Originally published Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Pac-10 picks and power ranking

Pac-10 picks Oregon State 34, WSU 9: Improvement comes in dribs and drabs, not victories, for Cougars. Oregon 36, UCLA 13: Ducks partisans...

Pac-10 picks

Oregon State 34, WSU 9: Improvement comes in dribs and drabs, not victories, for Cougars.

Oregon 36, UCLA 13: Ducks partisans want some defensive answers after USC meltdown.

Arizona 27, Stanford 20: Is Arizona that good, or is this just a very weak league? Or both?

USC 41, Arizona St. 14: The rest of the way, Trojans are playing for the polls.

Last week — 3-2. Season — 19-11.

Weighing in ...

A weekly snippet from one of the

nation's fan message boards

From educk.com, an Oregon fan site, on UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel: "He was always kind of a guy that I loved to hate, rather than really hated. And now, I see him as playing a major role in the humbling and humiliating of the Huskies, so it's hard to be vengeful."

Fact check

Alabama this week got 13 first-place votes from media members in The Associated Press poll, none in the coaches poll.

Just sayin'

Pete Carroll of USC on why he likes coaching the college game over the pros: "In the pros, it just seems difficult to get everybody on the same page. Here, I do everything, I'm the GM, the personnel guy, the academic adviser, the head coach. It's much, much easier to guide it."

Bud Withers

Pac-10 power rankings

By Bud Withers, Seattle Times college football reporter


	Team	Comment
1	USC (4-1)	O.J. has perfect spot in cell for Heisman display
2	California (4-1)	Stadium so old, used to host brontosaurus fights
3	Arizona (4-1)	Stoops can't think of newspapers he reads, either
4	Oregon St. (2-3)	Tonu Tuimalealiifano known as "Old 9-Syllables"
5	Oregon (4-2)	Could play New Year's Day, if Knight can buy BCS
6	Stanford (3-3)	Harbaugh: 10 millionth to criticize Pac-10 officials
7	Arizona St. (2-3)	Couldn't protect QB if it hired Secret Service
8	UCLA (2-3)	Neuheisel to Bellotti: "$4.5 mil settlement, baby!"
9	Washington (0-5)	Still, reassuring to know Huskies aren't cheating
10	Washington St. (1-5)	Unsettling when there are tryouts for team doctor