LOS ANGELES -- The enthusiasm in Berkeley is muted because the California Golden Bears have been here before, possessing the opportunity to seize the Pac-10 crown from a vulnerable USC team, loaded with returning starters and gifted skill players, including a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.
It was 2006, and Marshawn Lynch was being billed as a Heisman candidate and the Bears were ready to unseat their hated rival from the south. Instead, they were blown out by Tennessee on national TV to open the season and then lost their Rose Bowl chance with a brutal loss at Arizona in November. Cal was relegated to the Holiday Bowl, and relegated once against to second-tier status in the college football landscape.
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.
LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps there was a reason Pete Carroll pleaded with Mark Sanchez to return to USC for his senior season. He knew his Trojans would lose their gorilla grip on the Pac-10, and that is the enduring theme entering the conference's media day Thursday at the LAX Sheraton Hotel.
The Trojans are not the prohibitive favorites, but the precarious favorites with a slew of teams chasing them. But there's one major catch in their pursuit, most of the conference teams -- outside Washington -- are breaking in a new or less experienced quarterback. USC should be voted the favorites Thursday, but who is second?
We've already spent a good chunk of FanHouse real estate covering the Golden Bears and the likelihood of their mediocrity in 2008. But in the interest of equal time (and bet hedging), it seems only fair for us to explore the other side of the argument as well. After all, this team has spent their fair share of time in Top 25 the past few seasons, even if they have managed to lose more than a few seemingly winnable/gimme games.
Jeff Tedford's team enters this season as the prototypical wild card: (a) they've been successful the past few seasons but have seemed to struggle under the weight of high expectations, and this year will have a decidedly lower profile than they did the past couple; (b) they have some key departures, but several of the replacements for those who left could actually prove to be a substantial upgrade by the time everything shakes out; and (c) they have a schedule that sees all but one of their tough games take place at the comfy confines of Berkeley's Memorial Coliseum.
Let's take a closer look at how Cal might manage to shock the "experts" and contend in 2008.
LOS ANGELES -- The enthusiasm in Berkeley is muted because the California Golden Bears have been here before, possessing the opportunity to seize the Pac-10 crown from a vulnerable USC team, loaded with returning starters and gifted skill players, including a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.
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 
LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps there was a reason 
