No. 4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TROJANS

High turnover can't slow Trojans expectations

There is an East Coast Bias. The media and fans in the eastern and central time zones rarely watch all of the games on the west coast, and few of them watch anything but the really huge contests. The majority of fans only see highlights or read on-line summaries. So obviously when a team such as USC plays a hard fought game against a motivated Oregon or Cal (and gets an impact player or two banged up), then few fans or pundits know anything more than the mighty Trojans struggled against (what can only be surmised as) an inferior foe.

Yes, the Trojans fall in opposition to that media bias. The one that says the Pac-10 is the Pacific 1, and that USC only has to get up for three games a year.

But the bias is not to be blamed for USC's inability to reach a BCS Championship Game since 2005. That failure is set squarely on the Trojans.

USC is not merely a good program. It's a giant of a program; it will likely be seen as the team of the decade (and that includes a 2009 Florida national championship). The Trojans haven't been great this decade; they've been amazing. The Trojans are on a run of seven straight seasons of 11 wins or more. They won the 2004 National Championship in a romp and were an epic Vince Young performance away from a second (sorry Trojan fans; the 2003 Champ is LSU).

And no one plays better when the lights are on. USC rocks against any major opponent during the regular season (and will again in Columbus this fall), and Pete Carroll has made the Trojans one of the best teams ever when given a month to prepare. But no sort of East Coast Bias has played a factor in USC's relegation to the Rose Bowl each January. That's come from losses to UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State.

The only thing that stood in the way of a USC-Ohio State BCS Championship Game in 2006 was lowly UCLA, and the Trojans gaffed that one in a 13-9 loss; the first time in 63 games that USC hadn't scored 20 points. In 2007, USC lost at home to a 41-point underdog Stanford team that went 1-11 in 2006 and had been beaten by the Trojans 42-0; at season's end, a two-loss team was needed to play Ohio State, and the Trojans could hardly be considered. In 2008, USC lost at Oregon State, the Trojans second straight loss in Corvallis.

Any other team that was this schizophrenic would have been pushed out of the national conscious long ago - no matter their location. But it's an indication of the high level of talent and the respect for what Carroll has accomplished that shows an East Coast Bias doesn't plague the Trojans. It's actually their inability to perform week-in and week-out that limits USC.

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN USC Page | CBS USC Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 3.

No. 12 OREGON DUCKS

Ducks look to Kelly to continue Bellotti legacy

Not much is really expected of Chip Kelly this season. He just needs to continue on Mike Bellotti's under-appreciated legacy, where the former coach won 116 games in 14 seasons in Eugene. The Ducks won two conference championships under Bellotti's leadership, and though they haven't been able to pierce through the USC dominance this decade, Oregon has continued to receive national respect.

While Oregon was becoming a national title contender at the end of the last decade, Bellotti's team slowly fell back as USC rose to prominence this decade. Outside of two 10-win seasons in 2005 and 2008, Oregon hasn't finished higher than a tie for fourth since 2003.

Of course injuries and bad luck hindered Oregon's chances to really make a huge splash on the national scene - the Ducks were jipped out of a chance to play for the national title in 2001 and a late season injury to star QB Dennis Dixon in 2007 ended a promising season.

But under Bellotti's watch, opponents began to fear coming to Autzen Stadium, and Oregon was rarely overlooked (albeit, that might be due to wearing some of the most hideous uniforms Nike could design). And it will be up to new coach Chip Kelly to build on the success that Bellotti did have. Of course, getting out of his mentor's shadow will be difficult, as Bellotti is remaining in Eugene to be the athletic director.

In 2009, the Ducks will be the team for all those fans pulling against "BCS Busters." In the first three weeks, Oregon will travel to Boise State and host Utah, with a home game against Purdue sandwiched between. Knocking out the out-of-conference slate by mid-September will allow Oregon to focus on the Pac-10 schedule for the remainder - notably home games against No. 13 Cal, USC, Arizona State and Oregon State. Within the conference, the toughest road game will be at Arizona. The USC game comes after three weeks off (well, technically the Ducks have to travel to Seattle the week before, but no game against Washington has constituted anything but an off week lately).

