Pac-10 at a glance

1 UCLA Bruins

Coach: Ben Howland, 61-35 (three seasons), 229-134 (12 seasons)

Players to watch: SG Arron Afflalo, PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

Outlook: The Bruins lost a couple of key performers after making a run all the way to the NCAA tournament final last year, but this team is loaded again. Afflafo and Mbah a Moute are among the best in the league, and UCLA’s superior team defense will make it difficult for even the most potent of Pac-10 offenses to score. .

2 Arizona Wildcats

Coach: Lute Olson, 569-177 (23 seasons), 761-269 (33 seasons)

Players to watch: PG Mustafa Shakur, SF Marcus Williams, PF Ivan Radenovic

Outlook: Much will depend on the development of Shakur as a distributor, the one thing this team has lacked for years. Shakur has always been an immature player on the court but if the senior sees the light this year, Olson’s gang will be dangerous.

3 Washington Huskies

Coach: Lorenzo Romar, 84-42 (four seasons), 177-130 (10 seasons)

Players to watch: C Spencer Hawes, PF Jon Brockman, PG Justin Dentmon

Outlook: The Huskies have the unenviable task of replacing the league’s best player in Brandon Roy but they may just have the league’s best new player in center Spencer Hawes, a do-everything type who would be in the NBA now were it not for the league’s age minimum. He and Brockman should make for a formidable front line but as always Romar’s team will look to run, and that means that Dentmon, now a sophomore, must grow more consistent.

4 USC Trojans

Coach: Tim Floyd, 17-13 (one season), 260-143 (13 seasons)

Players to watch: G/F Nick Young, SG Gabe Pruitt, G Lodrick Stewart

Outlook: This team should be able to score points with Young and Pruitt returning as two of the league’s most explosive players. This is once again a perimeter-oriented team, although it suffered a tragic loss with the off-season shooting death of point guard Ryan Francis.

5 Oregon Ducks

Coach: Ernie Kent, 164-112 (nine seasons), 254-192 (15 seasons)

Players to watch: SG Malik Hairston, PG Aaron Brooks, PF Maarty Leunen

Outlook: Oregon has been overrated in recent seasons as pundits assumed that young talent would carry the Ducks further than it actually did. Now, however, the Oregon core is more seasoned and there shouldn’t be any excuses left for Kent’s team. This team could easily be a contender if things come together.

6 California Golden Bears

Coach: Ben Braun, 186-121 (10 seasons), 519-356 (29 seasons)

Players to watch: SG Ayinde Ubaka, G Omar Wilkes, PF/C DeVon Hardin

Outlook: Ubaka was perhaps the league’s best outside shooter last season, but a lot of that had to do with the threat Leon Powe posed in the low post. Powe left for the NBA, but Hardin is a player who may actually be a better pro prospect.

7 Stanford Cardinal

Coach: Trent Johnson, 34-27 (two seasons), 113-107 (seven seasons)

Players to watch: PG Mitch Johnson, SF Taj Finger

Outlook: Stanford returns less this season than any other team in the Pac-10, having graduated its top four scorers from a year ago. Freshmen centers Brook and Robin Lopez give the Cardinal a unique presence inside.

8 Oregon State Beavers

Coach: Jay John, 55-64 (four seasons), same overall

Players to watch: PF Sasa Cuic, C Kyle Jeffers, SF Marcel Jones

Outlook: The Beavers return more experience inside than any other team, and although guard play will be a huge question mark the job of the little guys will be primarily to feed the big men. Cuic, at 6-foot-10, is more of a perimeter player but can hurt teams both inside and outside.

9 Washington State Cougars

Coach: Tony Bennett, first season

Players to watch: G Derrick Low, F Robbie Cowgill, SF Kyle Weaver

Outlook: WSU will be depending on the maturation of Bennett’s first big recruiting class as an assistant coach. Taking over for his father, Dick, in the off-season, the younger Bennett plans to run much of the same stuff on the floor but without the development of his now-veteran team it won’t make much difference. Low and Cowgill are proven Pac-10 performers, although it’s Weaver who has the potential to become the team’s best all-around threat.

10 Arizona State Sun Devils

Coach: Herb Sendek, first year, 253-158 (13 seasons)

Players to watch: PF Jeff Pendergraph, PF/C Serge Angounou

Outlook: This could be a rough season for the Sun Devils, who lost their top two perimeter scorers in Kevin Kruger and Bryson Krueger to transfer. That’s especially bad because Sendek brings with him a perimeter-oriented offense to the desert from his previous stint at N.C. State.