Trojan Wire Pac-10 Power Rankings

A truly hilarious article...excellent analysis as well.

32 more hours!

Fight On!!!

My Biggest Concerns this Season

Offensive Line – We are replacing 3 veteran Offensive Lineman, it doesn’t matter how good your Backfield is if you don’t have the big fellas to pancake the Defense.

Tailback – I suppose I would feel better if Hershel Dennis or Desmond Reed were ready to go (because at least they have at least one start under their belt). I am sure there is a lot of talent in our corps of TB’s but there is a lot left to prove.

Special Teams – The only guy last year that played well on special teams was #5 and we all know what happened to him. Maybe this year we can tackle somebody.

Corners/Safety’s – Last season our defense sucked; I think our DB’s did in particular, Bing should never have been allowed to wear #20. He just never showed the magic that he could have been capable of.

Notre Dame – Yes, they are being hyped big time…but what do you expect. They almost beat us last year. If they play like that this year then the real BCS bowl game will be played Nov 25th at 8 pm ET (not that I am looking forward to it or anything).

QB – I feel a whole lot better about this slot than most of the others on the team. I think Booty will be good in the position. Probably not as good as Leinart but maybe as good as Palmer. Hopefully he won’t get hit in the back.

Cal/Oregon/UCLA – I suppose I always worry about the other good teams in the Pac-10 so that is pretty standard.

Stanford – Ok, so The Farm suck and has sucked for a few years now. But we never play very well in the Bay area. I don’t know why, maybe it is something in the air, call me paranoid but our closest games are always up there. Look it up. Maybe it is because we don’t see them coming.

3-4 Defense – I have never been a big fan of the 3-4 Defense, I think it opens you up to much to a good running team. But if they play a LB more like a DE then I will feel a little better. But I still don’t like it.

Nick Holt – I really don’t know if this guy is a good coach I figure he is. But Carroll has had his stamp all over the Defense since 2001 and it seems to have worked pretty well.

Well, I thought I should share my preseason rankings with you.

1. Ohio State – Trust me, I am not sure they belong there either. But they were the only other team besides USC to give Texas a run for their money. And, their offense was playing way better at the end of the season than it was in the beginning. The D is still a question but we will see.

2. Auburn – A lot of players are coming back, both on the offense and on the defense. Oh, and the SEC are idiots and gave them 8 home games. No team is better at scheduling cupcake opponents as Auburn. I think next season they are going to try and play Army.

3. West Virginia – I can hear the banjos already. Again another team with a favorable schedule. But they did play really well in their BCS game last season.

4. USC – This might be me just hoping for an excellent season but the Trojans have the level of talent to keep them in the top 5. But now it is just time to execute. New offense players and a new defense lead to a lot of question marks. And hopefully this season the special teams will show up. The end of the season will be murder; Cal, Notre Dame, and UCLA in the last weeks of the season. Fight On!

5. Notre Dame – A lot has been said about fatso and pretty boy and I won’t repeat it all here, but seriously, Weis is a good coach and Quinn is a good QB. And if they play up to the level they played against USC last year they might be 1 or 2 at the end of the season.

6. Texas – Now which team has lost more USC or Texas? I think the general consensus is that USC has; but I would submit that Texas has. The Longhorns were much more one dimensional on offense than USC but I still think that D will keep them in most of their games and they just need to score a little to win.

7. Miami – The new ACC is going to be impossible to get through undefeated (plus it is lame that they don’t have geographic regions) but Miami has the best chance. Always loaded and always fast it will be hard to catch up.

8. Florida – I think this might be the year for Urban Meyer in Florida. That is if he doesn’t stress out Leak too much. The schedule will be tough. The SEC is never easy.

9. Cal – Great running back, Great D, now all they need is a good QB. It sure isn’t Ayoob. I think that he was the MVP for USC in the Cal USC game last year.

10. LSU – Did anyone see them play Miami in their bowl game last year? They looked really good. But this season they get games at Auburn, at Florida and at Tennessee...that won’t be fun.

Anyone else have thoughts?

So, what is the worst thing about college football? Well, for me it is the length of the season. We only get 3 full months of football. Though bowl season is awesome I only get to see Trojans once during bowl season. So, that means from the kickoff of the season to the crowning of the champion there is only 4 months. Kind of a bummer. But I do love it.

Fight On!