Guru's Pac 10 Picks

The third best conference this season is the Pac 10. The conference boasts 2 teams fighting for a national championship birth along with 5 other good teams that could make some noise. Last season the Pac 10 went 3-2 in their bowl games and had a strong showing in their out of conference schedule. USC was able to knock off Arkansas, Nebraska and Michigan. Cal lost badly at Tennessee, but was able to knock off Minnesota and Texas A&M handily in the Holiday Bowl. UCLA beat Utah and should have knocked off Notre Dame in South Bend if it weren't for some late game heroics and a complete melt down by the UCLA defense who otherwise played great.

This off season there were 2 coaching changes in the PAC 10. Legendary coach Dennis Erickson takes over an Arizona State team that couldn't quite put everything together under Dirk Koetter. Look for Rudy Carpenter to thrive in Erickson air it out offense. At Stanford young, energetic, and outspoken Jim Harbaugh has become the head coach. He had done a phenomenal job in his only previous head coaching job at San Diego by compiling a 29-6 record (won 27 of last 29 games). Unfortunately for Jim, he didn't acquire a lot of talent. He may have to wait until blue chip quarterback Andrew Luck arrives on campus.

The Pac 10's out of conference schedule has several games against big name teams along with showdowns against BYU and Utah. The highlight of the Pac 10's out of conference schedule is the rematch between Cal and Tennessee in Berkeley on September 1st. USC's rigorous out of conference schedule continues this season with games at Nebraska and Notre Dame. Oregon plays Michigan in week 2 at the Big House. UCLA is going to be looking for revenge against Notre Dame during the first week of October. UCLA and Arizona both take on BYU this season. Oregon State and UCLA go up against Utah. Other intriguing out of conference games include Washington hosting Boise State and Ohio State. Lastly Washington State travels to Madison to challenge a very strong Wisconsin Badger squad. The Pac 10 - unlike the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, and ACC - play nine conference games to round up a full round robin.

Three Big Questions in the Pac 10 this season:

1. Will USC get its chance to silence it's out of conference critics? USC has taken plenty of criticism, especially from certain SEC coaches working in Baton Rouge, but will they run the table and play for the championship against either LSU or another SEC opponent.

2. How will Dennis Erickson and Jim Harbaugh fair in their first season at new schools coaching in the Pac 10?

3. Will the addition of Sonny Dykes make Arizona a big time player in the Pac 10?

This season USC is the clear cut favorite to win the Pac 10 and is going to be ranked at the top of all preseason polls nationally. There will definitely be a lot of heat coming from a few schools in the conference trying to knock them off their throne. One of those teams will be cross town rival UCLA who knocked off USC to end their national title dreams last season and has 20 starters returning. We'll find out a lot about the caliber of Cal's team in week one when they host SEC power Tennessee. A team that should make a lot of noise this season in the conference is Arizona. They had a stellar defense under Mike Stoops and now the addition of Sonny Dykes should give them the offense to hang with the big boys in the conference. They should have the greatest improvement this season. Oregon State is a team to watch after they ended their season last year going 8-1 including wins over USC, Oregon, Hawaii on the road, and Missouri. In the end, look for USC to come out on top after a tough schedule this season.

1. USC 11-1 (8-1)

2. Cal 10-2 (7-2)

3. Arizona 9-3 (6-3)

4. UCLA 9-3 (6-3)

5. Oregon 8-4 (6-3)

6. Oregon State 8-4 (5-4)

7. Arizona State 5-7 (3-6)

8. Washington St. 4-8 (2-7)

9. Stanford 2-10 (1-8)

10. Washington 2-11 (1-8)