Your Pac-10 Preview

by Amy Lamare of www.gridirongoddess.net

I can make this real quick football fiends: USC will win its 7^th straight Pac 10 championship and head to a BCS bowl game.

And that concludes your 2008 Pac-10 Preview. UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona and Arizona State - all y’all might as well stay home. Rey Maualuga, Mark Sanchez, Joe McKnight and the boys have got this one sewn up.

In all seriousness though, the Pac-10 does not back down from a challenge when scheduling its non-conference games. This year teams in the Pac-10 face: Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, BYU, Boise State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Purdue, just to name a handful. No 1-AA cupcake rivals here!

ARIZONA WILDCATS:

It’s do or die time for Coach Mike Stoops. He’s going to have to get his Wildcats to win 6 games to at least have a shot at keeping his job. If he can do this, Arizona will get to Bear Down for their first bowl game since 1998. I’m betting in Stoops’ favor since his non-conference lineup is fairly easy with games against Idaho and Toledo and at New Mexico.

Senior QB Willie Tuitama is going to have to step it up and generate some scoring this season for the Wildcats to be competitive in the Pac-10. The defense returns only 3 starters, and that’s not the only bad news for the Wildcat D. Their most experienced defensive lineman, Jonathan Turner, was suspended from the team’s summer practices after being charged with sexual assault last spring. He is awaiting his trial.

Junior college transfer Nick Booth hopes to boost the Arizona running game. This 225 pound running back joins Nic Grisby, Xavier Smith and true freshman Keola Antolin on the Wildcat depth chart.

Arizona’s Non Conference Schedule: Idaho, Toledo, New Mexico

Arizona reports to pre-season camp on August 4^th

ARIZONA STATE SUNDEVILS:

ASU was picked to finish 2^nd behind USC in the pre-season Pac-10 poll. The Sun Devils are prepping for their second season under Coach Dennis Erickson and they have one MAJOR issue: The Offensive Line. They don’t have one. Seriously, last season QB Rudy Carpenter spent so much time on his back that I started to wonder if those were not linemen lined up in front of him, but rather, Fatheads.

Dennis Erickson is incorporating a quick release spread offense this season to help Carpenter’s protection. A good portion of his 55 sacks last season were due to him holding onto the ball too long. Five players have left the team since the conclusion of spring practices, including tight end Dane Guthrie. (Academic reasons for former defensive end Guthrie.)

ASU plays a doozy of a non conference game when it faces Georgia on September 20^th. If the Sun Devils do not solve their offensive