The college students sleep all snug in their dorm beds.
While visions of Huskies dance in their heads.
With Mike in his Nike shirt and I in my thinking cap.
We all settle our brains for a long Pac-10 … season.
Christmas is coming early for Pacific-10 Conference football this year, as nearly half the conference is ranked and many teams have legitimate bowl aspirations. A year after an impressive bowl showing, the Pac-10 could continue its rise to national prominence with another strong postseason.
The only thing is, the teams have to fight amongst themselves to decide who will gain those bowl berths. It’s Christmas in the Pac-10, and everybody’s celebrating, but nobody’s giving out presents.
Without further ado, the Emerald breaks down the Pac-10 …
1. Oregon: The national hype over the Ducks is enormous, and it may be the only thing that could bring them down. After season-opening wins over Wisconsin and Utah, and a beneficial home schedule, Oregon’s Nov. 10 game at UCLA already looms large on the schedule.
2. UCLA: The Bruins are another team with a schedule to die for. After road wins over Alabama and Kansas, UCLA gets Arizona State, Ohio State, Washington and Oregon at the Rose Bowl. If they can run the table at home, the Bruins could be back on their home turf Jan. 3, playing for a national championship.
3. Oregon State: The Beavers’ season-opening 44-24 loss at Fresno State doesn’t look so bad after the Bulldogs rolled Wisconsin one week later. Still, the once-tough Oregon State defense has sorely missed backs DeLawrence Grant and Darnell Robinson, while quarterback Jonathan Smith still hasn’t found replacements for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson at the wide receiver positions. Like last year, however, this team could get better with age.
4. Washington: A win over Michigan to open the season — another comeback win, which coach Rick Neuheisel seems to specialize in — looks good. But it will be nearly impossible for the Huskies to replace the great Marques Tuiasosopo at the signal-calling position, especially with games at UCLA and Oregon State. This team will be good in the future, but could struggle this season with its youth.
5. Stanford: The Cardinal are an enigma as to how much talent they have, but are always well-coached. Tyrone Willingham coached Stanford to a shoot-out win over Boston College, and the Cardinal always have the ability to knock off a top team (see a blowout win over Texas last season). Randy Fasani quarterbacks this Pac-10 danger team, which will be on the hunt for some upsets.
6. USC: Pete Carroll took over the reigns of a struggling football program with a lot of tradition, and he may yet bring it back to national prominence. The Trojans played close with then-No. 11 Kansas State in their opener, and face a showdown at Oregon Saturday.
7. Washington State: The Cougars have so much offense, they don’t know what to do with themselves. Jason Gesser could upset some top-ranked teams single-handedly. The quarterback leads an offense that combined for 77 points in its first two games.
8. Arizona State: One of three new Pac-10 coaches this season, Dirk Koetter takes over a mediocre Sun Devil team. But the offense, minus former star tight end Todd Heap, can still pile on the points.
9. Arizona: Do-everything quarterback Ortege Jenkins is gone, and the Arizona offense could go with him. The defense is still solid, with returning cornerback Michael Jolivette one of the most exciting players to watch in the Pac-10. But the Wildcats shouldn’t be too wild this season.
10. California: The Golden Bears opened the season with back-to-back losses to Illinois and BYU, and both teams scored 44 points on Cal. The Golden Bears should be more like Bad News this season.