In an effort to address all the teams and conferences that make the fall so exciting, OTP’s All-Star Editorial staff is putting on their prognosticatin’ hats and taking a stab at each of the conferences and all of the teams in FBS. Alan and Edge are giving you the conference’s order of finish, the records, the superlatives for offense and defense, and the biggest surprise for each conference. At the conclusion of our series, we’ll have the Bowl Projections for all 34 Bowl Games.
OTP Conference Preview: Pac 10
It’s easy for the national media and casual football fans to somehow look at the Pac 10 as USC’s playground with a host of other teams simply padding the Trojans win total year in and year out. While it’s true that USC has dominated the PAC 10 recently, and they are a lock for successful football betting, the gap between SC and the rest of the conference is getting smaller by the year. The resurgence of Oregon, Oregon State, and Cal, along with UCLA all put the Trojan dominance clearly on a precarious ledge heading into 2009.
Give the Pac 10 credit… they are a conference hellbent and determined on keeping the conference matchups as fair as possible. They don’t have a championship game and don’t seem to be interested in expanding the league to make that a reality. As it stands now, each Pac 10 team plays every other Pac 10 team… making the conference winner truly deserving. There is no ducking any other teams or imbalanced schedules, and though the road to the BCS clearly runs through Southern Cal, there are numerous teams gunning for that BCS berth. While the results may be similar to recent years, it is a sure bet that this year’s conference games for USC will be closer than many expect.
Last 5 Conference Champions:
2008: USC
2007: USC/Arizona State
2006: USC/Cal
2005: USC
2004: USC
Bowl Tie Ins:
The Pacific-10 Conference has six bowl tie-ins.
#1– Bowl Championship Series. The Pac-10 champion gains an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, preferentially the Rose Bowl.
#2– The Holiday Bowl receives the second choice of Pac-10 teams.
#3– The Sun Bowl receives the third choice of Pac-10 teams.
#4-5– The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas and the Emerald Bowl coordinate their selections of the fourth and fifth teams to provide geographically favorable match-ups.
#6– The Poinsettia Bowl receives the sixth choice of Pac-10 teams. In years where the Pac-10 does not have six bowl eligible teams, the Poinsettia Bowl will select from the WAC instead.
Alan’s Pac 10 Predictions
Order of Finish:
USC: 11-1 (9-0) – Conf. Champion, BCS Rep
Oregon: 10-2 (8-1)
Cal: 9-3 (6-3)
UCLA: 9-3 (6-3)
Oregon St.: 9-3 (6-3)
Arizona: 5-7 (4-5)
Stanford: 4-8 (3-6)
Arizona State: 4-8 (2-7)
Washington: 2-10 (1-8)
Washington St.: 2-10 (0-9)
League MVP: Jeremiah Masoli, QB, Oregon
Offensive MVP: Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon St.
Defensive MVP: Taylor Mays, FS, USC
Biggest Surprise This Season: The Oregon-USC game is an instant classic as the Trojans pull one out in overtime versus the Ducks
Edge’s Pac 10 Predictions
Order of Finish:
USC: 11-1 (9-0) – Conf. Champion, BCS Rep
Oregon: 10-2 (8-1)
California: 10-2 (7-2)
Oregon St.: 9-3 (6-3)
UCLA: 7-5 (5-4)
Arizona: 5-7 (4-5)
Stanford: 4-8 (3-6)
Arizona St.: 4-8 (2-7)
Washington: 2-10 (1-8)
Washington St.: 1-11 (0-9)
League MVP: Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon St.
Offensive MVP: Jahvid Best, RB, Cal
Defensive MVP: Taylor Mays, FS, USC
Biggest Surprise This Season: USC drops in week 2 to Ohio State, but pulls back with an undefeated remainder of the season to edge Ohio State and take the #4 overall.
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