So the schedule lines up perfectly for a run at dethroning conference heavyweight USC, but the issue will be seeing how Kelly transitions from his offensive coordinator duties to full time head coach, all while attempting to live up to the legendary Bellotti.

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN Oregon Page | CBS Oregon Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.

No. 13 CALIFORNIA BEARS

Bears hope to finally make Pac-10 statement

Is it time to finally give up on Cal?

That question might sound harsh, but after so many predictions of Jeff Tedford's team finally being able to take the Pac-10, the continuing failure has become deafening. And while the Bears run of six-straight bowl games (longest streak in team history) has coincided with the emergence of a dominant USC team, there's still a point of when Cal will step up and force the nation to stop thinking of the conference as the Pac-1.

This season's schedule is noticeably top-heavy, and the Bears might easily be on the national consciousness or an after thought by the beginning of October. In the opening game, Cal will look to avenge last season's loss at Maryland, where the Bears were coming in 2-0 and just seemed to have forgotten what time kick-off; even a late rally couldn't prevent the upset loss. After a trip to Minnesota, the Bears will have back-to-back season defining games - at Oregon and back home against USC. A win over the Ducks would be huge, but a victory over the Trojans would jump the Bears to the front of the conference race.

And it's the game against USC that has come to highlight the schedule of all Pac-10 teams. Despite some hard fought games over the past decade, Cal has only been able to knock off the Trojans once - during USC's 2003 AP National Championship season. But this might be their best opportunity for a while - Cal's getting the Trojans at home, early in the season, with USC breaking in a new quarterback and perhaps before the Trojans have time to gel. The Bears will be coming off a hard-fought game in Eugene, so they'll have already been tested.

After USC, the Bears have a week off to prepare for their trip to UCLA, close the month at Arizona State and host Oregon State and Arizona in back-to-back weeks in November - all of which would be a fortunate schedule - if the team gets on a roll early. However, a slow start would likely drop California back in the at least from a national perspective.

Final 2008 Ranking: Not Ranked

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN Cal Page | CBS Cal Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.

Pac-10 Coaching Boards - Week 5

Not too much movement this week with the Pac-10 boards.

1. Pete Carroll,USC
The Trojans went down last week, which wasn't as surprising as the fact that Carroll didn't have his team ready when everyone was calling for the possibility of an upset, especially after the 2006 loss in Corvalis. The Beavers jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead, which was too much for what was supposedly Carroll's best Trojan team ever. Even with the loss, Carroll still is one of the top 5 best coaches in America, and can't be moved from his hold of No. 1 in the conference.

2. Mike Bellotti,Oregon
The Ducks have a huge game against Carroll in L.A. on Saturday. Bellotti has never beaten Carroll in the Coliseum (few teams have), but with a win on Saturday, there might be some thought to actually moving Bellotti to No. 1 given his shortage of quarterbacks.

3. Dennis Erikson,Arizona State
ASU is sitting at 2-2 and has Cal coming off the bye week. Erikson's hold on the No. 3 spot is shaky with the amazing coaching jobs done by Riley and Harbaugh.

4. Mike Riley,Oregon State
Riley holds the No. 4 spot over Harbaugh, even with the loss at Utah on Thursday night. The win over Carroll was amazing considering many were calling for the upset - or at least the potential for one. Riley had his team ready to play against the Trojans, and almost had his team on track to edge out the unbeaten Utes last night.

5. Jim Harbaugh,Stanford
Harbaugh has his team at 3-2 heading to South Bend this weekend, and finally got a win on the road last week, even if it was against lowly Washington. A win by the Cardinal over the Irish on Saturday would be a huge boon for Harbaugh, and give Stanford a shot at going 6-6.

6. Jeff Tedford,Cal
Other than the loss at Maryland, when the Bears came out sluggish but stormed back to lose a close one, Tedford has gotten his team off to a good start. A win this weekend against Arizona State should translate to a 6-1 start with Oregon coming to Berkley in early November with a shot at winning the Pac-10 there for the taking.

