Picking the 100 best Pac-12 football players of the past 10 years - 100-91: The countdown begins with Zach Ertz

So here we go. To help break up the torture of the off-season I wanted to look at the recent history of the Pac-12 and do what I love to do best... make Pac-12 lists.

I took a look back at the last 10 years of the conference because it provides a great snapshot of the conference's recent football history in my opinion. We get the last of the Pete Carroll USC dynasty and we get the rises and stabilizing of the Oregon and Stanford programs along with the rising and falling of the rest of the Pac.

Players considered had to play between 2006 and 2015 and they were graded by overall career. So someone who had a great  year, but only one year in that span only gets judged on that year. Also, NFL failure is not considered in the slightest.

Just missed the cut (these guys almost made it)

Nelson Agholor WR USC, Akeem Ayers LB UCLA, Su'a Cravens LB USC, Rob Gronkowski TE Arizona, DeSean Jackson WR Cal, Taylor Kelly QB Arizona State, Casey Matthew LB Oregon, T.J. McDonald S USC, Austin Seferian-Jenkins TE Washington, Max Tuerk C USC

100. Zach Ertz TE Stanford - I decided I had to put a tight end since there have been some great ones recently in the conference and it was a tough choice between Ertz, Gronkowski and Seferian-Jenkins. I went with Ertz because he was the most-important on a championship team who stepped up in big games.

99. Ben Gardner DE Stanford - Got taken out late in his career with injuries, but was the heart and soul of some great Stanford defenses and was a terror off the edge.

98. Tyson Alualu DE Cal -Alualu was a two-time all-conference selection for Cal as a versatile combo defensive lineman. He finished his career with 16 sacks and nearly 200 tackles.

97. Jahvid Best RB Cal - Best battled injuries and played a part in his three-year career going by in a flash, but he was spectacular when healthy. He was a two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection and rushed for more than 2,600 yards in his career with a seven-yard-plus per-carry average while also scoring 35 total touchdowns.

96. Tyron Smith T USC - Smith is actually a better NFL player than college player, but he was still a monster on some really good USC offensive lines. He had a stellar year in 2010 when he was first-team All-Pac-12 and won the Morris Trophy.

95. Jurrell Casey DT USC - Casey was as straight-up monster for the Trojans who caused mayhem in the middle for three years. He was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and an All-American.

94. Robert Woods WR USC - Woods was a two-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection and an All-American in  2011. He had nearly 3,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career.

93. Desmond Trufant CB Washington -Trufant was a four-year starter who exploded as a senior and became one of the nation's best cornerbacks as a first-team all-conference selection as the leader of one of the nation's best pass defenses.

92. Mark Sanchez QB USC - Sanchez was basically a one-year wonder at USC, but it was quite a year as he threw for more than 3,200 yards and scored 37 touchdowns while leading the last great USC Carroll team to a Rose Bowl win.

91. Kyle Murphy T Stanford - Murphy gets overshadowed by Joshua Garnett, but he was a monster for the Cardinal throughout his career as a four-year contributor, two-time All-Pac-12 selection who received All-American honors as a senior and who led a dominating Stanford front line.