All Things Must Pass: Five Streaks that may come to an end in the Pac 10 in 2009

Did you know that it's been 40 years since Oregon State won in Tempe?
Last Time Oregon State won in Tempe....
-Neither ASU nor Arizona was in the Pac 10
-The Beatles were still together
-Syd Barrett was still in Pink Floyd
-Vietnam was in full swing
-We had just gone to the moon months prior

That's quite a while.

This year, Oregon State brings in a very talented team led by the Rodger's brothers Jacquizz and James, while ASU is a big question mark to many.

If the ASU offense improves, then we may see this streak continue, at least until the next time they play in the Valley of the Sun. If it doesn't, then we may see this long, long streak come to an end.

In a coaching career that has spanned 20 seasons and six different schools, Dennis Erickson has never had back-to-back losing seasons once, and only four total.

I don't care who you are, or what sports or teams you follow, but that is impressive.

Unfortunately for Coach Erickson, that streak has a possibility of coming to an end this year. ASU (Erickson's current occupation) had an absolutely awful year last year.

With an atrocious offensive line and an offense that didn't know how to score, the Sun Devil's finished the year at 5-7 with a defense that actually outscored its offense at times.

Now, things don't look too promising for Erickson. The o-line is a huge question mark this year, and the Sun Devils have to break in a new quarterback after the departure of Rudy Carpenter.

To make the quarterback situation worse, no one else really got any experience, so the Devils will have to rely on someone who probably hasn't ever taken a meaningful snap.

I am a Devil fan, but I'm also a realist, and to improve on offense doesn't seem too realistic to me.

We shall see how things turn out, but if things don't improve on offense, then Dennis Erickson can kiss his career-long streak goodbye.

Unless you're one of the Oregon schools, chances are you haven't had much luck against USC this decade.

The Oregon schools haven't had that much success, either.

The kind of success USC has had over everyone this decade is astounding, and I'm sure all other fans of Pac 10 teams salivate at the thought of beating the Trojans. But is it possible that someone else may take the crown this year?

I think it's not out of the question for someone else to snatch the Pac 10 crown this year. Cal will be a lot better with the aid of a man named Jahvid Best, who could easily win the Heisman.

Oregon will be even better than last year with Massoli at the helm.

Also we will see an improved ASU look to shake things up, and don't forget about those Rodger's brothers at OSU.

Anyways, what I'm getting at is that the Pac 10 will be far improved this year, especially the offenses, and that won't mix well with USC's depleted defense coming into next year.

This may be a first for Pete Carroll: rebuild instead of reload.

Someone else could very possibly take the conference crown next year.

I chuckled a bit at this, as it really isn't a bad thing if this streak ends. I mean how can you hate Stanford? That tree is so adorable and easy on the eyes...

Anyways, back to my point. Stanford may actually get to a bowl game this year, their first since the 2001 Seattle Bowl.

It's no secret that the teams Jim Harbaugh has been coaching at Stanford are getting increasingly better and last year, they narrowly missed out on being bowl eligible.

If there was ever a chance before, this is probably the year it could happen, with a schedule that should yield at least 6 wins.

"Cal has not beaten UCLA in the Rose Bowl since 1999... Longshore to throw for it.... INTERCEPTED! AND YOU CAN SAY GOOD BYE TO ALTERRAUN VERNER BECAUSE HE IS GONE!"
(pictured above)

...and so California's troubles continued in their last visit to The Rose Bowl...

This year may be the year that Cal, led by Heisman hopeful Jahvid Best, actually beats UCLA.

Cal is ranked in just about every publication you can find, while UCLA is a huge question mark for next year. It's safe to say that you can bet on Cal to finally put an end to the Pasadena troubles next year.