Like the Big XII the Pac-10 had a rough 2009 signing day. USC and UCLA both had great classes and much to the surprise of many Stanford put together a strong class as well. The other seven teams in the conference all had a pretty brutal recruiting season. So here's how the Pac-10 shakes out overall.
Elite Talent
USC at 3.8- No one in the nation has talent like USC and in the case of the Trojans it definitely shows up on Saturdays. Pete Carroll has sustained it for eight seasons thus far but took some big hits to his coaching staff at the conclusion of the 2008. It will be interesting to see how much longer they can sustain it.
Good Talent
UCLA at 22- OG Sweatervest Rick Neuheisel has done a great job on the recruiting trail the last two years and has the Bruins on a very positive trend. The coaching is in place but with all the talent in the Freshman & Sophomore classes it could be another 1-2 years before it really shows up on the field.
Cal at 24.4- The Jeff Tedford bandwagon has been pretty large for the last several years but Cal has steadily trended down in recruiting for the last five seasons. The weak Freshmen & Sophomore classes will catch up to them in 2010 and hit them like a ton of bricks in 2011.
Oregon at 28.6- Webfoot U sneaks in here, and there is no rhyme or reason to their recruiting patterns as they have class rankings ranging from 11 to 49 taking the field in 2009 with no real trends. The majority of the talent is in the Sophomore & Junior classes heading into 2009.
The Rest
Arizona State at 31.6- Dennis Erickson has put together two pretty decent classes in a row we’ll see if it starts to translate into on field improvement.
Arizona at 33.2- Mike Stoops has had three poor classes in a row. Good thing he just signed that contract extension.
Stanford at 42.8- Jim Harbaugh is selling the trees like its cool and just signed the best class at Stanford in many years. Too early to tell if he’ll keep it going or if it’s a flash in the pan.
Washington at 45.6- Ty Willingham buried this program. It will be interesting to see if USC defector Steve Sarkisian can get the Huskies back in the hunt. Its going to be a long and uphill battle for Sarkisian and his staff.
Oregon State at 50.2- Mike Riley definitely accomplishes more with less. Good coaching and improving program health.
Washington State at 63.4- About as bad as it gets for a team in a BCS conference.