It appears as if the Pac-10 will once again be dominated by USC. USC is currently number one in the nation and have looked the part after two early season games. The rest of the Pac-10 are not pushovers, but there doesn’t seem to be another top 10 team in the league.

UCLA looked good in the second half against a pretty tough SEC opponent (Tennessee), and there have been a lot of early offensive fireworks from teams like Cal, Oregon, and Arizona. Oregon State got themselves whipped by Penn State. Washington played a great game against BYU and was robbed of a chance at overtime. Stanford is at least competitive. Washington State is, well, Washington State is simply not very good.

USC is loaded on defense and offense. They have a really good chance at going undefeated and making it into the National Championship Game. They are my pick to win the Pac-10, but I don’t think they will go undefeated. I don’t think they will go to the National Championship game either, but we’ll leave that prediction for a different day.

Cal has a tremendous running game this year, and you know they are going to throw it well also. They need a better defense, but they always need a better defense. I think that Cal, Oregon, and Arizona St are about the same; all three be ranked throughout the season and all have a shot at beating USC.

I think UCLA, Arizona, and Washington are a step below those guys, but are still quality teams that can beat any of the top teams on a given day. Oregon State has some defensive issues, Stanford has talent and depth issues, and Washington is by far the worst team in the league.

Here are my predictions with last year’s records.

USC (7-2, 11-2): They simply have too much talent. This year the defense may be better than the offense, which is scary.

California (3-6, 7-6): I like their running game and they get Arizona St., Oregon, Washington, and UCLA at home.

Arizona State (7-2, 10-3): With a great quarterback and solid defense, they will be hard to beat on any given day, but they have some tough road games in-conference.

Oregon (5-4, 9-4): Justin Roper is looking pretty good and Oregon has the best offense in the nation—so far. They handled a pretty good Washington team in week 1, but they also have a couple of tough road games in-conference.

UCLA (5-4, 6-7): With a new coach and quarterback, there will be lots of ups and downs. They have the talent, but will be too inconsistent to finish in the top 4 of the conference.

Arizona (4-5, 5-7): The offense is looking great to start the season, but the road will get tougher when conference play starts. I don’t think they have it in the tank to break into the top 5 of the conference.

Washington (2-7, 4-9): They are much improved over last season and could pull an upset or two. I like Jake Locker.

Oregon State (6-3, 9-4): The season has started off rough and I think they will fall hard this year. They looked bad against Penn State and lost to Stanford. The offense doesn’t look so bad, but you have to play defense too.

Stanford (3-6, 4-8): Stanford is getting better, and already has a Pac-10 win over Oregon State. They are no longer the doormat of the conference. Remember, they beat USC last year!

Washington State (3-6, 5-7): Blown out twice already. It’s going to be a long year.