Sept. 6: UCLA at BYU
Is this CFB or MLB? Bruins and Cougars meet for third time in the last 14 games. Neuheisel's road debut as U-Dub's coach in '99 was also in Provo, a close loss.

Sept. 6: Oregon State at Penn State
It's about time the Beavers visited Beaver Stadium. Excluding bowls, OSU has never beaten a current non-conference BCS team on the road.

Sept. 13: Oklahoma at Washington
Ty Willingham must wonder sometimes whether he has a friend in the athletic department. Sooners will likely be the sixth Top-20 non-conference foe the Huskies have played since he arrived in '05.

Sept. 13: Oregon at Purdue
Duck corners Jairus Byrd and Walter Thurmond III, among the nation's top tandems, get early-season exam versus Boilermaker QB Curtis Painter.

Sept. 20: Georgia at Arizona State
Trap game for top-five Dawgs, who have not played a non-conference game outside the Peachtree State since 1995.

Sept. 20: Boise State at Oregon
First meeting between northwest neighbors. Bronco Ian Johnson will evoke memories of Jonathan Stewart at Autzen.

Oct. 25: Notre Dame at Washington
The Irish won handily three years ago in Seattle in Weis' and Willingham's first seasons, but that was before Jake Locker.

Nov. 29: Notre Dame at USC
What will be the state of the union in South Bend when the Irish enter the Coliseum attempting to break the Trojans' six-game win streak?

Remnants of 'The Play'
It was the most memorable final play in college football history (sorry, Trinity), as Cal's five laterals with no time remaining helped beat Stanford in the annual "Big Game" in 1982. The Cardinal quarterback that afternoon was John Elway, whose son, Jack, is a freshman QB at Arizona State (donning his dad's No. 7).

The Cal coach that afternoon was Golden Bear legend Joe Kapp, whose son Will is a redshirt freshman fullback in Berkeley. Yes, Joe Kapp was the quarterback when Cal last played in the Orange Bowl, 50 years ago. And he is 70 years old. How many other current college football players will be able to wave to their dad when his school's 50th anniversary team is honored at midfield this season?

Defensive Player of the Year: Rey Maualuga, LB, USC
The heart of a defense that has at least six future NFL players starting for it this season: Maualuaga, safeties Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays, tackle Fili Moala, end Everson Griffen and fellow linebacker Brian Cushing.

Offensive Player of the Year: Jake Locker, QB, Washington
(See below)

Special Teams Player of the Year: Thomas Weber, K, Arizona State
The first freshman ever to win the Lou Groza Award, Weber converted 24-of-25 field goal attempts and 46-of-48 PATs. His lone miss was a 32-yard attempt at Oregon in the ninth game of the season.

Season previews NBCSports.com is ready for the 2008-09 season. Check out our conference previews as part of our expanded coverage. Non-BCS teams, Ind. ACC Big East Big Ten Big 12 Pac-10 SEC

A new frontier
The Pac-10 has long housed the only schools west of the Rockies worthy of being mentioned for major bowl consideration. But that is changing. In the last two years Boise State and Hawaii have played in BCS bowls. Three years ago Fresno State came dangerously close to ruining USC's unbeaten season on a strange November evening in the Coliseum.

This year nationalchamps.net has as many non-Pac-10 western schools in its preseason Top 25 (3) as it does Pac-10 schools. USC (3), Arizona State (16) and Oregon (22) are in their Top 25, but so are BYU (19), Fresno State (23) and Boise State (25). The chronically accurate (and a little insecure about it) Phil Steele's College Football Preview has Utah (14th) rated higher than any other western school besides USC.

It's no accident that the occident, the fastest-growing region of the U.S.A., is fielding more and more Top 25 teams beyond the Pac-10. The question: Is a Pac-12 looming on the western skyline?

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