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The big change in the Pac-10 conference this season comes in the scheduling. For the first time, to be the best, everyone is going to have to beat the best.
The old Pac-10 scheduling system had teams playing four non-conference games and eight in-conference games. That meant a team like, say, the Oregon State Beavers last season could go a season without playing the always-favored USC Trojans.
That’s over now. Pac-10 teams will play three non-conference games and nine in-conference games, meaning every team plays each other once.
Arizona Wildcats (+2033 to win Pac-10 title)
Mike Stoops is, well, a Stoops. With that name comes big expectations. The 44-year-old had some shining moments in his second season with the Wildcats, giving the Pac-10 champion Trojans a fourth quarter scare and easily covering the spread, then handing UCLA its first loss of the season in Week 10 with a 52-14 thrashing.
That game was the coming out party of 18-year-old true freshman Willie Tuitama, playing in just his third game at quarterback. Tuitama started the final four games of the season for the Wildcats, and played in just five. He led them to their only two conference wins and posted a 4-1 record against the spread.
Now a sophomore, Tuitama has been slapped with high hopes and an offense that returns seven starters to guide the team to its first bowl since 1998. They should get some help from a defense that returns nine starters and has another Stoops – Mike’s brother Mark – running the unit.
Prediction: 5-7 straight up, 8-4 against the spread
Arizona State Sun Devils (+1140)
The soap opera that is the Sun Devils quarterback competition is slowly wrapping up, and it`s turning out to be a heartbreaker.
Sophomore Rudy Carpenter was named starter on Sunday, but not before senior Sam Keller was originally named starter on Friday. Exasperated with the situation, reports now say Keller will transfer, possibly to Nebraska.
ASU is in good hands with Carpenter, who came off the bench to replace an injured Keller and throw for 2,133 yards and 15 touchdowns (against just two interceptions) in six games as the Sun Devils’ starter.
While there is no question ASU will put up points behind Carpenter and an offense that returns 10 starters, the defense remains a huge question mark. The Sun Devils ranked 87th in the nation in scoring defense last season and 88th in total defense. They return just five starters and are now faced with an extra game against a conference that’s known for it’s offense.
Prediction: 7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
California Golden Bears (+350)
Cal is considered a sleeper, not only for the Pac-10 title, but also to contend for the National Championship.
The Bears return 15 starters – seven on offense and eight on defense – to a team that struggled to a 4-4 record in conference play (3-5 against the spread) to finish the 2005 season.
Cal’s success hinges on its dynamic running game. The Bears return their top three rushers from a team that finished ninth in the nation last season with 235.3 yards on the ground.
The ground attack is led by junior tailback Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 10 games last season. Lynch could use a passing game to help him out after Cal earned just 192.7 passing yards per game last season.
Two experienced quarterbacks return to compete for the starting job. Sophomore Nate Longshore has the edge over senior Joe Ayoob, though head coach Jeff Tedford hasn’t announced his starter quite yet.
One big problem for the Bears this season is their schedule. They only have one sure fire non-conference win against Division I-AA Portland State. They open up their season with a game at Tennessee, then a home game against Minnesota. They’ll also have to beat USC at home.
Prediction: 9-3 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
Oregon Ducks (+786)
Oregon returns all five starters on an offensive line that dropped its 2005 sack total to 20 from 35 in 2004. That number should drop even further this year as they intend to have just one man taking snaps from center.
Projected starter Dennis Dixon, a junior, filled in admirably after senior starter Kellen Clemens went down with four games to go. Though Dixon virtually split time with another junior, Brady Leaf, in the final four games of last season, head coach Mike Belotti has made no bones as to who will start for the Ducks this season.
Dixon enters this season with just one returning receiver and a new running back in sophomore Jonathan Stewart. The nation’s leading kick returner last season, the 5-foot-11, 235-pound Stewart had six rushing touchdowns last season on just 53 carries.
Oregon also returns six starters on a defensive unit that ranked first in the Pac-10 in total defense (357.7 yards per game) and second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense (23.2 points per game).
Prediction: 7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
Oregon State Beavers (+6000)
Alexis Serna started the first game of his redshirt freshman season in 2004 by missing three extra points including a game-tying kick with no time left in the game. The Beavers lost to defending National Champion LSU 22-21 as monster underdogs in what was supposed to be an easy win for the Tigers.
Serna rebounded to make 29 straight extra points and 17-of-20 field goals that season, finishing the year as a finalist for the Lou Groza Award recognizing the NCAA’s top kicker.
He had another impressive year in 2005, making 23-of-28 field goals and all 32 of his extra points on his way to winning the Groza Award. Now entering his junior season, Serna is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history having converted 40-of-48 field goals (83.3 percent).
Serna is one of the few bright spots on a Beavers team that struggled to just five wins last season and continues to have problems on both sides of the ball. The biggest problem is the pass defense, where OSU returns all four starters, three of them just sophomores, from a unit that allowed the third most passing yards in the nation at 298.7 yards per game.
The Beavers also have an extra game this season with a year-end trip to Hawaii.
