Last season, the Pac-10 re-emerged on the national stage. This year, the challenge will be staying there.
Tri-champs Washington, Oregon State and Oregon all showed why the Pac-10 is back with dominating bowl performances last season. Washington knocked off Drew Brees and Purdue 35-24 in the Rose Bowl, Oregon defeated Texas 35-30 in the Holiday Bowl and Oregon State made the biggest splash with a 41-9 thumping of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
Of course, success comes with a price and this season, all will be wearing targets ater top-10 finishes in 2000. All three teams must replace several key starters and danger lurks around every corner of the schedule in this deep and talented conference with the biggest challenges to the throne awaiting in Southern California. Several key non-conference games in September will once again set the tone for this Pac-10 season.
Game of the Year: Oregon at UCLA (Nov. 10). This appears to be the biggest road challenge for a Ducks team that hasn't lost at home in almost four years. A scheduling quirk keeps Oregon and Washington from meeting this season, so a loss to UCLA might be the only thing to keep U of O from returning to the Rose Bowl in early January.
|  | | Washington's Larry Tripplett may be the best DT in the country. |
Offensive Player of the Year: Carson Palmer, QB, USC. Sure, it's a bold selection after his league-high 18 interceptions in 2000, but here's a guess that Palmer reaches his potential under new coordinator Norm Chow. Eight starters return on an offense now built around the passing game, which gives Palmer a great chance to put up big numbers this season.
Defensive Player of the Year: Larry Tripplett, DT, Washington. He might not have an eye-popping number of tackles, but Tripplett's impact can't be measured on paper. He is a disruptive force at the center of all the Huskies do on defense and can rarely be blocked by just one man.
Brad Edwards is a college football researcher at ESPN.
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