Call It The Top-10 Conference

This year, the Left Coast is doing everything right.

Three teams in the top 10. That’s better than any other conference. Four wins over top-five teams. Again, that’s better than any other conference. An 82 percent non-conference winning percentage. Repeat after me. That’s better than any other conference.

The poster child for the resurgence of the Pacific-10 Conference has to be UCLA, the team that went from ruins to Bruins. A year ago, these laughable cubs, mired in the handicapped parking scandal, lost to Oregon State 55-7 and finished 4-7.

This year, they are 3-0 with wins over two teams ranked No. 3, Alabama and Michigan. Three and three makes six, and that is exactly where the Bruins sit in the Top 25.

The Bruins, who weren’t even in the polls a month ago, rose by going from baby blue to black and blue.

“When you wear those baby blue jerseys, people don’t think you’re very physical,” said UCLA coach Bob Toledo. “But again, if you ask Alabama and you ask Michigan, I think they’ll tell you we’re pretty physical.”

So is the rest of the conference.

Washington and USC both roughed up Colorado, holding the Buffs to just 14 points. Stanford, which had one of the five worst defenses in the country last year, held Texas, one of the top offenses in the country, to 24 points in a 27-24 upset win over the No. 5 Longhorns.

Washington State, a finesse team, went physical in a 38-21 win over Utah, the reigning Mountain West champ. Arizona State held back Colorado State, which was No. 25, in a 13-10 win. The Rams had been averaging 34.5 points a game. And Cal, despite losing, held No. 19 Illinois to 17 points and had a chance to send the game to overtime in the final seconds.

Through three games, the Pac-10 has three teams ranked in the top 20 in total defense. At the end of last season, no Pac-10 team was even in the top 40.

At the end of last season, there also was only one Pac-10 team ranked in the Top 25 poll - Oregon at No. 19.

This season, the Pac-10 has three teams in the top 10 for the first time since 1984, when Washington was No. 2, UCLA No. 9 and USC No. 10.

This year, UCLA is No. 6, Washington is No. 8 and USC is No. 9. Three others are on the fringe of the Top 25 - Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State.

“Maybe if you pound on us long enough, all of a sudden the sleeping giant awakes,” USC coach Paul Hackett told the Los Angeles Times.

Duck hunt

Oregon’s 16-game home winning streak will be put to the test this weekend. And the weekend after that. In consecutive weeks, the Ducks play host to No. 6 UCLA - the last team to beat them in Autzen Stadium - and No. 8 Washington.

Then, following a bye, it’s on the road for a game at No. 9 USC.

Stevens update

Washington will use the next two weeks to prepare for Oregon. The Huskies may also have to use that time to prepare for the absence of tight end Jerramy Stevens.

The King County prosecutor’s office may have a decision on Stevens’ legal status this week, the Seattle Times reported. The prosecutor is investigating a UW student’s allegation of sexual assault by Stevens.

The loss of Stevens could prove tough to overcome for the Huskies. The 6-foot-7 sophomore has become Marques Tuiasosopo’s favorite target. Stevens had back-to-back career highs in catches in wins over Miami and Colorado.