In an ongoing series I will look at the BCS conferences and when their spring practice starts and ends for this season. Spring football is really important since it is where most battles commence and get settled for most positions. I will first start out on the left coast, and talk about the Pac 10.

USC
Spring Practice Begins - March 25
Spring Practice Ends - April 19 with their squad scrimmage that day.

John David Booty has graduated so Pete Carroll will use this spring to settle on Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain at quarterback. Hopefully this time if Mustain does not get QB1 he wouldn’t pout and transfer like he did with Arkansas. Also, it will be an important spring for Vidal Hazelton to become a legit #1 wide receiver and also to unmuddy the Trojans’ backfield with all those starts fighting for carries.

UCLA
Spring Practice Begins - April 3
Spring Practice Ends - April 26 with their squad scrimmage that day.

This will be the first set of practices for the Bruins under new head coach Rick Neuheisel. It will be all about Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow installing their offense and having the players become comfortable with it and the new terminology. The Bruins need to have a new attitude going into the 2008 season, and expect to win games. Also, they need to settle on a quarterback, whether it be Olson, Rasshan, or Bethel-Thompson. Pick a guy, stick with him, and let him grow in the offense.

California
Spring Practice Begins - March 17
Spring Practice Ends - April 19 with their squad scrimmage that day.

Coach Tedford will have to find some new offensive weapons since DeSean Jackson and Justin Forsette have graduated. Nate Longshore has to improve on his disappointing 2008 campaign and better watch because if he is lax, Kevin Riley is right behind him wanting to take his job. Riley is best known for taking a sack at the end of the Oregon State game which allowed time to run out, that was the start of Cal’s downward spiral last season.

Oregon
Spring Practice Begins - April 2
Spring Practice Ends - April 26 with their squad scrimmage that day.

Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart have graduated, not good news for Ducks’ fans. Cody Kempt and Justin Roper will fight it out for the QB1 job. Roper had an impressive 4 touchdown performance against South Florida in the Sun Bowl and will hope to build off of that in the spring. Andre Crenshaw looks to be the man to replace Stewart for the 2008 season.

Oregon State
Spring Practice Begins - March 31
Spring Practice Ends - May 3 with their squad scrimmage that day.

The Beavers have a need for improvement on both sides of the ball. First their leading rusher, Yvenson Bernard who ran for over 3800 career yards, is gone. Ryan McCants, Ahmed Mokhtar, and Patrick Fuller all will fight for the carries with McCants having the leg up going into spring. At quarterback Lyle Moevao will duel it out with Brennan Sim for the quarterback job, while on defense they need to find 3 new linebackers since all graduated. This should be a fun spring for the Beavers.

Arizona
Spring Practice Begins - March 8
Spring Practice Ends - April 12 with their squad scrimmage that day.

I’ll just come out and say it, this is an extremely important year for Mike Stoops. I’d go as far as saying a make or break year for him. Willie Tuitama has the full support of the team but the Wildcats have yet to find him a supporting cast. That is the number 1 job for Stoops this spring, if he doesn’t, it could be his last in Arizona.

Arizona State
Spring Practice Begins - March 25
Spring Practice Ends - April 19 with their squad scrimmage that day.

In his final spring practice, Rudy Carpenter must show leadership that lacked a little bit at the end of last season. For two seasons now the Sun Devils have handed Carpenter the keys, now he must show that he can put the team on his back and challenge USC for the Pac 10 title. He might have a little bit of trouble though, since most of his offensive line has graduated. Maybe Rudy should learn how to scramble this spring.

Stanford
Spring Practice Begins - Feb 26
Spring Practice Ends - April 12 with their squad scrimmage that day.

Jim Harbaugh and the Cardinal ended the season on a great note beating Cal, now he must continue that momentum into Spring ball. Harbaugh might be a bit loud spoken but he has confidence in what he can do with this team. Tavita Pritchard is the returning quarterback with some playing experience but Stanford does not have any play makers as of now on offense. That is important to get this spring as well as the defense getting acclimated with new defensive coordinator Ron Lynn’s schemes.

Washington
Spring Practice Begins - April 3
Spring Practice Ends - April 22 with their squad scrimmage that day.

Huskies’ head coach Ty Willingham made some shake ups with his staff, hiring Ed Donatell to run the defense. This is a last ditch effort for Willingham, as he is another coach in this conference on the hot seat. Washington showed some promise early in the season last year but fizzled once conference play started. Quarterback Jake Locker should use the spring to work on his passing skills, this guy is going to be a good quarterback by the time his days are done here. He also has to gel with his receivers and running backs so that teams cannot just key on him.

Washington State
Spring Practice Begins - March 17
Spring Practice Ends - April 12 with their squad scrimmage that day.

This will be the first spring practice for new Cougars’ coach Paul Wulff. His first priority will be to find a new quarterback…Gary Rogers and Cole Morgan look to be the front runners.