Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jaelen Strong leaps into the air as he attempts to catch a pass from Taylor Kelly. ASU defeated the Bruins 38-35 and clinched a spot in the Pac-12 championship. (Photo by Dominic Valente.)Check out last week's power rankings here, and let us know in the comment section how you'd rank the Pac-12.
(AP Ranking)
1. Oregon (No. 2)
The Ducks retain the top spot, despite getting a scare in Pullman, Washington, over the weekend. Washington State hung with Oregon the entire game, and what was expected to be a dominant defense gave up 31 points to a team that had its only win come against Portland State. Oregon is trending down after last week, but at 4-0 with a win over Michigan State, there's still no competition for the top spot.
2. Stanford (No. 16)
Stanford stays neutral after the bye last week, mostly thanks to bye weeks from UCLA and ASU, and an uninspiring first-half performance from Washington. The Cardinal open up as six-point favorites on the road at Husky Stadium on Saturday, in a battle for possible Pac-12 North supremacy.
3. UCLA (No. 11)
All reports out of Los Angeles this week have been positive about the health of Brett Hundley, and while there hasn't be any declarative statement, nothing indicates Hundley not starting against a Taylor-Kelly-less ASU team on Thursday, for which the Bruins opened as three-point favorites.
4. Utah
Utah has been bar-none the most surprising team in the Pac-12 to this date. After opening up the season with two explosive victories over lesser programs, Utah went into the Big House on Saturday and outplayed Michigan in nearly every facet of the game. A home game against WSU should be a win this weekend, but a showdown at UCLA looms on the horizon the week after.
5. ASU (No. 15)
ASU gets hopped by Utah on its bye week. Again, this ranking does take into account that Taylor Kelly is out against UCLA. The Sun Devils with Mike Bercovici at quarterback are a much different team than the Sun Devils with Taylor Kelly at quarterback. The UCLA game will help show us the Sun Devils' true colors on defense, but it'll take until Kelly is on the field to see the real offense against a true test.
6. Washington
The Huskies were losing 14-0 to Georgia State at halftime. Just for that, they should be at the bottom of the rankings. But thanks to a 45-0 second half, they regained some respect and almost covered the line (-33.5) despite a dismal first half. The offense with Cyler Miles at quarterback has scored 59, 44 and 45 points, respectively, in each of his three games. We'll see if that holds up against Stanford this week, though.
7. USC (No. 18)
Yet another team from the top-half of the conference with a bye week. There wasn't cause for much shakeup in the power rankings, simply due to inactivity. Nonetheless, USC gets a chance at redemption two weeks after its loss to Boston College when it takes on Oregon State on Saturday. Boston College, meanwhile, gave USC fans a scare when it fell behind 7-0 early to Maine, but quickly rebounded and won 40-10.
8. Oregon State
The Beavers welcomed a non-cupcake opponent to Reser Stadium this weekend in San Diego State. The Aztecs have seen better years, but they're still a respectable Mountain West foe, unlike New Mexico (cough, cough). Oregon State beat the Aztecs more handily than the previously ranked North Carolina Tarheels did the week prior.
9. UA
For much of the night, it looked like the Wildcats were going to fall to Cal, which won all of two games last season and none in Pac-12 play. Thanks to UA's savior, quarterback Anu Solomon, it didn't play out like that, though. The redshirt freshman threw it more times than WSU quarterback Connor Halliday did — a feat in and of itself — and did so for 520 yards and five touchdowns. UA still hasn't looked impressive or gotten a quality win, so it remains in the lower tier of the Pac-12, but at 4-0, the Wildcats are without a doubt off to a hot start.
10. Washington State
For the second straight season, Washington State took Oregon down to the wire — of the first half. Only this time, the Cougars pushed Oregon into the third quarter, and then the fourth. They wouldn't go away! It was the first quality football WSU has played this season, and it looked like the team it was expected to be for the first time. Now, the question is if the Cougars can ride the momentum (of a loss?) into its game at Utah and the rest of Pac-12 play.
11. California
For once, for the first time in two seasons, it looked like Cal was going to win a Pac-12 game. Then, the Golden Bears we all know and love reared their ugly heads and allowed 36 points to UA in the fourth quarter. Quite frankly, nobody should be surprised that Cal managed to lose a game it had a 28-6 lead at halftime in. Just be prepared for more of the same as the season progresses.
12. Colorado
Hawaii seems to be the opponent of choice for Pac-12 teams this season. And Colorado managed not to put on the worst performance of the three that played it. That title goes to Washington, though the Buffaloes are not far behind. Luckily for the Pac-12, Oregon State had a slightly better showing (through three quarters, at least). All three of Hawaii's losses have come to Pac-12 schools, but the average final score has only been 25.3 to 19.3.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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