We have two weeks to go till the college football season starts and it is time for my predictions on how the Pac Ten is going to end up this year. If you look at the injury lists around the conference it will give you a good gauge of my reasoning, and where I am going with this.
1. USC...The Trojans are absolutely loaded this year after stumbling and losing a couple of games last season. Last years green team is now seasoned, and the Trojans also have a new weapon by the name of Joe McKnight who may just end up being a better player before it is all said and done than Reggie Bush. Booty is no Matt Leinhart, but he doesn't need to be surrounded with all the talent in the Western world.
2. California...Always the bridesmaid, and never the bride. That story is going to continue this year. The Bears are talented enough to get to a BCS Bowl, and they will be competitive with the Trojans, but like everyone else in the country, they will come up short.
3. UCLA...The Bruins have plenty of talent returning and on paper have to be considered a contender for a BCS bowl. The problem is they have a head coach who can't keep control of his own coaching staff, not to mention his team. I have to put the Bruins in the three spot, but until Dorrell shows he has control of this team there are a lot of question marks in my mind.
4. Washington...This pick of course flies in the face of common reason, but the Huskies are having a pretty good camp, and most importantly they are keeping all their players healthy. When you look around the Pac Ten you see a lot of teams with long injury lists, and the Huskies aren't one of them. If Washington can throw the ball enough to set up the run, they are going to surprise a lot of people. Teams are going to stack the line against UW and make them throw the ball. If Locker makes them pay we will be in good shape
5. Oregon...Mike Bellotti always puts together a solid team in Eugene much to the frustration of football fans in Seattle. I do see some cracks in the armor, the program is no longer harmonious, and Jonathan "Barbaro" Stewart once again is getting dinged up early.
6. Oregon State...In July I would have ranked the Beaver's third, or fourth, but since then they have suffered some serious attrition. All world Sammie Stroughter is the latest casualty and is currently AWOL from the program. Talented CB Coye Francies was dismissed before the start of camp, and the punter also quit the team.
7. Arizona State...I like Dennis Erickson. I know he will be successful, but if you look at the injury list coming in from camp the Devils are having some problems which will be tough to overcome. I am no Rudy Carpenter fan, and I doubt Dennis is either.
8. Arizona...The Wildcats are breaking in a new offense, and while the defense is tough, that spells trouble to me. Stoops hasn't gotten any offense since he took over, and this learning year won't be the exception.
9. Washington State...Can you spell DISASTER? The Cougars have 21 injured players, and 11 of them are out indefinitely. In any other year that would put the Cougars in the basement, but this isn't any year. WSU still has Stanford to kick around.
10. Stanford...Harbaugh is going to turn around the Tree, but it is going to take another 2-3 years to climb out of the basement. the cupboard wasn't exactly full when he took over.
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9 comments:
I'd swap the Bruins and the Huskies, but I'm even more of an optimist than you.
I'm also of the mind to run and set up the pass, but if we're passing that well, I'll be happy.
I'm also watching Emeril and getting very hungry...
The second division has turned into a crapshoot again and I hope we don't end up as part of it.
I'm just anxious for the season to start!!!
I don't have a lot of faith in the UCLA coaching staff so that is a good move despite the talent the Bruins have.
One thing the Huskies are going to face from the get go are teams loading the box against them because of the inexperience at QB. UW needs to find a way to exploit that to keep teams honest.
Hie and Hair, I like it. I think we can be anywhere from 3 - 8. Why I think we will finish toward the top is the little things that have been showing up the last two years. More discipline, harder hitting, fewer mental errors, better o play calling. Special teams may determine a lot of our games.
We will play at least 4-5 teams where we have to catch them napping, I think we can beat Stan, Ore, AZ, ASU, WSU, Ore St, Cuse, Hawaii, Boise JC straight up. Figure a miscue loss OR 2 among those 9, so will need to win 2 of 5 against THE OSU, UCLA, USC, Cal. 3 of those four are at home.
BTW, I watched the pAC10 preview last night and USC homer Petros said 5-8 no bowl. I was torqued at the FSN coverage as they spent 6 min of the UW coverage on the other 9 teams in PAC 10 in a thumbnail recap. WSU got all 30 mins in their time.
I think your prediction is laughable at best given the difficulty of UW's schedule.
@ cuse W
vs BSU W (that is generous)
vs OSU L
@ UCLA L
vs USC L
@ ASU L
vs UO L
vs AZ W (another generous)
@ Stan W
@ OSU L
vs CAL L
vs WSU W
@ Haw. L
Bob, you have to remember this isn't the Notre Dame bog.
This team is capable of winning, or losing every single game on it's schedule. I don't think there is much difference between #3, and #8 at this point. Even the Cougars have a chance if they can sort out their injury problems.
Once again this is a PRO HUSKY Blog, so I tend to lean toward the optmistic rather than the negative.
@ cuse W
vs BSU W
vs OSU L
@ UCLA W..Ty owns Karl
vs USC L
@ ASU W..ASU is already banged up
vs UO W..We are due
vs AZ W..Ty owns Stoops
@ Stan W
@ OSU W..The Beavers are in trouble
vs CAL L
vs WSU W
@ Haw. W...The WAC? C'mon!
You guys can't be serious? I'm a duck fan, but I live in Seattle and have alot of big time Husky friends, and even they know that this year won't end up where they wanted it to. Look at your secondary? Do you actually think that you have a chance against Hawaii with that secondary? Or ASU or Oregon, for that matter? UCLA will be one of the best defensive teams in the nation and a top 20 team most likely. Arizona will be revamped and much better. I see wins against WSU and Stanford. Questionable against Cuse (don't underrate the Carrier Dome, especially in Locker's first game ever), Arizona, and OSU. Erickson will have ASU going. Not this year dawgs, maybe if you can put freshman at the corners and just do baptism by fire and hope that they're good next year.
Best of Luck
I think we are going to be just fine if we keep healthy. The secondary is a concern, but I think it will work out.
I got you mixed up with someone else, if you are our Duck friend from last year welcome back. the anonymous moniker does that. By the way we really enjoyed having you here, you add a lot of good things.
I know a lot of people think we are at least a year away, including our AD, but I think the team will surprise.
Huskies fourth? More like ninth.
Love your optimism, but...
I figure two or three wins (with Apple Cup being a toss-up) for the Huskies.
You have to be optimistic this early in the year, and save the pessimism for the second quarter of the Syracuse game.
If UW can open up 2-0 they will do fine, if they open up 0-2 your prediction of ninth place is more realistic.
It is a brutal schedule, but the team is improved over last season in many areas.
Predictions of course are fun, but worthless, that is why they play the games.
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