Alright, I figured it’s time to get this project underway.  The idea of doing in-depth analysis of every club in the Pac 10 conference scared me, so I decided to break it apart.  Today we’ll look at the conference in general and begin the team previews with the  Oregon Ducks.  Choosing to look at the Ducks first may seem a bit arbitrary but it’s the club I know best and thus it will be the easiest to do.  (Which is nice because I’m a busy man.)

Pac 10 clubs lost a lot of talent, NBA caliber talent.  Both Arizona schools have to replace the bulk of their scoring after the departures of Harden and Pendergraph at ASU, along with Budinger and Hill at Arizona.  Besides Taj Gibson and Demar DeRozan leaving the club, SC lost Coach Tim Floyd to resignation in a veritable debacle.  At UCLA, Coach Howland will be without the experience of Aboya, Collinson, and Josh Shipp.  Washington and WSU also lost considerably, especially at WSU where the Tony Bennett exit will be exacerbated by a youthful squad.  So what’s the result of all the commotion?  As you would expect, a watered down conference.  But conference play should be competitive and open.

So who’s going to win the conference?  The top two positions are clear and relatively interchangeable in my mind.

1.  Cal

2. Washington

After that things get a bit hairy.

3. Arizona

4. UCLA

5. Oregon

6. Oregon State

7. ASU

8. Stanford

9. USC

10. Washington State

Filed under: General | Tagged: Arizona, ASU, Bruins, buddinger, CAL, ducks, Harden, Oregon, PAC10, Pacific ten Conference, Pendergraph, Taj Gibson, Tim Floyd, Tony Bennett, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, wildcats, WSU | Leave a comment »