With the Pac-10 wide open, taking a stab at preseason power rankings was not easy. Predicting how the teams will finish is a crapshoot, and come the end of the season, these rankings could be turned nearly upside down.
With conference play about four weeks away, here’s how the Pac-10 stacks up.
10. Washington St. Cougars
This might have been the only easy pick. The Cougars have been dreadful under Paul Wulff and there is not much hope for 2010. There are nine teams in the conference that have hope of making a bowl; WSU is not one of them. They will be better than the last two seasons (3-22 combined), but have a long way to go.
9. UCLA Bruins
There is a new offense in Westwood, but UCLA’s questions lie mostly on the defensive side of the football where the Bruins lost six of their top 10 tacklers from a year ago. The schedule is unforgiving as UCLA plays six tough road games in 2010.
8. Arizona St. Sun Devils
ASU also has an unforgiving schedule, playing all but one of the conference’s toughest games away from Sun Devil Stadium. The defense is good enough to compete for a league crown, but the offense is a giant question mark. If Noel Mazzone’s system puts points on the board, this team can surprise.
7. Washington Huskies
UW returns the most starters in the conference, including potential top pick Jake Locker at quarterback, but must improve to move into the upper echelon of the league. The Huskies should compete for a bowl berth, but do not have an easy road. They play five away games in conference and haven’t won an away Pac-10 game in their last 10 tries
6. Stanford Cardinal
Replacing Toby Gerhart won’t be easy for Stanford, who will now rely on multiple running backs to fill the void. Quarterback Andrew Luck is a tremendous talent, but he will not have the luxury of having a Heisman finalist in the backfield. This team has a lot of talent and if all the pieces fall into place they could win the conference.
5. California Golden Bears
Many things that have bit Cal in years past are working in its favor this season. The Golden Bears do not have preseason expectations and have three straight home games to end the year. Cal always finishes poor, but playing at home should help. They get five Pac-10 home games and one of their road games is against Washington St.
4. Arizona Wildcats
The Wildcats will put points on the board, but the question will be if they can prevent opponents from doing the same. UA only returns four starters on defense and Mike Stoops is already displeased with the defense in camp. If the defense pans out, this team could have Rose Bowl dreams.
3. Oregon St. Beavers
No team will be more battle tested when conference play rolls around than OSU. The Beavers play TCU and Boise St. outside Corvallis during non-conference play. A lot will fall on the shoulders of new sophomore quarterback Ryan Katz. He will have plenty of help from the Rodgers brothers on offense. Look for this to be a very typical OSU season, start slow, but finish near the top of the league.
2. Oregon Ducks
This would be the top team in the Pac-10 if there weren’t a giant question mark at quarterback. With Jeremiah Masoli gone, either senior Nate Costa or sophomore Darron Thomas will take the reins. If the quarterback situation is resolved, this team could have aspirations of not only playing for the Rose Bowl, but a national championship. They lose a bit of their home field advantage, as only four conference games will be played at Autzen Stadium.
1. USC Trojans
The top preseason team in the conference and in these rankings can’t compete in the postseason, but they will make plenty of noise during the regular season. The Trojans get the slight nod over Oregon because of sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley. This team can go one of two ways, play uninspired due to the lack of postseason play, or it can be motivated to use the Pac-10 title as its national championship.
Reach the reporter at andrew.gruman@asu.edu
