Well first off I'll address the Pac-10/Big 10 debate.
This year should at bear minimum be extremely interesting. This will be the most tightly contested Pac-10 in while. Most teams are young and dangerous. The exception of course is USC, who is favourites to win the NC so long as Josh Booty plays up to his potential. Even if doesn't though, Sanchez will take over and the running game will be unstoppable. They have 4 blue chippers playing runningback, including the number 1 prospect this year, Joe McKnight. It'll be interesting to see how they share the football. They should be able to rely on the defence a fair bit too. Last year this D unit was probably the best in the country. This is an SEC style defence and if they played in the SEC their ppg stat would go way down. And the rest of the conference is really shaping up. It'll be a major disappointment if they don't go undefeated.
Oregon St. was 10-3 last year and are returning almost every starter. Their defence will be damn tough to beat this year, they're always a group of hardasses if nothing else. And their runningback Bernard is absolutly filthy. He put up 1300yards last year and no one heard about him because he played in Corvalis. I expect big things from them. They'll enter the top 15 then drop out and finish somewhere between 15 and 20 in the polls at the end of the year.
Washington will a surprising team this year, Tyrone Willingham has finally got a full group of recruits to come in and should be exciting even if they lost their quarterback. There will be a few stints in the top 25 this year but be 7-6 at the end of the year, 8-5 if everything goes well.
Arizona was a bit of a shock last year. They caused a bunch of upsets at home and were absolutly dangerous to mess with. They'll get some votes for the top 25 but I don't think they have the depth to compete with top tier teams.
Arizona st. will probably suck. They should have a pretty decent offence but no D, and they lost All-American TE Zach Miller, so that certainly hurts. I expect an upset or two in the desert. AzSt. will start quick out of the gates starting 4-1 maybe going 5-1 before they fall apart.
Cal lost Marshawn Lynch, and losing a heisman finalist is never easy but Forsett was very effective last year when he came in to replace Lynch. I think their running game should be just fine. Longshore is coming back at Qb and he'll team up with DeShaun Jackson. Longshore threw 3000yards in his first year as a starter and he'll only get better. Jackson is THE best WR in the country and by far the best return man. 10-2 is reasonably expectable. 11-1 is a definite possiblity as well. It all depends, but we could see two undefeated teams go at it late in the year for the Pac-10 ***le.
I'm not sure about Oregon. They should have a productive offence, well at least a productive running game. Jermiah Johnson and Jonathan Stewart are two very good backs. One of the best duo's in the country. If Dixon finally plays to his potential the three of them could be mighty productive. But i have a feeling Dixon will be **** again and it might be up to Brady Leaf, who has a strong arm, but little experience. I expect them to be a top 25 team at some point.
Let's skip over Stanford.
UCLA shouldn't be that good. They should have an above average defence, but I expect their offence to struggle. They'll finish at 6-6 or 5-7 on the year.
Washington St were an interesting team last year. Sometimes they looked great(beating USC) and sometimes, well not so much. They'd be lucky to get over .500.
That's my analysis of the Pac-10. There may be an assessment of the Big-10 soon.