Another whirlwind of action is on tap inside the PAC 10 CONFERENCE in 2008 when 140 starters from last year return (out of a possible 240, including kickers).  New to the scene will be a pair new head coaches, Paul Wulff at his alma mater Washington State and Rick Neuheisel, back in the league at his alma mater UCLA.  The question is whether anyone is capable of turning back the powerful Trojans of USC.  With only four starters back on offense, is USC rebuilding or simply reloading? 

Here is the take on the PAC 10 CONFERENCE for 2008 from Marc Lawrence of Playbook.com. Returning starters are listed alongside each team’s name (returning QB’s designated with an *). Coming up next: the SEC.  Enjoy…

PAC 10

ARIZONA - *10 / 3
Team Theme – SONNY DAYS AHEAD
True to his word, new offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes pumped life into Arizona’s lethargic attack last season, scoring 11 PPG and gaining 132 YPG more than the ’06 squad. The defense, however, took a hiatus (slipped 46 YPG) and, as a result, the Wildcats took a backward step. The good news is they managed to hold powerful USC to a season low 276 yards in one of four losses they suffered by a touchdown or less last year (three by 4 combined points).  Ten returning starters on offense, including SR QB Willie Tuitama, figure to have a better grasp of Dykes’ spread offense.  Now if head coach Mike Stoops can somehow overcome his tendency for slow starts (5-11 first 4 games / 10-6 final 4 games) the locals just might go wild over these Cats.
PLAY AGAINST: vs. Oregon (11/15)

ARIZONA STATE - *7 / 7
Team Theme: CHEF DENNIS
The king of home cooking, Dennis Erickson, welcomes another fortuitous schedule in ’08 when his troops play host on seven occasions, including four in a row to open the campaign.  To amplify, Erickson is 48-28-3 ATS at home as a college football head coach, including 34-13 when playing off a double-digit win.  He is also a three-time PAC 10 Coach of the Year – with three different teams - and one of only two coaches to ever beat a No.1 ranked team three times in his career (Lou Holtz the other).  In what has become a solid pattern, Denny’s teams started 8-0 last season before fizzling to a 2-3 finish.  We weren’t surprised.  His teams are now 25-33-1 ATS from Game Ten out, including a dismal 6-17 as a visitor.  SR QB Rudy Carpenter is the nation’s second-best active quarterback in TD passes (65) and needs 2,620 passing yards to become ASU’s all-time leader.  It helps that his favorite target, WR Michael Jones, who led the nation in TD frequency, will return. Bon appetit.
PLAY ON: vs. vs. Oregon (10/25)

CALIFORNIA - *5 / 9
Team Theme – GOLDILOCKS
Cal started last season like the fierce Papa Bear winning each of its first five games without hardly breaking a sweat. Then came that little blonde bitch in the form of an Oregon State Beaver and she turned Papa into Baby. Cal lost that game when backup QB Kevin Riley blew a game-tying field goal attempt by running out the clock. The Baby Bears lost five of the next six without a single cover before beating Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Rest assured, that loss to OSU will surely be a "circle game" this year. Cal not only returns nine starters on defense, it brings back QB Nate Longshore, who, incidentally, did not play in that Oregon State game. Longshore has won more games than any other Cal QB since 1958. We're betting that California's four losses as a favorite (second only to Kent State) will bring Papa back to the fore.
PLAY ON: vs. Oregon St (11/15) - *KEY

OREGON – 6 / 8
Team Theme – SORE EAGLES
There’s a saying that especially applied to Oregon’s football fortunes last season.  It says, “You can’t send a duck to eagle school.”  You could not have sold that adage to any of the Duck faithful who were flying high along with the No. 2 ranked team in the nation at 8-1 in mid-November last year. At least not before disaster struck in the desert. Star QB Dennis Dixon went down with a season-ending knee injury in the Arizona game and Oregon's hopes of soaring to new heights came crashing to the ground. The upside to the tragic finish occurred when Oregon, behind 6’ 6” QB Justin Roper, responded with a 35-point win (as 6-points dogs) over South Florida in the Sun Bowl.  That gives Mike Bellotti, the longest tenured coach in the Pac-10, reason to believe his team will be back up and flying before you know it.  PLAY ON: vs. UCLA (10/11)
 
