Will the Pac Ten Earn Perfection Again?

Last season the Pac Ten went 5-0 in their Bowl games. That was a great post-season showing by a conference that was not getting enough national respect. In 2008 the two conferences that were put on a pedestal was the SEC and Big 12. At the start of this season the SEC and Big 12 again received all the accolades. Even in a year that USC was not dominant the Pac Ten has proven on the field that they are the 2nd best conference in the country. The conference went from five bowl eligible teams in 2008 to seven teams qualifying for a bowl in 2009. Stanford RB Toby Gerhart finished 2nd in the Heisman race and the Pac Ten has the best talent at the QB position (Jake Locker, Andrew Luck, Nick Foles, Matt Barkley, Jeremiah Masoli) in the country returning in 2010.

Oregon State has an advantage over BYU at the skill positions with WR James Rodgers and RB Jacquizz Rodgers. The Beavers could win a shootout against BYU. UCLA has a good enough running game and a very strong defense that should get them past Temple in the EagleBank Bowl. Arizona will have a lot of trouble blocking Nebraska's DT Ndamukong Suh, but the Cornhuskers will struggle on offense. The Oregon Ducks will be a force on offense when they face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. The speed of QB Jeremiah Masoli and RB LaMichael James will be to tough for the Buckeyes to handle.

The games that will be difficult will be Cal vs. Utah, USC vs. Boston College and Stanford vs. Oklahoma. California lost two out of their last four games including a 42-10 defeat at Washington. The Bears have not been able to get their passing game going this season. QB Kevin Riley only completed 54.6% of his passes this season. Utah has a good running game lead by Eddie Wide (1,032 yards and 12 TD's) and a good player at WR in David Reed (75 catches and 5 TD's). When Stanford meets Oklahoma the Cardinal plan to pound Gerhart at the Sooners front seven over and over. At some point Stanford will have to pass the ball and it is not clear if QB Andrew Luck will play in this game. In order to beat Oklahoma, Stanford will have to make some plays in the passing game. In the Emerald Bowl the only question is which USC team will show up? The Trojan team that won at Ohio State 18-15 or the team that lost to the Oregon Ducks 47-20. Pete Carrol will put a lot of emphasis on his team finishing the season with a victory. It will be very difficult for the Pac Ten Conference to go 7-0 in the post-season, but a 5-2 record will be a very good showing.