1. Washington (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12)
The Huskies once again marched into the home of an inferior opponent and left with their lunch AND dinner money with a goose egg remaining in the loss column. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning is having an amazing and underrated season where he should be invited to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, but East Coast bias and all.
2. Washington State (7-2, 6-0 Pac-12)
The Cougars put together a nice win at home over Arizona as redshirt junior quarterback Luke Falk put together a historically great passing performance. Wazzu has won seven games in a row, but none in a more dominant fashion that its most recent win, shooting them up the rankings board, if only briefly.
3. Colorado (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12)
The Buffaloes, even if they lose out, will still be the best story in the conference. Mike MacIntyre has locked up coach of the year and has for weeks, cementing himself in Boulder for a few more years. Right now, Colorado is in the driver's seat in the Pac-12 South, but a final week clash with Utah will likely decide which recent conference addition will get its first conference title shot.
4. Utah (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12)
Speaking of Utah, the Utes were off last week, preparing for a mid-week clash in Tempe against struggling ASU. Utah has allowed over 30 points just once this season and is holding teams to 4.4 yards per carry. With one more conference loss than Colorado, Thursday is essentially a must-win for the Utes with their their "rivalry" matchup set to decide the division.
5. USC (6-3, 5-2 Pac-12)
Clay Helton has the Trojans playing their best ball all season and it's showing on the scoreboard. The Trojans aren't just winning, they're winning big, topping their last three opponents by an average of 27 points. While unlikely, there's still a way for USC to win the Pac-12 South, but realistically it's all about finishing off the season with pride after a horrendous start.
6. Stanford (6-3, 4-3 Pac-12)
The Cardinal combined for 50 points in their past two games, their highest scoring back-to-back since their first two games. Stanford finally has its offense back on track — at least enough — behind the running of junior running back Christian McCaffrey. After tough stretch, last year's Heisman runner-up has run for 368 yards and three scores in two games.
7. ASU (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12)
The beat up Sun Devils took a much-needed break from games to refresh and prepare for their final three games. ASU has lost three games in a row and 10 starters, but expects most of those injured players back for Senior Day Thursday, a necessity if the Sun Devils want to topple a ranked team and become bowl eligible.
8. Cal (4-5, 2-4 Pac-12)
The Golden Bears have suffered their two largest losses of the season in their past two games. Thankfully for Cal, its stretch of short rest is over, but the schedule isn't light yet. Two wins away from bowl eligibility, Cal's defense must step up its performance and equal the offensive production to have a shot at six wins.
9. UCLA (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12)
Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen is out for the season, meaning redshirt senior quarterback and next season's The Bachelor Mike Fafaul gets a few more starts to close his career in Westwood. The Bruins have sputtered with Fafaul behind center and need to win out to make a bowl game, but head coach Jim Mora needs those wins before a space heater is placed under his office chair.
10. Oregon (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12)
The Ducks were back to their losing ways in Los Angeles on Saturday. Freshman quarterback Justin Herbert looked good again, but not nearly as great as he did in his record-setting performance two weeks ago.
11. Oregon State (2-7, 1-5 Pac-12)
The Beavers have won a conference game, so they remain out of the basement. With three games left, Oregon State likely has the easiest remaining schedule, so it's not unlikely that the Beavers end up with four wins, which is four more than many predicted.
12. Arizona (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12)
The Wildcats are bad, simple as that. In fact, Arizona is getting worse as the year goes on. The defense is porous, the offense is impotent and players are getting hurt at an alarming rate. With six losses in a row and counting, Arizona would need a miracle to win another game, even with two home games and one in Corvallis.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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