There is no longer an unbeaten team in the Pac-12 Conference, which likely means no College Football Playoff for a team west of the Mississippi. The inconsistency of the conference and (well-deserved) "East Coast Bias" has the conference on the outside looking in.
1. Washington State (8-2, 7-0 Pac-12)
The Cougars have won all seven of their conference games, but lost more than that Saturday. For the third year in a row, a Washington State player's season ending while wearing the uniform combination the Cougars wore Saturday.
2. USC (7-3, 6-2 Pac-12)
The Trojans extinguished Washington's perfect campaign Saturday, have won six games in a row and are 6-1 since freshman quarterback Sam Darnold took over the starting job. Not to be overlooked, though, is the USC defense, which hasn't allowed more than 24 points during its win streak.
3. Washington (9-1, 6-1 Pac-12)
The Huskies came tumbling down at home, dropping their first game of the year against USC. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning had his worst game of the season, turning the ball over twice and scoring just one touchdown. After such a tough loss, I'm sure Washington will come back with a vengeance next week, so I feel bad for whatever team has to play at Husky Stadium next weekend.
4. Colorado (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12)
The Buffaloes, despite sitting behind USC here, are still in the driver's seat to Santa Clara in December. Colorado likely has to win out to get there, but two home games should help mitigate the issues of playing both Washington State and Utah — two ranked teams.
5. Utah (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12)
The Utes thrashed ASU at Sun Devil Stadium, despite falling in an early 13-0 hole. The defense, led by senior Hunter Dimick's five sacks, suffocated the Sun Devil offense to keep pace in the Pac-12 South. There's still a shot for Utah to make the title game and a win over Oregon at home is necessary to make it there.
6. Stanford (7-3, 5-3 Pac-12)
The Cardinal put together their best offensive performance of the season against the porous Oregon defense. Junior quarterback Keller Chryst was both effective and efficient, throwing for 258 yards and three scores in the best game of his young career. Stanford, for as bad as its offense has been, is still in line for an eight-win season, meaning David Shaw really is as good as advertised.
7. ASU (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12)
Sure, the Sun Devils have a four-game losing streak, but so do two other teams. I'm trying to find a way to move ASU down this list, but the rest of the conference is so bad that there's nowhere for the Sun Devils to go. That being said, ASU will likely lose again Saturday, meaning it needs to beat Arizona for a bowl berth.
8. UCLA (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12)
Mr. November Mike Fafaul took down Oregon State and earned his first win as a starting quarterback since he looked like this. The Bruins need to win their final two games to become bowl eligible, including a game in the LA Coliseum against vaunted rival USC. So I guess no bowl game for UCLA.
9. Cal (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12)
The football equivalent of the Blue Angels went on last weekend as the Golden Bears and Washington State put on a show through the air. Cal has lost three games in a row and has not won a game away from home all season. Thankfully for the Bears, their final two games are at home and two wins gets them bowl eligible.
10. Oregon (3-7, 1-6 Pac-12)
The Ducks are about as good at getting in trouble as they are at winning games. It appears as though Mark Helfrich is slowly letting his team slip through his grasps and could be on the verge of being let go. Oregon has two games remaining — both on the road — and two more losses could send Eugene into panic mode.
11. Oregon State (2-8, 1-6 Pac-12)
The Beavers could not overcome the loss of sophomore running back Ryan Nall and dropped their fifth game in a row. Oregon State continues to be so bad that there's really not much more to say about them.
12. Arizona (2-8, 0-7 Pac-12)
The Wildcats continue to be terrible and have been outscored by nearly four touchdowns per game in Pac-12 play. Strange to think this team took Washington to overtime in its first conference game. At least the Wildcats have a chance to win this week, playing Oregon State in Corvallis.
Reach the reporter at mtonis@asu.edu or follow @Tonis_The_Tiger on Twitter.
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