Pac 10 Power Poll and a review of Week One

In the eyes of the media the Pac 10’s performance was a failure and this can mainly be blamed on the Cal Bears and their ineffective QB play and defensive letdown. Though there is no shame in losing in Neyland Stadium the Bears look like they have fallen in to the trap where they will have problems beating teams that can keep Lynch and Forsett from running at will. As for the other two match-ups in the PAC10/SEC 3-fer WSU was not surprisingly outclassed by Auburn though I thought the Cougars would do a better job defensively against Auburn. USC showed that they still can dominate teams and the drop-off that some predicted may not occur there. Looking forward to this week there are some nice non-conference games out there that should pique interest but do to some of the match-ups the Pac 10 could take some more national hits. In addition there are 5 match-ups versus WAC teams looking to make some noise out west. Here is this week’s power poll:

1. USC (1) Playing at Arkansas is no easy task they play very tough at home as many an SEC foe can attest too. However USC continued to roll and answered the critics. They know have two weeks to prepare for Nebraska though having a bye week so early in the season is not helpful for the Trojans. I think Nebraska is a tough match-up but the two weeks off and home cooking should led USC to a solid win in two weeks. Barring some major injuries and suspensions USC will be out top squad next week as they can’t lose to that team called BYE.
2. UO (4) The Oregon Ducks answered all the questions that the media have of them and more after pounding Stanford at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks played with confidence ran the ball effectively and didn’t make too many mistakes for the first game of the season. They will face a tougher test on the ground from Fresno State as well as playing in a very hostile environment with WAC refs so those factors should make this game close. In the Oregon seems to have just enough to beat Fresno every year and I see that continuing as long as the Ducks avoid interceptions. A win versus the Bulldogs could likely vault Oregon close to 10^th in the nation by the time they play a shaky Oklahoma team in Autzen Stadium.
3. UCLA (5) Utah was expected to give UCLA a hard test but Ben Olson performed well and the Bruins cruised to a victory. With an easy match-up at home this week versus Rice I expect UCLA to quietly move up the national polls and will likely still be undefeated when they play Oregon on October 21^st due to getting to open the Pac 10 with games versus Washington, Stanford and Arizona (who by the way beat UCLA last year knocking the Bruins out of any chance at BCS bowl). The Ducks could either be reeling at this point or could be ranked in the Top 5 in the country.
4. Cal (2) There is no shame in losing to Tennessee but I think the Bears may have been listening too much to their press clippings. They need to get past last week’s performance and focus on getting consistent QB play as teams will be daring Cal to throw the ball down the field until the two-headed Longshore-Ayoob monster can get their footing.
5. OSU (6) They get to jump ASU because they played better against their Big-Sky opponent than ASU did. They face a tough test on Thursday night in Boise against an experienced 5^th year senior QB in Hermiston’s own Jared Zabransky. The Beavs need a better showing than the last time they ventured on the blue turf.
6. ASU (3) A big drop for ASU even after a win because they frankly struggled with Northern Arizona and I feel there is lingering team chemistry issues which may bubble to the surface. If ASU plays the same way against Nevada as they did against NAU they will likely lose. Koetter needs to get things on track before league play starts. He will face a likely very angry and possibly 0-2 Colorado Buffalo squad in two weeks in Boulder.
7. Arizona (8) They won an ugly game versus BYU but the important thing is they won it and this means that they likely will only need 4 Pac 10 wins to go to a bowl if they can hold off Stephen F. Austin. I expect U of A to get run down in Baton Rogue but their defense may keep the score closer than WSU and Cal did against their SEC foes.
8. WSU (7) I didn’t get a chance to see many highlights of this game but the Cougars were clearly outclassed by Auburn. To keep bowl hopes alive WSU needs to beat Idaho and Baylor, though both are perennial bad teams both teams played tough ball in their openers against good competition so the Cougars better not be overconfident or they could force them selves in to having to win 5 Pac 10 games to go to a bowl.
9. Stanford (9) The Cardinals looked outclassed in every aspect of the game against a much faster Oregon team. Stanford as always is a much better team on grass where their speed issues are less exposed. They can’t look past San Jose State who is a pesky squad who has knocked off the Cardinal in the past.
10. UW (10) Well they were tested again by San Jose State. Next the Huskies will get to venture in to the not so friendly confines of Norman Oklahoma before facing what could be a 2-0 Fresno State team in the Top 25. Things don’t look good on the schedule for Washington this year. I heard talk out of Montlake that this could be a 6 or 7 win team but I never bought in to such talk.