FanHouse DimitriNance

LOS ANGELES -- USC was picked to win the Pac-10 football title for the seventh consecutive year by the media, and yet the coaches from all nine competitors -- including Arizona's Mike Stoops (right) and even USC coach Pete Carroll -- touched on the uncertainty of the Trojans this season.

USC received 28 of the 32 votes with California receiving three while third-place Oregon collected one vote. The Trojans will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new defenders since 11 players were taken in the NFL Draft. Perhaps this is the year another school emerges and takes the crown out of Los Angeles, but they approached Thursday precariously and with respect. There were no declarations that USC is going down or the reign is over -- not even from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel.

Pac 10 contender, as in USC, right? Sure, but they don't stand completely alone this year. Yes, there is another team lying in the weeds that could give the Trojans a run for the outright conference title. After all, ASU did in fact tie USC last season at 7-2 in the conference, so, it's certainly not out of the question. Arizona State looks like a team that could make a legit run at the USC dynasty.

WHY THEY'LL WIN

You can start with the senior trigger man, Rudy Carpenter. Under the watch of new head coach Dennis Erickson, Carpenter was excellent in the one-back offense, throwing for 3202 yards and 25 TD's while finishing second in the conference in passer rating. However, Carpenter was on the receiving end of the majority of the well-publicized school record of 55 sacks allowed, plus repeated other blows absorbed by the opposing pass rush. ASU's O-line is sure sick of hearing about it, and while that unit will feature three new starters, they should have a real chip on their shoulder this season. But Erickson is no dummy, and realized that Carpenter cannot survive another year absorbing that much punishment. So, aside from getting better O-line play, another way to minimize the pain is to simply get rid of the ball quicker. Faster developing pass patterns, shorter QB drops on pass plays, whatever it takes to keep Carpenter upright and productive this season. Two of the top three running backs return in Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance. Nance led the team with seven rushing TD's, and is more of a physical guy of the two. Herring is the big-play type, leading the team with 815 rushing yards and a solid 5.3 yards per carry. Three of the top four receivers are back, led by Chris McGaha and a big-time deep threat in Michael Jones. Jones averaged 16.7 yards per catch and was second in the conference with 10 TD catches. ASU should be a difficult match-up for any Pac 10 defense this season. Defensively the pass rush should be fierce. Three starters are back on the line, with Dexter Davis and Luis Vasquez two of the most productive defensive ends in the country. Davis had 10 1/2 sacks last year while Vasquez stood his ground with 43 tackles, tops among ASU linemen. Free safety Troy Nolan is the leader of the secondary and a legit all-conference candidate after winning second-team honors last year.