Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

Arizona-Mike Stoops
Talk about a reprieve! Stoops was one more losing season away from the unemployment line, but scratched out a winning 2008 that ended with a victory over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Now extended through 2013, Stoops has an opportunity to build on last year's success. Stoop's offensive scheme is sometimes questionable, but as the quality of recruit increases he may be able to do more conventional work with improved results. Regardless, he ended last season on a high note and in a weakened PAC-10, may be able to build on it.
Stock: Steady

Arizona State-Dennis Erickson
ASU surprised a lot of people with their poor 2008, and Dennis Erickson needs to right the ship as in-state rival Arizona heads in the opposite direction. Erickson put together a terrific 2009 class and 2010 is also looking good. Erickson will need to get the offense back to high-octane status to land this team back in the top 25; anything less will be reason for concern. For now, Erickson is safe.
Stock: Steady

Cal-Jeff Tedford
Tedford is quite possibly the most underrated coach who is consistently in the top 25. The guy wins bowl games, and usually finds himself in the mix for 1st or 2nd place in the conference. Tedford has stepped up recruiting the last two years to try and stay competitive at the top of the conference. The bottom line is that Tedford is a legitimate candidate for just about any job that opens, but if he keeps going top-shelf with recruiting there’s no reason Cal can’t return to the top ten.
Stock: Rising

Oregon-Chip Kelly
Taking over for Mike Belotti is no easy task, but Kelly is a familiar face that knows how to put points on the board. The biggest issue Kelly will face in year one is injuries, and bringing in talent that matches the school’s reputation. If he can do that, he should transition smoothly.
Stock: Steady

Oregon State-Mike Reilly
Aside from Pete Carrol, Reilly is arguably the best coach in the Pac-10. Reilly knows how to win the big game; unfortunately, he also knows how to lose the no-brainers too. Reilly has turned OSU into a perennial bowl game participant and has a 5-0 record in bowl games with the Beavers. Look for Reilly to be in Corvallis for a long, long time.
Stock: Rising

Stanford-Jim Harbaugh
One of the most overrated coaches in college football. Harbaugh is a good coach, but people are too quick to crown him as the second coming of Bear Bryant. The upset over USC was nice, but the Cardinal is still under .500 and bowl-less under Captain Comeback. Stanford did win one more game last year than 2007, but let's see what Harbaugh does over the next two years before throwing his name out for jobs like Auburn and other powerhouse programs.
Stock: Steady

UCLA-Rick Neuheisel
It was a rough start to the Neuheisel era at UCLA, and it’s only amplified because of his reputation and a large number of people who would like to see him fail. So far he is recruiting well, but it’s a bit premature to declare that the college football monopoly in L.A. is over. UCLA had big problems with injuries and QB play last season, and should see an improvement in 2009. Regardless, the university will not tolerate losing for long; especially from a coach who is essentially coaching on his last chance.
Stock: Dropping

USC-Pete Carrol
Nobody is going to question Carrol’s coaching credentials; the guy is a stud. What Carrol needs to be careful about is off-field distractions like the one surrounding Reggie Bush. USC does not have the best reputation as a school of high standards, and situations like that only magnify that fact. From a football standpoint, Carrol keeps stocking the shelf with the best athletes in the nation and keeps winning on the field. As a Pac-10 school however, they can’t afford losses to the Oregon States of the world; it’s a sure way to work yourself out of the championship picture.
Stock: Rising

Washington-Steve Sarkisian
One of the most intriguing hires of the past year. Sarkisian knows how to make an offense work, and with QB jake Locker at the helm Sarkisian could see some success in year one. When Charlie Weiss took over Ty Willingham’s recruits at Notre Dame he had a terrific year. There is enough talent at Washington for Sarkisian to shockingly win 7 games or so.
Stock: Steady

Washington State- Paul Wulff
Wulff is in a rough situation as the Cougars are seen as second fiddle to their Seattle counterparts. Year one was not pretty as WSU went 2-9, and prospects don’t look all that hot for 2009. At some point WSU will need to shell out some dough for a name-coach as national recognition of the program is souring at a rapid rate. The first two recruiting classes of the Wulff era are not PAC-10 quality, and the only way that’s going to change is through winning.
Stock: Dropping

Matt Toepfer
pigskinpress.com

A-Arizona. It looks like the power is shifting in the state. Recent history has had Arizona enjoying more success than ASU. Is Mike Stoops finally turning the corner with the Wildcats? Has Dennis Erickson made one stop too many on his nomadic coaching career? I can’t say; these two schools are so schizophrenic they make Ted Kaczynski look sane.

