I’m at the Pac-10 Media Day, which happens to be just a couple miles from where I live. 

USC has once again been picked to win the conference.  Here’s the preseason rundown as voted on by the media:

1. USC (28)–316

2. California (3)–277

3. Oregon (1)–250

4. Oregon State–216

5. Arizona State–155

6. Stanford–150

7. UCLA–145

8. Arizona–142

9. Washington–74

10. Washington State–35

Couple early tidbits:  Washington State, which last year fielded one of the worst Division One teams I’ve ever seen, will try to run a no-huddle offense.  Might as well pull out all the stops!

I’ll be there, blogging for the Orlando Sentinel and also HP.  We’ll talk to Heisman candidate Jahvid Best and I’ll give my observations on the event.

According to this story in The Tennessean. 

Good job by the Vols athletic department.  Now, they just need to convince Lane Kiffin to play Berry on offense.

I’m probably very late to the game, but I just came across this thanks to Brian over at AOL Fanhouse.  I know some of you think I rip on the guy too much, but this is funny stuff.  There’s a whole slew of videos by the animated Lane Kiffin here (note:  in real life, he isn’t as animated or as personable).

This is a good one, too:

…that Andre Ware of Houston took home the Heisman.

His win was an interesting marker in the history of the trophy.  For starters, he was the last player from the fabled Southwestern Conference to capture the Heisman.  He was also the last player to successfuly wow voters based solely on crazy stats produced by an unorthodox system (in his case, the run ‘n shoot).  He was the only player to win the Heisman despite his team being on probation and banned from television.  And he was the first black quarterback to win the trophy.

He threw for 4,699 yards and 46 touchdowns that year, numbers since eclipsed or met by many a college quarterback, including fellow Cougar Case Keenum last season.  None of them have really sniffed the Heisman.  He was also aided by one of the weakest Heisman races EVER, as the runner up was Indiana’s Anthony Thompson (my pick at the time).  This story from the LA Times reflects the dilemma for voters back then.

In my mind, he is the last Heisman winner to lack a truly coherent rationale for taking home the award.  There have been winners since then who may not have been the most deserving, but they could still make a valid case based on team success or individual career accomplishment.  Ware’s team, however, won just nine games and lost to the two best teams it played.  He threw for a ton of yards, but so did his successor, David Klingler.  He’d have no shot at the Heisman in this era, unless he could flourish in the spread for an elite team.  His subsequent failure in the NFL didn’t help his cause much, either.  There’s no doubt he was a talent, but I think Heisman voters are much more wary now of quarterbacks from gimmick offenses who put up outlandish stats.  That’s why Texas Tech quarterbacks bear such a heavy burden.  They have Ware to thank for that.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it will happen one day.

But if it’s not Jimmy Clausen, it might be a while.

The last Irish Heisman winner was Tim Brown in 1987.  Before that, it was John Huarte in 1964.  It was 23 seasons between Huarte and Brown and in 2010 it will be 23 seasons since Brown.  That’s two Heismans in 46 years for a program that won six in the first 28 years of the award’s existence.  Furthermore, only two Notre Dame players–Reggie Brooks and Brady Quinn–have finished in the top five of the voting since 1990.  By the time the Irish win again, USC and Ohio State might have 10 each.

I think the next Irish Heisman winner will be the guy who brings Notre Dame ‘back’.  But unless the Irish come ‘back’ under Charlie Weis, then it will take another coach to get it done.  Changing coaches means program disruption and recruiting lapses and means the Heisman will take longer to attain.

Now, don’t scoff at the importance of the Heisman, for being able to win that trophy means your program is in pretty good shape.  I don’t think the Irish will be considered an elite program until they start to produce viable Heisman candidates again.

It’s a cliche to say that speed kills and so many people repeat it without properly quantifying it, but I found it noteworthy recently when I saw that UCLA’s incoming recruiting class probably amounts to one of the best speed upgrades in the country. 

Here’s the list of the fastest incoming UCLA recruits, with their track marks:

Randall Carroll, WR–10.30, 21.04

Sheldon Price, CB–10.51, 21.29

Damien Thigpen, RB–10.64, 21.31

Richard Marvray, WR–10.88w

That’s a pretty good accomplishment to get four legitimately fast skill guys in one class, especially when your team isn’t known for being fast to begin with.  I don’t think any other incoming class has three players with 10.64 or better speed.  That can make a lot of difference between going 4-8 and 6-5.