1. USC

The Trojans return a wealth of talent from a team that was last seen rubbing Michigan’s nose in the dirt at the Rose Bowl in January. Back are starting quarterback John David Booty, running backs C.J. Gable and Chauncey Washington and a stable chock-full of All-Americans on defense. The worst defection the Trojans faced was the departure of Dwayne Jarrett, but several candidates will be eager to take his place.

2.California

If anyone thought that the early departure of Marshawn Lynch was going to handicap the Golden Bears, they were sadly mistaken. Ready to shoulder the load is Justin Forsett, who was a more than capable backup during Lynch’s various injuries.

3. Arizona State

Every year this dark horse title contender gets its fans’ hopes up, but every year ASU dashes those hopes in usually disappointing fashion. This time around, though, the Sun Devils have a new commander at the helm, one who has experience getting his team to the top: Dennis Erickson.

4. Oregon

To put it simply, the Ducks have too much talent not to win. Last season was a near disaster for Mike Bellotti and his team. The Ducks started out 4-0, but lost six of their last nine, including an embarrassing defeat at the hands of BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Back are Jonathan Stewart and Dennis Dixon, though, which bodes well for the offense.

5. Oregon State

The Beavers shocked just about everyone by beating USC and Oregon en route to a Sun Bowl appearance (and victory). They would be higher on this list except for the loss of Matt Moore and several long-time stalwarts along the offensive line. Of the bowl teams from the conference, they have the most to work on.

6. Washington

There were plenty of positives to take away from the Huskies’ 5-7 record last year. One of those, unfortunately, was not the stability of the quarterback position. With double the number of interceptions to touchdowns in his seven starts, Carl Bonnell hardly instilled confidence in his bid to be the starter this season. Couple that with a lack of starting experience along the offensive line and in the secondary, and questions abound for the Huskies.

7. UCLA

The Bruins were not as advertised last year, even with a victory over USC to close the season. That means that Karl Dorrell will have to find a way to make things work with Ben Olson, Chris Markey and a terrifying pass rush, or things could get dicey for the coach of Los Angeles’ second team.

8. Washington State

Despite climbing into the top-25 briefly, the Cougars showed their true colors by bombing out with three straight losses to finish without a bowl appearance. And last time I checked, Bill Doba is still the coach, and he really sucks.

9. Arizona

The expectations and hype surrounding the other Stoops (Mike) in Tucson, Ariz., have not been met with similar results. The seat under Stoops could officially get hot this season if the wealth of recruited talent brought in does not start to produce.

10. Stanford

New coach, same 1-11 team. The Cardinal will get to know the cellar very well over the next year.