Last year Oregon ended USC’s run of consecutive Pac-10 football titles at seven.

This time, the Ducks snapped the Trojans’ hold on the media poll at seven.

In what was the second closest preseason poll by the media, Oregon edged USC, 314-311 (15-12 edge in first-place votes).

It remains to be seen if the actual race will be that tight, but it appears the Pac-10 will be more wide open than ever.

Oregon State (3), Stanford (1), Arizona (2), Washington (1) and UCLA (1) all garnered first-place votes while taking the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eight spots in the poll. California was seventh, Arizona State ninth and Washington State 10th.

A year ago, Oregon won the conference by two games, but three teams (Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona) tied for second at 6-3 and two (USC and California) followed at  5-4.

Following is a look at the race team by team:

OREGON
2009 record: 10-3
Coach: Chip Kelley
Players to watch:
RB LaMichael James (230-1,546 yards, 14 TDs)
WR Jeff Maehl (53 catches for 696 yards, 6 TDs)
QB Nate Costa
MLB Casey Matthews
WLB Spencer Paysinger
DT Brandon Bair
Local connection:
DE Terrell Turner (Crenshaw HS)
FS Marvin Johnson (Dominguez HS)
Key losses:
TE Ed Dickson, QB Jeremiah Masoli
From the coach: “Preseason rankings don’t mean anything to us. The great thing about our game is that it’s played on the field. There isn’t a week off in this league. The teams that win in this league are the teams that keep their playmakers healthy.”

USC
2009 record: 9-4
Coach: Lane Kiffin
Players to watch:
QB Matt Barkley (2,735 yards, 15 TDPs)
FB Stanley Havili
SE Ronald Johnson
C Kristofer O’Dowd
RG Butch Lewis
DT Jurrell Casey
MLB Chris Galippo
WLB Malcolm Smith
Local connection:
NT DaJohn Harris (Serra HS)
LB Hayes Pullard (Crenshaw HS)
WR Robert Woods (Serra HS)
Key losses:
TE Anthony McCoy, WR Damian Williams, TB Joe McKnight, FS Taylor Mays
From the coach: “I feel good about our defensive line. Matt Barkley handles himself with great class and composure. One of the reasons he will have a great year is because he’s changed his whole body. He’ll be much quicker and he’ll make better decisions.”

OREGON STATE
2009 record: 8-5
Coach: Mike Riley
Players to watch:
RB Jacquizz Rodgers (273-1,440 yards, 21 TDs)
FL/KR James Rodgers
QB Ryan Katz
DT Stephen Paea
C Alex Linnenkohl
WLB Dwight Roberson
Key losses:
QB Sean Canfield, LB Keaton Kristick, CB Tim Clark
From the coach: “We’re making the transition at quarterback and whenever you do that, there are questions. But I’m excited about Ryan Katz. He has a big-time arm and good athletic ability.”

STANFORD
2009 record: 8-5
Coach: Jim Harbaugh
Players to watch:
QB Andrew Luck (2,725 yards, 13 TDPs)
FB/LB Owen Marecic
WR Ryan Whalen (57-926, 4 TDs)
KR/WR Chris Owusu (37-682, 5 TDs)
SS Delano Howell
DT Sione Fua
Local connection:
CB Richard Sherman (Dominguez HS)
Key losses:
TB Toby Gerhart, TE Jim Dray
From the coach: “You look at Andrew Luck and you wonder what makes a youngster that good. You know it has something to do with mom, dad and God. He has such talent, such tremendous arm strength. He is as accurate as any quarterback I’ve seen. He is athletic and can run with the football. He is a brilliant kid, not just book smart, but also with football.”

ARIZONA
2009 record: 8-5
Coach: Bob Stoops
Players to watch:
QB Nick Foles (2,486 yards, 19 TDPs)
RB Nic Grigsby (567 yards, 5 TDs)
CB Trevin Wade
OT Adam Grant
DE Ricky Elmore
DE Brooks Reed
Local connection:
OT Phillip Garcia (Schurr HS, Cerritos JC)
OG Jovon Hayes (Dorsey HS)
FS Joe Perkins (Gardena HS, El Camino JC)
Key losses:
OT Mike Diaz, LB Vuna Tuihalamaka, FS Cam Nelson
From the coach: “Looking at our strengths, quarterback is a great place to start. Defensively will be our challenge by replacing three really quality linebackers. I feel we have the talent there now, we just have to make them productive players in our league.”

