Why Rick is Good for the PAC-10

For a while now, the PAC-10 has been a lopsided conference. There was USC at the top and the nine dwarfs trailing well behind. But times, as they say, are a changing. The rest of the conference is starting to get its act together and Rick Neuheisel could be another reason why the days of Trojan dominance are numbered. There is little doubt that Neuheisel will be good for UCLA but I believe he will also be good for the PAC-10 as well.

The Rise of Troy

Let's turn back the clocks a few decades. If you look at the winners of the PAC-10 (and it's prior incarnations) over the last five decades, you'll see three schools repeated over and over: UCLA, USC, and Washington. Since 1959, one of those three teams have won at least a share of the conference title in 43 of the 49 seasons. Occasionally, a Stanford or Arizona St or Oregon will rise to the top, but the three historical powers in the PAC-10 are the Bruins, Trojans, and Huskies.

Yet in 2001, those three teams were in decline. USC had been struggling under Paul Hackett, Bob Toldeo was presiding over a fading UCLA squad, and Rick Neuheisel was about to have his job as the Huskie head coach yanked out from underneath him. Add to that the impending departures of Mike Price at WSU and Dennis Erickson at Oregon State and the PAC-10 was in the midst of a serious power vacuum.

Into this environment walked Pete Carroll. He wasn't USC's first choice to replace Hackett, nor was he the second. Hell, he wasn't even their third choice. Nobody knew it at the time, but this almost-passed-over coach was about to lead the Trojans to a record setting six straight conference titles. He inherited a gold mine of talent at USC. He also found a fertile recruiting bed that had been shipping it's best players outside of California for a number years. With UCLA in no position to challenge for those players, and the conference lacking a true powerhouse, Carroll woke the sleeping giant and quickly pushed the Trojans to the top of the conference.

Typically, in college football, you see cycles of success and failure that last a few years. But the Trojans found themselves in a perfect storm of conditions that have lead to their absolute dominance of the conference for the better part of this decade. Both UCLA and Washington, the other two historical powers, have spun their wheels during the seven years since Carroll took over. Washington went into the toilet after they unceremoniously and illegally (per the civil suite they settled) terminated Rick. They hired a string of coaches who have run that program into the ground. UCLA unwittingly put up the white flat when it hired Dorell. He sputtered and stalled and kept the Bruins far below their potential as a national football power.

The last two years, however, have seen a crack in the Trojan amor. They have lost two conference games in back-to-back seasons and they've had to share the conference crown as well. Dennis Erickson is back in the conference coaching at ASU and he has the Sun Devils firing on all cylinders. They were PAC-10 co-champs in his first season. Jeff Tedford has California's name being mentioned in national conversations. Mike Bellotti has turned Oregon into a dangerous team as well. Heck, even Stanford has some life under Jim Harbaugh.

The New Neuheisel Era

Yet still, the other traditional powers besides USC, have struggled. Until now. Rick Neuheisel has only been on the job for one week but he is already making a splash. He had the press eating out of his hand at his introductory press conference. He had a cameo at the Rose Bowl, went on national sports radio, and rumors are circulating that top-notch players are looking to transfer to UCLA. He's eying USC's coaches and he even won his first recruiting battle against Tyrone Willignham for the services of DeWayne Walker. There is a buzz around Westwood for the first time in a long time.

It will likely take Neuheisel and his staff a few years before he can get UCLA back into the national spotlight with their play of the football field. But, in the meantime, he is serving the rest of the college football world notice. UCLA is coming. The Bruins are going to start competing for championships. They're going to start competing with USC. We're going to bring back some balance to the rivalry and help topple the king off his throne atop the conference rankings.

If Neuheisel can start recruiting top talent to UCLA then the Bruins can knock a few paces off of USC's step. Not only by winning recruiting victories, but by fielding a team that competes with the Trojans, year in and year out, on the field. The 2008 recruiting class is shaping up nicely and the Bruins have a bright future if Rick can keep that ball rolling. With the aura of invincibility removed from the Trojans, top recruits will start considering UCLA and other schools in the conference as viable places to show case their talent.

When that happens, the PAC-10 will again become a conference of balanced, competitive play. Instead of just one super power winning the title every season, we'll go back to a time when eight different teams won a share of the conference crown in the course of a decade. The Bruins won't win them all under Neuheisel, but you can be sure that UCLA will finally be getting its fair share of grid iron glory. That will be to the detriment of USC and their fans, but it can't be anything but good news to the other programs living in the Trojan's shadow.