There was one question everyone wanted answered during
Thursday’s Pac-10 Media Day at LAX: Will this be the year USC
finally ends its three-year run atop the Pac-10 standings?
Judging by the responses of the other Pac-10 football coaches,
one might think so, but UCLA coach Karl Dorrell was not so quick to
count out the Trojans.
“Sure, they lost two Heisman winners in Bush and
Leinart,” Dorrell said. “But they are reloading at all
positions, and their defense might even be better than it was last
year.
“It’s our job, as well as the other schools in the
Pac-10, to get to their level.
“As it is right now, they are what everyone in the Pac-10
compares themselves to.”
As expected, the Trojans were favored by the writers in the
preseason poll to win the Pac-10, but unlike in past years, the
Trojans were not unanimous favorites, and there are some other
formidable challengers looking to make their mark.
California, for one, is listed in the AP pre-season top 10 and
has a legitimate Heisman candidate in running back Marshawn
Lynch.
Cal will get a chance to prove itself right away as it opens on
the road against national powerhouse Tennessee.
“We feel we have just as a good chance as ever to compete
for the Pac-10 title,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “We
have a lot of skill and experience returning on both sides of the
ball.”
But it’s not only Cal that feels it has a chance, as
coaches such as Dorrell and Arizona’s Mike Stoops are now
entering their fourth year and feel they have a lot to prove.
“From top to bottom, I think the conference has a chance
to be the most competitive it has been,” Stoops said.
“There are a lot of teams making improvement, and it’s
setting up to be one of the best years in a long time.”
After USC and Cal as the top two of the Pac-10 preseason poll,
Oregon, Arizona State and UCLA round out the top five.
Arizona State returns with the nation’s leader in pass
efficiency in sophomore Rudy Carpenter, while Oregon brings in a
new quarterback in Dennis Dixon to a team that finished 10-2 last
season.
And as for UCLA, who went 10-2 and finished third in the Pac-10,
being listed fifth in the preseason poll is not a sign of decline,
according to coach Dorrell.
“We have been predicted fifth before, and we’re not
fazed by that,” Dorrell said.
“We just have to go out and prove it again. We can’t
worry about what the writers think.
“Their impression of us will be based on our performance
on the field.”
Based on the optimism that Dorrell and all the other coaches are
showing it looks like this year might finally have a Pac-10 race,
rather than simply a USC coronation.
ROUND-ROBIN SCHEDULE: This year will be the
first time all NCAA teams will be playing 12 regular-season games,
and thus every team in the Pac-10 will now be facing every other
team in round-robin schedule.
“I like the full slate of games, it’s most
equitable,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. “You
can count on the sequence, and I like the 12-game
schedule.”
Last year, in a revolving schedule, UCLA did not play
Oregon.