After a tumultuous off-season which saw four coaching changes, the Pac-10 is ready to kick off the football season.

Cal already did Saturday night, losing to No. 5 Kansas State 42-28.

But the other nine teams will begin play either Aug. 30 or on Sept. 6, with the marquee matchups this week being No. 17 Washington at defending champion No. 2 Ohio State and No. 8 USC at No. 6 Auburn.

UCLA opens up at Colorado on Sept. 6

But the teams heading on to the field will have new looks, and the competition for the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth will be intense.

On top of four coaching changes, last year’s Orange Bowl winner, USC, has lost its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Carson Palmer. Despite the loss, USC was picked as the favorite to win this year’s Pac-10 title.

“We accept it,” USC coach Pete Carroll said at Pac-10 media day. “It’s recognition and respect for last season as much as anything. It doesn’t affect us very much. We go about our business.”

The Trojans enter the season ranked No. 8 but have lost four other starters on offense, including Kareem Kelly, Justin Fargas, Malaefou MacKenzie and Zach Wilson.

Sophomore Matt Leinart appears to be the front-runner to replace Palmer, and the Trojans have several talented players to fill in the other holes as they have had highly ranked recruiting classes each of the last two years.

“It feels like we’re just getting started,” Carroll said. “We’re building a championship program here and 2002 was just the start. Our goal every year is to win the Pac-10 title and win the Rose Bowl.”

USC’s strength in the offensive-minded Pac-10 will likely be its defense, as the defensive line of Omar Nazel, Shaun Cody, Mike Patterson and Kenechi Udeze has been rated among the best in the country.

Arizona State, picked second in the Pac-10 pre-season poll, is expected to compete with USC for the Pac-10 title.

The Sun Devils were one of the most improved teams last year under then first-year coach Dirk Koetter, going 8-6, 5-3 in the Pac-10 and are returning nine starters on offense and seven on defense.

“A lot of people have said to me, ‘Congratulations on a great season,’ and my standing is that it was not a great season,” Koetter told TheSunDevils.com. “It was a successful season, successful in that we exceeded people’s expectations. Now, a great season is playing in the Rose Bowl, or in last year’s case, playing in the Fiesta Bowl. That’s the next step.”

Among the returning starters are junior quarterback Andrew Walter, a major Heisman Trophy candidate.

“Andrew was a big reason we were able to be competitive in every game last year, and we will continue as long as he is able to play at that level,” Koetter said. “Any time you have a quarterback like Andrew Walter in the game, you have a chance to be pretty good.”

Washington is another team that may make a run at the Pac-10 title, despite off-the-field controversy.

Former coach Rick Neuheisel was fired after it was discovered he was involved in an NCAA basketball gambling pool, and Keith Gilbertson was named the head coach on July 29, only a week before practice began.

The promotion was a sudden change for Gilbertson.

“You worry about everything,” he said at Pac-10 media day. “You worry about the right socks. Does your tie go with your shirt?

“Everything in your life is open to the public. In some ways, these jobs become like political appointments. It’s about four years, and you’ve either got a great following or everybody hates you and you move on to some other office.”

Karl Dorrell at UCLA, Mike Riley at Oregon State and Bill Doba at Washington State are the other three new coaches.