While the Big Ten faltered under national scrutiny, the Pac-12 affirmed its status a member of the "Big Five," and was the second power conference to start league play on Saturday. A few teams endured scares from smaller conference opponent, but ultimately, Stanford and Washington State were the only teams to put a check in the loss column, and five Pac-12 teams currently reside in the top 20. How did the Sun Devils fare in this week's edition of our football power rankings?
1. No. 3 Oregon (2-0)
I was certainly not expecting the Ducks to put the beating that they did on Michigan State. If they can be that explosive on offense against a defense that is as physical as the Spartans’, there may not be a team in the nation, never mind the conference, that can stop them.
2. No. 9 USC (2-0)
The Trojans scored a huge win to open conference play by beating the Cardinal on the Farm. They already showed they can win with an explosive offense, now they proved they can win a physical battle on defense. Pac-12, take note.
3. No. 15 Stanford (1-1)
Losing at home is not something that has happened all that often under David Shaw but the game against USC could have gone either way. Stanford is still the second best team in the North division.
4. No. 16 ASU (2-0)
A strong start against the Lobos was followed up by some shaky spots in the second quarter allowing New Mexico to get back in the game. However, Todd Graham was able to rally his team in the second half for a dominating performance.
5. No. 12 UCLA (2-0)
I said it last week and I said it several times leading up to the season, UCLA has been overrated by the media going into this season. Their two wins have been ugly and I’m not convinced they can travel to Texas and beat the Longhorns, who just got stomped by BYU, next week.
6. Arizona (2-0)
After the explosion on offense against UNLV, I thought the Wildcats would have a little easier time against UTSA. However freshman Anu Solomon still played solidly, limiting the mistakes.
7. Washington (2-0)
It’s been a rough start for the Chris Petersen era in Washington. On one hand, you’d expect them to score 59 against Eastern Washington. On the other hand you wouldn’t expect them to let up 52 points against them.
8. Utah (2-0)
Solid win this week for the Utes against Fresno State. Utah has a very interesting test coming up next week, traveling to the Big House to play the Michigan Wolverines.
9. California (2-0)
California is finally moving up after two big wins and doubling their win total from a season ago. Next week’s matchup in Tucson is a good one for both teams and should make for an interesting game.
10. Oregon State (2-0)
I don’t know what it is about Hawaii, but they always seem to play Pac-12 teams tough. I thought the Beavers were just so much better than the Warriors that it wouldn’t be that close. Maybe they need more than just Sean Mannion.
11. Colorado (1-1)
The Buffaloes got their first win on the road this week against UMass, which wasn’t an easy ask for Mike McIntyre’s team. I don’t expect them to have the same result next week though when they return home to play the Sun Devils.
12. Washington State (0-2)
The Cougars are now 0-2 after losing to Nevada. In theory they should get their first win against Portland State next week. If they don’t, it might be time to look past Mike Leach.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
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