It seems like every year, toward the end of the year when it didn't quite work out the way we'd hoped, again,  it starts feeling like there is something special coming next year. Or is that just the homer in me?

As always, there are some huge losses... this year it's Syd, Alualu and most likely Jahvid.

But we have a lot coming back too:

Offense:
Riley as a more consistent senior. I think with him everything else is there. A little more consistency and he's a superstar. At RB, we have the next stud(s) chomping at the bit. On the line we lose Tepper but the rest are back. At receiver, Ross and Jones are back, and there's plenty of other young talent. Anthony Miller is back.

Defense:
We're very deep at Corner and okay at safety. Up front, Jordan stays, Hill stays, Payne grows another year and I'm especially excited to see what Owusu might do with a full-time gig. 3 of the 4 starting linebackers return.

Is next year the year? Yes, we have to go to USC, but they suck now anyway, right? ...right? Anyway, we get Oregon at home. 

I made a really, really stupid drunken bet a few years ago. It was after Tedford's first season. I saw it all coming together and I bet $100 that we'd go to a national championship by 2010. 2011 actually because the bet is by the 2010 season. And the bet is that we have to go, not win. If it wasn't for the %&^@$ idiots in the trees and the delay they caused in construction/recruiting I think it would have happened.

I only have one more year.

It's not the $100. This is my golf buddy (read: mortal enemy). He's a  bandwagon USC fan who makes up for his shortcomings on the golf course by grandstanding about the success of "his" football team. He's going to torture me with that hundred dollars all year. He started already. Damn it, can somebody please tell me that next year might be the year?