OREGON STATE – 9 / 3
Team Theme – BEER & BEAVER
Here’s a bar bet guaranteed to send a free beer or two your way: Name the Pac 10 team with the best record in October, November and December the last two years.  Answer – you’re reading about them – the Beavers at 15-3.  It’s attributed to the fact that last year was the first time since 1969 OSU has finished with back-to-back winning seasons in conference play.  It was capped off with their 4th straight bowl win, increasing head coach Mike Riley’s career record to 7-0 in bowl games he’s coached.  Neat stuff, eh?  This year, though, the task will be tougher because they tackle eight teams that went to bowl games last year. A defense that held five opponents to season low yards last year stands ready for the task. Hey bartender, make it two to go for the road, would ya?
PLAY ON: vs. Arizona State (11/1)

SOUTHERN CAL – 4 / 7
Team Theme – United States Champions
The numbers say it all – six-consecutive AP Top 4 finishes, BCS bowls, Pac-10 titles and 11-win seasons.  Whew!  With only 11 starters lost from last year’s 11-win squad, Peter Carroll is hardly concerned.  That’s because eighteen returning players have career starts.  Included are Butkus candidate LB’s Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing, the defensive MVP’s of the last two Rose Bowls.  On the offensive side, C.J. Gable - said to be the next Reggie Bush - and Joe McKnight form a lethal running back combination.  Not only does this team own the best road record in college football the last five seasons (30-5), they are 29-1 at home.  Toss in Carroll’s 23-0 SU and 19-5 ATS mark in November and you can understand why USC fans are spoiled to the max.
PLAY ON: vs. Stanford (11/15)

STANFORD - *8 / 9
Team Theme - FOREIGNATE
Stanford won just four games all season under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh but Cardinal fans are optimistic because two of those wins came against California and USC. Those wins stamped Harbaugh as a rising young coach and Stanford as a team others in the Pac 10 conference need to respect.  It’s still been seven years since they’ve last appeared in a bowl game but the Cardinal is getting closer.  Last year’s 4-8 record was a full three game improvement over the 2006 squad, thus validating Harbaugh’s hire.  As Harbaugh said, “The greatest improvement made in a program comes from Season One to Season Two.  Nothing stands still; you are either getting better or getting worse.”  In Stanford’s case, we feel it’s the former.
PLAY AGAINST: vs. Arizona (10/11)

UCLA - *5 / 5
Team Theme – Q B OR NOT Q B
Talk about a buzz-kill.  After all the hoopla surrounding the hiring of flamboyant coach Rick Neuheisel, the Bruins were as deflated as Tom Scott’s air mattress when QB’s Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson were carted off the playing field after being injured in spring practice. "I'm OK, under the circumstances. These are two tough setbacks… I have full confidence in (OC) Norm Chow,” Neuheisel said. "We're going to find a way to play that position well." The good news is Olson may be back in time for fall camp.  With nine opponents who won nine or more games last season dotting this year’s itinerary and 25 seniors gone from last year’s team, tricky Ricky will need his best sleight-of-hand stuff right off the bat.
PLAY ON: vs. BYU (9/13)

WASHINGTON - *7 / 6
Team Theme – HAM HOCKS
Another coach on the hot seat would be Huskies’ mentor Ty Willingham who, in three years with Washington, is still looking for his first winning season. To make matters tough again, UW will tackle eight opponents that played in bowl games last season, including three in a row to open the season. The Ham will put his faith and trust in SO QB Jake Locker, the Pac 10 Freshman of the Year.  Locker set a conference record when he rushed for 986 yards (and 13 TD’s) last season but he’ll need to improve on a sub-par 47% completion mark.  With Willingham a classic good dog / bad favorite coach (30-16 ATS taking points on the road; 19-30 laying points at home), we’ll play those cards accordingly.
PLAY ON: as a dog vs. Arizona (10/4) 

WASHINGTON STATE – 6 / 8
Team Theme – WULFF WILL HULFF AND PULFF…
After getting a first glimpse of his team in spring practice, new head coach Paul Wulff commented, “I like to think our best football is ahead of us, but we have a long way to go.”  Compared to the Eastern Washington teams he led to the playoffs three of the last four years, Wulff realizes his Cougars will need time for his new no-huddle offense to take hold.  Redshirt SR QB Gary Rogers replaces Alex Brink.  His main target will be WR Brandon Gibson who led the Pac 10 with 1,180 yards last season.  Meanwhile, the Cougars will be counting on a shift back to the ‘4-3’ to patch a defense that slipped 64 YPG last season. The re-building begins.  
PASS