt State this year; they play Hawaii in Seattle, SMU, and Notre Dame in San Antonio. Washington onthe other hand was also subject to many embarassments last year. 12 in fact, as the Huskies went 0-12. The best news out of Seattle is that Willingham is no longer affiliated with the team. Whether or not Steve Sarkisian is the answer for their team remains to be seen, but can he be worse? The great hope of Huskies fans comes fromQB Jake Locker. The time must be now for the once heralded recruit. After competing the first 4 games, Locker became injured and was sidelined the last 8. THis is a team that was competitive with USC and Ohio State 2 years ago,and was robbed of a win last year vs BYU. Their team cant be THAT far away that they went 0-12. The schedule is no help; they open hosting LSU, then Idaho,and must travel to South Bend. Revenge to the Cougars may come Thanksgiving Weekend (this would bea game im not thankful for), as the game is held in Seattle this year.

I like the way Arizona competed last year. They came through big for me inthe Las Vegas Bowl, beating BYU. They played their asses off on defense vs USC. They came up just short of ruining Oregon States season (which would later be ruined one week later vs Oregon). Their five losses were by a combined 28 points, their biggest loss was by 10 to Oregon. They had a real, real nice team. Unfortunately they must start again at QB after losing Willie Tuitama, and suffer from losing WR Mike Thomas. RB Nic Grigsby rushed for 1100+ yards last year, and will figure to get more touches this year when the new QB settling in. Cris Collinsworth says time and time again in Madden 2009 that the TE is the QB's bff. This will definitely be true with All-American TE Rob Gronkowski. Between he and the running game, the offense may not drop too far. The front part of the defense should be ok, returning 3 starters on the line, but the back 7 must be rebuilt. They will face an early test with Central Michigan traveling to Tuscon. That is followed by a visit from N. Arizona, and then a trip to Iowa, which should be a very intriguing game. If the wildcats can go 3-0, theyll be primed to play in a premiere bowl game again.

Their in-state rival Arizona State Sun Devils fought through dissapointment last year. Two years ago they flirted with the BCS, and ultimately accepted a bid to the Holiday Bowl vs Texas. They were simply overmatched by their Pac-10 rivals last year, losing six straight, which also included losses to UNLV and Georgia. Worse yet, the team loses Rudy Carpenter and almost all of their skill positions. This is a team that must play a lot of low scoring games. When things were clicking 2 years ago, I liked RB Dimitri Nance and WR Chris McGaha, but I am unsure if they can lead the offense on their own. The defense will be the strong unit, but not by default. This side of the ball features a lot of talent, starting with DE Dexter Davis and Freshman All-American DT Lawrence Guy. The team has been succeptible to giving up big plays in the past, so the secondary must improve. They should beat Idaho State and UL-Monroe, but will definitely have their hands full when they visit Athens. The schedule in the Pac-10 sets up so that if they can find any type of offense, they will return to a bowl game.

I like Stanford so much, that they might be my one, official, sleeper team of the year. Jim Harbaugh has put his stamp on the program; tough, physical football. They shocked the world two years ago vs USC. They started strong last year before crumbling down the stretch vs the superior teams in the conference. Freshman QB Andrew Luck has been labeled as "the guy". He should have no trouble settling in by handing off to 1100 yd rusher Toby Gerhart as he becomes comfortable throwing to WR Chris Owusu and WR Ryan Whalen.. The defense should be goodin 2009. DE Tom Keiser and S Bo McNally serve for strength up the middle. They can rush the QB pretty effectively, as the ends combined for 9 sacks. They can start off 4-0 if they win a trip to Winston Salem. They should beat Wazzu, San Jose State and Washinton. After that start, ifthe confidence builds, and Harbaugh continues to preach his style, the team should be destined for a bowl game. Perhaps they're not ready to compete for the Pac-10 title just yet, but with all of their skill positions on offense being young (sans Gerhart), the Cardinal should be a force in years to come.

UCLA should figure to be one of the more interesting teams in the nation this year. Rick Neuheisel experienced some growing pains last year, but the talent exists for them to be competitive. The Kevin Prince era starts at QB. No doubt hell experience some early knocks, but figures to be the long term answer. He needs to find WR Terrence Austin. The defense will be the strength. LB Reggie Carter led the team in tackles,and the DL is stout with DT Brian Price and DE Korey Bosworth. The team finished 8th in the nation in pass defense last year, led by returning CB Alterraun Verner. The Bruins still may be ways away, but they figure to improve. Talent is starting to build in LA. Neuheisel can recruit and compete at the highest level. It isnt hard to recruit great players in Southern California, and with Neuheisel at the helm, they figure to have a great rivalry with USC in the years to come.

Oregon State is the team that surprises you every year, even though it should come as no surprise. They have turned into a perenial 9 win team. They beat USC, came the closest to beating Utah out of anyone, and were one win away from heading to the Rose Bowl. Back are QB Lyle Moevao, RB Jacquizz Rodgers, WR James Rodgers, and most of the offensive line that completely dominated USC on that Thursday Night last September. Losing WR/Return Man Sammie Stroughter hurts, but the offense should be potent again (although they only needed 3 to beat Wanny in the Sun Bowl). The defense has lost lots. Theyve lost their entire secondary, and their leading sack men. LB Keaton Kristick has some talent, and will have to school some incoming players on the fly. They open with Portland State, (we remember them as a team even Wazzu can beat), travel to UNLV, then welcome Cinci. The Cincinnatti game should be interesting, as Oregon State has historically been a team to startslow, finish strong (0-2 last year, 2-3 in 07). THis is a team that has won 2/3 vs USC (both in Corvallis), and has combined for 18 wins the last 2 years. I wont be surprised again when the defense can put it together, and Oregon State wins 8-9 games again.

Look for previews of Oregon, Cal, and USC to come.

Final Predictions: (This isnt your grandpa's Pac-10. Most of the teams would say their defense is the strength of their team, and will rely on them in 2009. This is a far cry from the 1990s where seemingly every game was a shootout. I like the Pac-10 for 2 reasons: 1) they play a round robin schedule, playing every team so theres no BS like the Big10 had with Ohio State and Iowa in 2002, and, someone else pointed this out to me recently, 2) the geography of the teams involved sets up nicely. You have 2 teams in arizona, 2 in southern cal, 2 in northern cal, 2 in oregon, and 2 in washington. All of those teams are big rivals, arizona vs asu, usc ucla, cal stanford, the civil war in oregon, and the apple cup in washington. I think that the Pac-10 suffers from being on later at night and not being televised in the east, and not having a lot of strong bowl tie-ins other than the Rose Bowl and the Holliday Bowl. Look for a competitive league this year with 9 teams competing for bowl bids, (sorry washingtons)).

1. USC
2. Oregon
3. Cal
4. Oregon State
5. Stanford
6. UCLA
7. Arizona
8. Arizona State
9. Washinton
10. Wazzu