Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller
This entry is dedicated to Oregon State fans, who I'm guessing will enjoy a "told you so."
I predicted in the preseason the Pac-10 would finish in this order.
1. USC; 2. Oregon; 3. Arizona State; 4. California; 5. Arizona; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington; 8. UCLA; 9. Stanford; 10. Washington State.
You can read what I wrote here.
The actual finish, for those who have forgotten: 1. USC; 2. Oregon (tie); 2. Oregon State (tie); 4. California; 5. Arizona; 6. Arizona State (tie); 6. Stanford (tie); 8. UCLA; 9.Washington State; 10. Washington.
Got five teams correct: USC, Oregon, California, Arizona and UCLA.
Was within one spot with Washington State.
Biggest misses: Arizona State (minus three); Oregon State (plus three and a half); Washington (minus three).
Lots of folks missed with ASU, though most of us stuck a red tag by the offensive line as a qualifier, and that proved true.
Oregon State completely rebuilt its defense and few figured the offensive line would be as solid as it was. And, of course, no one saw Jacquizz Rodgers coming.
And the Beavers will be rebuilding their defense again in 2009. Hmm.
Washington was just bad and uninspired, but the Huskies would have won at least one game if Jake Locker didn't get hurt.
As for an early and general look at 2009, just review the finish this year. Got a feeling things will be fairly similar.
Though Cal could be interesting...
Ted Miller has been covering college football since 1997, starting with Auburn and then heading West to Washington and the Pac-10. His columns for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer won first place in 2007 APSE Best Writing contest. The Atlanta native and University of Richmond graduate presently lives with his wife in Scottsdale, Ariz.