WASHINGTON
2009 record: 5-7
Coach: Steve Sarkisian
Players to watch:
QB Jake Locker (2,800 yards, 21 TDPs)
TB Chris Polk (1,113 yards, 5 TDs)
WR Jermaine Kearse (50-866, 8 TDs)
OLB Mason Foster
CB Desmond Trufant
Local connection:
RB Jesse Callier (Warren HS)
DB Gregory Ducre (Crenshaw HS)
Key losses:
LB Donald Butler, DE Darrion Jones
From the coach: “As physically gifted as Jake Locker is, he’s an even better human being. How he’s handled his situation (whether or not to turn pro) is indicative of who he is as a person.”

CALIFORNIA
2009 record: 8-5
Coach: Jeff Tedford
Players to watch:
ILB Mike Mohamed
TB Shane Vereen (952 yards, 12 TDs)
QB Kevin Riley (2,850 yards, 18 TDPs)
S Sean Cattouse
P Bryan Anger
Local connection:
LB Keith Browner (Dorsey HS)
CB Darian Hagan (Crenshaw HS)
WR Tevin Carter (Santee HS)
LB Robert Mullins (Dorsey HS)
Key losses:
TB Jahvid Best, CB Syd’Quan Thompson
From the coach: “Success for us is to go to the Rose Bowl. That is what we are here for. We are going to work our hardest to reach our full potential. It used to be eight or nine wins was a good season. People were satisfied with that. But that is not good enough anymore. We have to get over that hump.”

UCLA
2009 record: 7-6
Coach: Rick Neuheisel
Players to watch:
FS Rahim Moore (10 INTs)
PK Kai Forbath (28 FGs)
QB Kevin Prince (2,050 yards, 8 TDPs)
RB Johnathan Franklin (566 yards, 5 TDs)
SE Taylor Embree
SE Nelson Rosario
Local connection:
OLB Akeem Ayers (Verbum Dei HS)
DE Datone Jones (Compton HS)
CB Aaron Hester (Dominguez HS)
Key losses:
DT Brian Price, LB Reggie Carter, CB Alterraun Verner
From the coach: “Our goals are to be better than last year. We want to keep the momentum going. We have guys like Rahim, Kevin Prince and Akeem Ayers. These guys have played and played at a high level. And our kicking game is quite possible the best in the country.”

ARIZONA STATE
2009 record: 4-8
Coach: Dennis Erickson
Players to watch:
DT Lawrence Guy
MLB Vontaze Burfict
CB Omar Bolden
PK Thomas Weber
QB Brock Osweiler
QB Steven Threet
Local connection:
SS Clint Floyd (Crenshaw HS)
DL Otis Jones (Leuzinger HS)
Key losses:
QB Danny Sullivan, WR Chris McGaha
From the coach: “What’s exciting to me is how much better we’re going to be on offense. I hired a new offensive coordinator, Noel Mazzone. We are doing all the things that are happening in college football right now. We have two quarterbacks who competed in the spring. Brock Osweiler is probably as talented as I’ve had at that position. Steven Threet played in big games when he was at Michigan. Those two are competing. I haven’t made a decision on what we’re going to do yet.”

WASHINGTON STATE
2009 record: 1-11
Coach: Paul Wulff
Players to watch:
QB Jeff Tuel (789 yards, 6 TDPs)
WR Jared Karstetter (38-540, 6 TDs)
DE Kevin Kooyman
OG B.J. Guerra
OG Zack Williams
DE Travis Long
RB James Montgomery
Local connection:
FS Anthony Carpenter (Serra HS)
Key losses:
RB Dwight Tardy, OL Kenny Alfred, FS Xavier Hicks
From the coach: “Jeff Tuel came in last August and we threw him to the wolves. His freshman marks were better than Drew Bledsoe’s stats as a true freshman at Washington State. That is the one guy recently who started as a true freshman at quarterback. Jeff is probably ahead of them all.”