7. Mike Stoops,Arizona
Stoops has his team off to a 3-1 start, but the wins aren't too impressive and the loss is to New Mexico. Hosting Washington this weekend, Arizona and Stoops should jump out to a 4-1 start before hitting the meat of the Pac-10 schedule, whatever that means.

8. Rick Neuheisel,Washington
It hasn't been all Rick's fault; his team has become ultra-thin, but the Bruins really should be 0-4 instead of 1-3, and Neuheisel can't be moved ahead of his Pac-10 brethren. UCLA is still playing hard, and almost came away with the win over Fresno State. The Bruins should double their win total with the game this Saturday at Washington State.

9. Ty Willingham,Washington
After the loss to Stanford, could things get any worse for U-Dub? Firing Ty might be the only thing that the Huskies could do right.

10. Paul Wulff,Washington State
Things have gotten so bad in Pullman, that Wulff is conducting a campus-wide search for a back-up QB. Eek. Wonder if Paul's rethinking putting on the Washington State coaching hat.

Pac-10 Coaching Boards - Week 4

Ok, can we disband the Pac-10? This rating system is damn near impossible. The group of coaches from 2-8 have gone 4-8 in the past two weeks, and that includes an inter-conference Arizona over UCLA win.

1. Pete Carroll
USC W - Ohio State (9/13)
Two games in four weeks makes for some ill will from this college football fan. Carroll got by Ohio State without a sweat, and the Pac-10 should pose less of a threat. Arguably the best coach in college football, Carroll (outside of the 2004 season) always seems to drop the game they should win - and they were close to doing that to the '04 UCLA as well. Carroll takes on Mike Riley and the Oregon State Beavers tonight - don't expect a replay of the 2006 game.

2. Mike Bellotti
Oregon W - Purdue OT (9/13), L - Boise State
Do I really have to pick a No. 2 coach? Wow, what a horrible few weeks for the Pac-10. Bellotti and Oregon drop their first game to a WAC team in 18 tries, and Boise State wins in Eugene for their first win ever over a BCS team on the road. Still, its better than what the other Pac-10 coaches have done recently.

3. Jeff Tedford
Cal L - Maryland (9/13)
Do I really have to name a No. 3? There should really be a tie for No. 8 with six coaches competing for it. I give Tedford the nod because his team's loss came two weeks ago... unfortunately it was at Maryland, who is in my grabbag of ACC teams that are horrible and wear red. I don't know what I'll do if this team drops this weekend's game to Colorado State.

4. Dennis Erickson
Arizona State L - UNLV (9/13), Georgia (9/20)
Dennis keeps this spot despite the two recent losses, but things need to turn around quickly for the Sun Devils. Arizona State gets two weeks to lick their wounds from the UGA butt-kicking and the embarrassment of losing to UNLV. Unfortunately they have to travel to Cal. The previously ranked Devils might easily open the season 2-3 before facing USC at the Coliseum on Oct. 11. Make that 2-4.

5. Mike Stoops
Arizona L - New Mexico (9/13), W - UCLA (9/20)
Stoops was able to have his team rebound from the embarrassing loss at New Mexico to beat conference foe UCLA last week, and it wasn't really close. Mike shoots up the rankings, but still I'm very skeptical as to whether he can stay. He should be able to hold this spot for at least a month - only Washington and Stanford await a 10/18 visit from Cal.

6. Rick Neuheisel
UCLA L - BYU (9/13), L - Arizona (9/20)
Perhaps I gave too much credit for the win over Tennessee; turns out the Vols aren't that good. I'm giving Neuheisel the benefit of the doubt as he is starting a LT at quarterback. Seriously though, more losses like the one to Arizona will have the ship sink to the top tier of the Pac-10... watch out Ty.

7. Jim Harbaugh
Stanford L - TCU (9/13), W - San Jose State (9/20)
Yes Stanford defeated Oregon State to open the season, but Harbaugh and the Cardinal have been virtually hapless since. A win over San Jose State doesn't alleviate the stigma of being TCU's only victory of the season. Harbaugh can move up quickly though, with games at Washington and Notre Dame in the next two weeks.

