Pac-10 media lowballing OSU again?

YOU CAN JUST about set your watch by it. The Pac-10 media pick Oregon State to finish lower than they finish. Indeed, the West Coast media who regularly follow the league have undersold the Beavers the last four years in a row -- and six out of eight times since the 2000 campaign. This time around, they've picked the Beavers to finish sixth in 2008.

Following are the results of the preseason media poll -- with points assigned 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, and first-place votes in parentheses.

The 2008 Pac-10 media football poll, released on Thursday morning:

1. USC (38) ................. 389
2. Arizona State ............ 330
3. Oregon ................... 295
4. California (1) ........... 274
5. UCLA ..................... 204
6. Oregon State ............. 192
7. Arizona .................. 185
8. Washington ............... 139
9. Stanford ................. 76
10. Washington State ........ 61