B-Bruins. The powers that be at UCLA don’t understand why they can’t be as successful as neighbor USC. I can give them an explanation- Pete Carroll is the coach at USC, Rick Neuheisel is the coach at UCLA. Neuheisel is like the Fiero your buddy bought new then drove for 8 years. It was a hot car the day he drove it off the lot, but denial prevented him from dumping it when they suddenly turned lame.

C-Cal. The Golden Bears are widely considered by most people as the team that will unseat USC from the conference title throne. I don’t know where that comes from, they have lost the last 5 meetings with the Trojans.
 
D-Defense. Most of the press that USC receives is about the offense. Lets give their D some love here; they surrendered 80 points in conference games last year and 117 points overall. That’s 9 points per game.

E-Equation. Some say its an advantage some say disadvantage. Without a conference title game the equation for the conference winner to get into the BCS title game is different than those who do play a conference title game. I know its more complicated than this, but if they simply added two more schools, as a whole the PAC 10 would get more respect. Who should they add? How about Boise State and Utah.

F-First timers. 2 teams will have first time head coaches on the sidelines in 2009. Steve Sarkisian at Washington and Chip Kelly at Oregon.

G- Goin’ Bowlin'. 5 teams from the PAC 10 made it to bowl games in 2008. Expect at least that many to make it in 2009.

H-Hagan. If the name Darian Hagan sounds familiar to you old schoolers, it should. Darian Hagan (the elder) led Colorado to the National Championship in 1990. Darian Hagan Jr. is part of one of the best defensive backfields in the nation at Cal.

I-Inland. Only 3 schools in the PAC 10 are more than 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Arizona, Arizona State and Washington State.

J-Jeremiah Masoli. In a conference with a pretty good crop of QBs, Phil Steele tabbed the Oregon QB as first team preseason all conference.

K-Kavario Middleton. 6’5” 255lb sophomore TE from Washington should grow a little more, when he does he will be something special.

L-Locker. Jake Locker remains one of the few bright spots for Huskie fans in Seattle. With maturing talent around him 2009 could be the year of the Jake.

M-Moevao. Lyle Moevao can put a cherry on top of his career in 2009 if he can reduce his INTs; he is the key in putting together the special season Oregon State seems so close to having.

N-Nyan Boateng. While Jahvid Best rightfully gets most of the ink time for Cal, Boateng’s hands and speed at WR open up the running game for Best.

O-Omar Bolden. The ASU JR defensive back had 2 INTs 49 tackles and 7 pass breakups last year.

P-Pete Carroll. In his 9th season at USC Carroll has compiled a 88-15 record. That is just ridiculous.

Q-”Quizz”. Jacquizz Rogers is listed generously at 5’7”, as a true freshman in 2008 he rushed for 1,291 yards and 11 touchdowns. Couple hundred more yards and a few more touchdowns and I’ll go ahead and call him a dark horse Heismann candidate.

R-Riley. Who says you can’t come home again. Mike Riley’s first tour as Oregon State’s coach saw him turn in a 23-24 record, he then tested the waters in the NFL with San Diego. In 2003 he went back to Corvallis and has since gone 33-18 including a 5-0 record in bowl games.

S-Stanford. Jim Harbaugh has the Cardinal headed in the right direction. They haven’t gone bowling since 2001, I predict that changes this year. The Cardinal is going bowling.

T-Troy. As in the Men of…USC won’t be favored to win the BCS title early in the year, but if they get by Ohio State and Notre Dame on the road, by the end of the year they will be in the mix.

U-University of Southern California. See letter T above.

V-Vontaze Burfict. ASU's middle linebacker is my early pick for freshman of the year.

W-Wins. As I mentioned in the letter E. Without a conference title game every win is big for the PAC-10 to be included in the BCS title mix.

X-Xavier Kelly. The Arizona SR linebacker tallied 51 tackles and 3 sacks last year, look for him to cause more disruption in opposing offense’s backfields this year.

Y-Youth. 5 PAC-10 teams expect to start underclassmen at QB this year. They are USC, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, ASU.

Z-Zzzzz’s. It’s going to be another tough year in Pullman for Washington State. My advice to Cougar fans, Saturday afternoons will be a great time to catch some Z’s.