8. Mike Riley
Oregon State W - Hawaii (9/13)
Riley and the Beavers host USC tonight, for the Trojans return to the scene of the 2006 OSU victory. Things will go slightly different this time around. OSU hasn't played since beating Hawaii, but unfortunately neither has USC - and the Trojans have a little bit better head coach preparing for the game, and more importantly, a lot better players. STill, Riley probably doesn't deserve to be this low.

9. Ty Willingham
Washington L - Oklahoma (9/13)
Huskies open the season 0-3, yet Ty moves up. Well, guess they should have scheduled Portland State to make it 1-3.

10. Paul Wulff
Washington State L - Baylor (9/13), W - D-1AA Portland State
Not only aren't these Cougars close to being sexy, their damn near hideous. WSU beat up on Portland State last weekend, but are still 0-3 against teams with a pulse... wait, does Baylor have a pulse? Make that 0-2. Wulff has Cal and UCLA in the next two weeks; don't expect the coach or the win total to increase.

Pac 10 Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information about the coaching boards, click here.


1 Pete Carroll
Southern Cal W
Virginia may suck, but they're better than Youngstown State and Georgia Southern, and USC rolled through the Cavaliers like it was a D-II team. While Carroll still always seems to allow for the let-down game, he's got to be one of, if not the best, big game coach in the nation. Since '03, has he lost a really big, national game? Perhaps '06 UCLA is the closest that fits. Either way, he is easily the best coach in the conference.

2 Mike Bellotti
Oregon W
The Ducks blasted Washington on Saturday, but I can't give too much credit to Bellotti, other than he did it while losing QB after QB. Since Dixon's injury, it seems Oregon can't get a quarterback healthy. Bellotti has Utah St this weekend, followed by big non-conference game at Purdue and Boise State. I expect him to have an undefeated squad going into the October showdown in the Coliseum. Even a win against the Trojans prob won't get him to No. 1.

3 Rick Neuheisel
UCLA W
Very impressed with the victory over Tennessee, and half-way thought of moving Slick Rick ahead of Bellotti. Neuheisel kept his third-string QB composed even after the kid threw 4 first half interceptions, the final one returned for a TD and a 14-7 Tenn halftime lead. Can't give Neuheisel too much credit for sticking with the QB through that, since he didn't have anyone else to go to, but the kid didn't lead the Bruins back, and Neuheisel got the OT win to start his era off right. Of course, don't forget that Phil Fulmer was on the other sideline, which might have something to do with the fact that 4 turnovers lead to only 14 points.

4 Dennis Erickson
Arizona State W
Erickson's team got an easy 30-13 win in the season opener, but now has to host a motivated Stanford squad. The games in Tempe, so I don't see the chance for an upset, and I think that Erickson will have QB Carpenter ready to play. A win over the Cardinal means an unbeaten record with UGA coming to town on Sept. 20.

5 Jeff Tedford
California W
Cal won a big high-profile game against Michigan State on Saturday night and now travels to Washington State and Maryland. Tedford's team should be undefeated coming into the showdown with Arizona State, which will probably have a direct influence over the 4-5 spots.

6 Jim Harbaugh
Stanford W
Maybe I was too harsh on Harbaugh, but I think this is his ceiling. Even leading Stanford to a winning season and a bowl game probably doesn't get him ahead of the five coaches in front of him.

7 Mike Riley
Oregon State L
Riley opens an upset loss and switches with Harbaugh. I like Mike, but surely the Beavers remember that they actually won routinely in the not-so-distant past. Right? He stays here unless he loses to the three teams below him.

8 Mike Stoops
Arizona W
Arizona beat Idaho 70-0. Which means Idaho is god-awful and Arizona still thinks it hired the good Stoops brother.

9 Paul Wulff
Washington State L
Fun fact: Paul Wulff was the first Washington State coach to lose his debut since... Jackie Sherrill in 1976.

10 Ty Willingham
Washington L
Ok, who owns the rights now to www.firety.com? Can someone at ND please release it to a Huskie fan?

