The Players and coaches from all 10 Pac-10 teams gathered at the Sheraton Gateway on Thursday to discuss the upcoming season. Press from across the nation was present, and USC was voted to be champion of the Pac-10. Oregon State head coach and Strong Safety Sabby Piscitelli were Oregon State's representatives. Here's what they had to say:
To read all the team's comments, click here.
For the most part, I think Riley and Sabby speak the truth. We can only hope that the offensive core will be improved with the first year under their belts, and mostly everyone returning. And he's right, the run defense was there, but the pass defense still suffered. Cornerbacks, along with Matt Moore at Quarterback, were both positions where we started players new to the program. Both those units return this year, so we can only wait and see what happens.
Media day also included a pre-season ranking of the Pac-10:
1. | USC (18) | 276 |
2. | California (7) | 247 |
3. | Oregon (3) | 229 |
4. | Arizona State (1) | 204 |
5. | UCLA | 145 |
6. | Arizona | 133 |
7. | Oregon State | 125 |
8. | Washington State | 96 |
9. | Stanford | 90 |
10. | Washington | 50 |
No matter what the poll says, this year is going to be a hard year to predict. Will USC bounce back to the top, and will they have the recruits to get there? Will Oregon settle its QB situation? What will happen to Karl Dorell and UCLA?
Oregon State was picked 7th, which is right where they were at the beginning of last season. But I still believe the Beavers could do better or worse then that. I expect that they could surprise us all and finish anywhere from 4th to 8th. They need to capitalize on home field advantage. Oregon State plays the top 4 projected teams all at home. (USC, Cal, Oregon, Arizona State) The Beavers knock two of these teams off, they're in good shape. (USC and Oregon, Pleeeaase???) But that definitely doesn't mean they could take all 4. ;)
We'll take a look at the accuracy of this poll a little later.
Go Beavers!