Pac-10 Winners and Losers

Hello Followers.

Hope you’re having a great week.

Well, last week we all bore witness to the fact that I represent the “Biggest Loser” of the blog universe.

Today, we take a look at the winners and losers from this year’s Pac-10 football season. Want to know who finished in Sutra’s top and bottom five? Then read on.

1. Oregon.
After years of wonderful underachieving, the Quack broke through in a major, major way this year. Not only have they now firmly cemented themselves as the King of the Northern half of the Pac-10, Mr. Chip Kelly will open next season as a top 3 team in the country.

When you factor in the poise in which he handled both Blount AND Belotti’s antics in Week One, expect to see the warmup-suit/airport warriors acting like the Moron Savants they are for the next half decade at least. How depressing!

2. Stanford.
Some might suggest otherwise, but when you turn the corner on what was a HAPLESS program in only your third year, you deserve total props. Not only did Captain Comeback coach up Luck to rival the Pac-10’s best crop of QBs EVER as a frosh, he facilitated the development of Toby Heisman, coached them to an improbable victory over Oregon, and then followed that with a TROUNCING of USC in Los Angeles. Moreover, in case anyone forgot, he did ALL OF THAT in spite of having a defense that is and was nearly as slow as ours. Character, toughness, and moxy will always get special treatment on this blog. Stanford has all of it in spades. Congrats on a great season, nerdnicks! (But you’re going to get SLAMMED by Clay Bennett University in Mike Priceville!)

3. Oregon State.
Tough ending to another really, really great season. The Beavs reloaded for the fourth consecutive year and played for the Rose Bowl for the second year in the Civil War. In addition, Reilly has continued both this season and last of NOT altering his recruiting philosophy to target the 9 star prospects of the world. What that means is that someday–perhaps next year–the Beavs WILL break through.

It also means that Beavs aren’t going to wake up anytime soon with its cupboard bare a la our little Cougs. One thing is for sure, jumping ahead of the Beavs is going to one tall, tall order for both of the Washington schools. They are going to be lunchbox GREAT next year too.

4. Arizona.
Willy who? Cats overcame early QB problems, the absence of their All-American TE for the whole year, and a fluke pick 6 against the puppies to play for the conference in late November. Moreover, after losing a heartbreaker to the Ducks, Stoops’ troops beat their rivals and then gutted out a victory against Troy to land a really, really nice Holiday Bowl invitation. Heckuva year for the Arizona faithful, who just got both hands firmly into the Texas recruiting triangle. Look out.

5. Washington.
Boy, you win five more games than the previous year, move toward restoring a storied tradition, and you’re the fifth biggest winner in the conference? Yep. The one thing the Dawgs really have going for them is the potential return of Mr. Locker. If he comes back, the Dawgs figure to challenge for a third or fourth place finish next year–which would be HUGE for them.

But, if Locker leaves, then this season becomes a quick afterthought that NO ONE will remember. Pay attention Cougar Nation: The Dawgs did EVERYTHING that we wanted to do this season. And they are still, in my opinion, a long, long, long, LONG way away (assuming Locker leaves).

1. California.
Picked to finish in the Top 2 this year in conference, and picked by most to be the sexy successors to USC, the Bears and Tedford now hold Mike Belotti’s mantel for Kings of Underachievement.

During this campaign, Kevin Riley showed that Tedford hasn’t been able to develop a quarterback since Aaron Rodgers, and even worse, saw too many conference rivalries go the other way. Now, CAL has no sense of dominion over Oregon. They can’t beat SC even in a down year. They are prone to get spanked by the Huskies (which has happened in 2 out of the last 3 years), and they are MEAT for the Beavs. When you look at all that they lose this year, CAL is now poised for a bigtime slide to the lower division next year. LOSER!

2. Arizona State.
When Dennis the Menace took the ASU job, my previous incarnate Brinkhater guaranteed that Dennis would ruin the Sun Devils program. And he was right. After two straight lower division seasons, Dennis now finds himself ranked behind WSU for next year’s recruiting class. And there’s NO relief in sight. Out of all the things I don’t know about how next year will play out, this much I am certain: Dennis won’t be coaching the Sun Devils in 2011.

3. Washington State
How can you be the worst Pac-10 team of recent memory and not be the BIGGEST LOSER? One word: Irrelevance. Simply put, this year wasn’t a year where we HAD to make a move up the ladder–that’s next year. The other reason for finishing third: We figure to be “much improved” heading into next year, while the Bears and Devils are descending.

To quote Buster Sports’ Tricky Nicky at the beginning of the year: “Washington State could be the most improved team in the conference this year and still not win a game.” Was he talking about next year too???

4. UCLA.
Granted, Hermie the Dentist pulled a few rabbits out of the hat to get the Ruins Bowl eligible. But, in a year in which SC was down, UCLA did little to make up ground–especially when you consider that they won ALL of their non-conference contests.

Simply put, when you factor in that SC will be back next year, the Oregon schools are unstoppable, Stanford is terrific, and Arizona looks like they’ve stabilized, you have to wonder where UCLA is going to land. Here’s to thinking that “7th Heaven” may be the long-term slogan for the UCLA program.

5. USC
Can anyone in their right mind call SC a “loser?” But when you saw the way that Stanford out toughed them, Oregon out ran them, Arizona out-Trojaned them, and then consider that the Beavs have them at home next year, you have to wonder if the dominance has ended for good.

This is not to say that the Trojans won’t continue to be a conference and national power, but the days of consecutive conference titles seems suspect now, at least to me. For instance, in my pre-season Pac-10 for 2010, I have the Trojans either third or fourth. Might be time for Pistol Pete to listen to those NFL offers that pop up every year.

So, there you have it. Sutra’s winners and losers for 2010. Please give us your takes, and remember, 2010 is but 22 days away!!!!!!!