Pac-10 Coaching Board

To begin the season, here is my ranking of the coaches in the Pac-10. Each week, I'll evaluate their previous game, and adjust the poll accordingly.

Pete Carroll
Southern Cal
Arguably the best coach in the country, Carroll has been amazing since 2002. On the downside, he's mostly coached in a depleted PAC-10, and has had several opportunities to play for a national championship, only to lose to lesser quality teams - '03 Cal, '06 UCLA and Oregon St, '07 Stanford. Still, six consecutive PAC-10 Championships makes Carroll head-and-shoulders above the rest of the conference.

Mike Bellotti
Oregon
Bellotti has had a great run at Oregon, making Autzen Stadium a daunting place to play in the Pac 10, and prior to Carroll's arrival in LA, he was much closer to the top coach in the conference. He still holds the No. 2 position, fairly firmly, but has not been to a BCS bowl game since 2001, and has yet to make a Rose Bowl appearnce. Still, Bellotti doesn't seem to be losing ground in the Pac 10; prior to the unfortunate injury to QB Dennis Dixon last season, the Ducks were on a path for the BCS National Championship game, and probably a Heisman Trophy for Dixon. I don't see Bellotti falling too low in these rankings.

Dennis Erickson
Arizona State
Erickson has had success at pretty much all of his collegiate stops, and the general opinion is that he will continue to have success at ASU. The Sun Devils won 10 games in Erickson's first season, and are ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll. Not mentioning his great success at the U, take notice that Erickson took Oregon State to a BCS Bowl in 2000. Oregon State.

Jeff Tedford
Cal
Tedford, similar to Ferentz at Iowa, was the soon-to-be, up-and-coming, next-sure-fire NFL star, who has begun to flounder at Cal. His teams have become a major factor in determining the conference pecking order, but whenever Cal is about to take control of the conference, they typically lose their nerve, and this reflects on Tedford. Some of this might be that Tedford is losing his drive and focus due to the administration's inability to upgrade facilities, and realize Cal students care more about living in trees than going to games.

Rick Neuheisel
UCLA
Slick Rick is back in the Pac-10 after being dumped by Washington in 2003 for participating in a NCAA Basketball pool, which is something he would have never gotten in trouble for at Colorado, but unless you kill someone, evidently no one really cares what goes on in Boulder. In 2000, Neuheisel took Washington to the Rose Bowl and had a claim to the national championship game, but was edged out by Florida State. Kind of hard to believe that Washington was relevant as recently as 2000, and I'm betting most people at UW wish that Slick Rick were still in charge. Given that Neuheisel is not afraid of slipping a Benjamin or two to let a recruit have a good time, I see him getting good talent in LA. Prob good enough to compete with Carroll.

Mike Riley
Oregon State
Mike Riley has made a career at Oregon State, coaching the Beavers in 1997 and 1998, before going to a horrible stint at the San Diego Chargers, and then back to Corravllis. Unfortunately for Riley, the best times for the Beavers occurred when he was with the Chargers, with Dennis Erickson taking them to a BCS Bowl. Riley, who almost had the Alabama job in 2002, went back to Oregon in 2003, where his only real claim was defeating USC in 2006 on the way to a 10 win season. While not a horrible coach, each year is a struggle for OSU, and Riley will find it hard to move up with the bigger names ahead of him.

Jim Harbaugh
Stanford
Perhaps coaching the victor in the biggest college football upset since ND lost to a community college back in the '20's, Harbaugh appears to be an on-the-rise coach, but that adulation needs to wait. While the USC win was spectacular, Stanford and Harbaugh have a long way to go to be competitive in the Pac10. Stanford has had little success since Ty Willingham left the Cardinal. It will be interesting to see if Harbaugh can build in his 2nd season.

Mike Stoops
Arizona
Surely Arizona has realized by now that they hired Mike Stoops and not Bob Stoops from Oklahoma.

Paul Wulff
Washington State
Paul Wulff is in his first year at Wash St; that's honestly all I know about him. Still, it puts him at number 9.

Ty Willingham
Washington
Ty Willingham should've been fired by Stanford. Then his coaching career would be as irrelevant as his Husky teams have been.