FanHouse Nick Foles

One of the best conference races in college football has been the one going down in the Pac-10. Heading into today, five teams were still competing for a shot at the Rose Bowl: Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, Arizona and USC. Stanford's wood-shedding of USC eliminated one contender in a big way, and Cal likely did Arizona the honors in bumping the Wildcats 24-16.

Arizona, of course, is the only team in the league not to have gone to the Rose Bowl. The fact has been a nagging itch for the Wildcat football program, desperate for consistency and a trip to Pasadena to hang their hat on.

The Wildcats likely won't get it in 2009.

Cal kept quarterback Nick Foles and the Wildcat offense in check throughout, limiting Arizona to just 17 first downs and 276 yards. Its a disappointing elimination for Arizona, which had won three in a row including a wild victory over surging Stanford, 43-38.

LOS ANGELES -- Only the Pacific 10 Conference can show some muscle but take a step back on the same day.

Highlighted by Washington's victory over No. 3 USC on Saturday, the Pac-10 proved once again that it's not a conference dominated by one team. It was the fourth consecutive season that the highly-regarded Trojans -- who are 33-1 in their last 34 games against non-conference opponents -- were knocked off by an underdog Pac-10 squad.

So is this the year someone besides USC wins the Pac-10 title and gains the automatic BCS bowl berth?

If there is ever a year for USC to get chased from behind and caught, this is this year. The Trojans are breaking in a new quarterback in Aaron Corp and replacing several departed starters to the NFL draft.

So who's it going to be? Cal? Can the Golden Bears overcome early-season trap games and win the games they are supposed to and make it interesting? Can Oregon beat USC at home and win difficult road games and take the title? And how about Oregon State? Do Mike Riley teams always have to start 1-3 before getting into high gear?

And what about the rest of the field? Is this Stanford's breakout year? Is UCLA ready to become a Pac-10 factor again? And is Arizona really the third worst team in the conference as it was picked by the media? These are all intriguing questions that will be worked out in the coming weeks.

Our standings preview and records predictions are after the jump.

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.

College Football Spring Storylines 2009 looks at the key developments and big news from spring ball.

Since 2002, the Pac-10 has been derisively called USC and the nine dwarves. Its more than a little unfair, but that's the prevailing wisdom. Although the conference is consistently among the deepest and most competitive around, USC's monopolized that top spot. Any chance of that changing this year begins with decisions those programs make this spring.