Prediction: 3-10 straight up, 4-9 against the spread
more to follow.....
The old Pac-10 scheduling system had teams playing four non-conference games and eight in-conference games. That meant a team like, say, the Oregon State Beavers last season could go a season without playing the always-favored USC Trojans.
That’s over now. Pac-10 teams will play three non-conference games and nine in-conference games, meaning every team plays each other once.
Arizona Wildcats (+2033 to win Pac-10 title)
Mike Stoops is, well, a Stoops. With that name comes big expectations. The 44-year-old had some shining moments in his second season with the Wildcats, giving the Pac-10 champion Trojans a fourth quarter scare and easily covering the spread, then handing UCLA its first loss of the season in Week 10 with a 52-14 thrashing.
That game was the coming out party of 18-year-old true freshman Willie Tuitama, playing in just his third game at quarterback. Tuitama started the final four games of the season for the Wildcats, and played in just five. He led them to their only two conference wins and posted a 4-1 record against the spread.
Now a sophomore, Tuitama has been slapped with high hopes and an offense that returns seven starters to guide the team to its first bowl since 1998. They should get some help from a defense that returns nine starters and has another Stoops – Mike’s brother Mark – running the unit.
Prediction: 5-7 straight up, 8-4 against the spread
Arizona State Sun Devils (+1140)
The soap opera that is the Sun Devils quarterback competition is slowly wrapping up, and it`s turning out to be a heartbreaker.
Sophomore Rudy Carpenter was named starter on Sunday, but not before senior Sam Keller was originally named starter on Friday. Exasperated with the situation, reports now say Keller will transfer, possibly to Nebraska.
ASU is in good hands with Carpenter, who came off the bench to replace an injured Keller and throw for 2,133 yards and 15 touchdowns (against just two interceptions) in six games as the Sun Devils’ starter.
While there is no question ASU will put up points behind Carpenter and an offense that returns 10 starters, the defense remains a huge question mark. The Sun Devils ranked 87th in the nation in scoring defense last season and 88th in total defense. They return just five starters and are now faced with an extra game against a conference that’s known for it’s offense.
Prediction: 7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
California Golden Bears (+350)
Cal is considered a sleeper, not only for the Pac-10 title, but also to contend for the National Championship.
The Bears return 15 starters – seven on offense and eight on defense – to a team that struggled to a 4-4 record in conference play (3-5 against the spread) to finish the 2005 season.
Cal’s success hinges on its dynamic running game. The Bears return their top three rushers from a team that finished ninth in the nation last season with 235.3 yards on the ground.
The ground attack is led by junior tailback Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 10 games last season. Lynch could use a passing game to help him out after Cal earned just 192.7 passing yards per game last season.
Two experienced quarterbacks return to compete for the starting job. Sophomore Nate Longshore has the edge over senior Joe Ayoob, though head coach Jeff Tedford hasn’t announced his starter quite yet.
One big problem for the Bears this season is their schedule. They only have one sure fire non-conference win against Division I-AA Portland State. They open up their season with a game at Tennessee, then a home game against Minnesota. They’ll also have to beat USC at home.
Prediction: 9-3 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
Oregon Ducks (+786)
Oregon returns all five starters on an offensive line that dropped its 2005 sack total to 20 from 35 in 2004. That number should drop even further this year as they intend to have just one man taking snaps from center.
Projected starter Dennis Dixon, a junior, filled in admirably after senior starter Kellen Clemens went down with four games to go. Though Dixon virtually split time with another junior, Brady Leaf, in the final four games of last season, head coach Mike Belotti has made no bones as to who will start for the Ducks this season.
Dixon enters this season with just one returning receiver and a new running back in sophomore Jonathan Stewart. The nation’s leading kick returner last season, the 5-foot-11, 235-pound Stewart had six rushing touchdowns last season on just 53 carries.
Oregon also returns six starters on a defensive unit that ranked first in the Pac-10 in total defense (357.7 yards per game) and second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense (23.2 points per game).
Prediction: 7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread
Oregon State Beavers (+6000)
Alexis Serna started the first game of his redshirt freshman season in 2004 by missing three extra points including a game-tying kick with no time left in the game. The Beavers lost to defending National Champion LSU 22-21 as monster underdogs in what was supposed to be an easy win for the Tigers.
Serna rebounded to make 29 straight extra points and 17-of-20 field goals that season, finishing the year as a finalist for the Lou Groza Award recognizing the NCAA’s top kicker.
He had another impressive year in 2005, making 23-of-28 field goals and all 32 of his extra points on his way to winning the Groza Award. Now entering his junior season, Serna is the most accurate kicker in NCAA history having converted 40-of-48 field goals (83.3 percent).
Serna is one of the few bright spots on a Beavers team that struggled to just five wins last season and continues to have problems on both sides of the ball. The biggest problem is the pass defense, where OSU returns all four starters, three of them just sophomores, from a unit that allowed the third most passing yards in the nation at 298.7 yards per game.
The Beavers also have an extra game this season with a year-end trip to Hawaii.
Prediction: 3-10 straight up, 4-9 against the spread
more to follow.....