The Pac-12, especially the South, continues to be a complete toss-up. The only teams separating themselves are Oregon — at the top — and Colorado, at the bottom. Fun fact: the Pac-12 South has the highest percentage of teams ranked in the AP top 25 of any division in college football, including the SEC West, which has five of seven teams ranked, while the Pac-12 South has five of six.
Anyway, onto the rankings.
As if there were any questions about the Ducks' worthiness of the top spot in the power rankings, Oregon, for the 11th straight time, dominated Washington. Even the Huskies talented front seven couldn't stop the Ducks from running all over them. With a healthy offensive line, it doesn't look like the Ducks will drop another game. But it's the Pac-12, so who really knows?
"But they lost to Washington State!" you might plead. Yeah, and Oregon lost to UA. And ASU lost to UCLA. And USC lost to Stanford, which lost to ASU. Of course, the Cougars aren't quite to the caliber of the others, but Utah has looked the part of the No. 2 team — at least for this week. If it really wants to prove itself, Utah can tell Steve Sarkisian to be quiet about being a top-five team and get a convincing win on its home turf.
The Sun Devils played their most complete game of the season against Stanford and are now riding the momentum of two impressive, emotional wins into another tough test at Washington. Redshirt junior Mike Bercovici has performed very well, but redshirt senior Taylor Kelly should — said with hesitancy — be ready to start for the first time in three games. The question now is if ASU will try to incorporate Bercovici into its game plan, or if the Sun Devils are content letting him sit for the rest of the season.
The win at USC is looking better and better for the Sun Devils. Although, and I've said it before and will again, the Trojans outplayed ASU for about 57 minutes of that game, a win is a win. With two straight Pac-12 South wins, USC is in the driver's seat, but it still doesn't control its own destiny. Because of the Jael Mary, ASU holds the tie breaker over the Trojans, and both teams have one conference loss, though USC has one more win at the moment.
The Wildcats will have had two weeks to rebound from their first loss of the season, and they don't face a particularly tough test when they do get on the field again. UA's secondary will be tested by Conner Halliday and the Cougar passing attack, but Anu Solomon shouldn't have any problems leading his offense up and down the field.
Not only are the Bruins the most disappointing team in the Pac-12, they are in the conversation for the "honor" nationally, too. Although Cal has exceeded low expectations thus far, a top-25 team, let alone one that was once in the College Football Playoff discussion, should beat the Bears convincingly. Even Washington put the hammer down on Cal the week prior, 31-7. Somehow UCLA is still ranked in the AP poll, but expect that to change if its game against hapless Colorado is anywhere near as close as its one against Cal.
With its loss to ASU, Stanford will finish the regular season with at least three losses for the first time since 2009. The 16-point defeat also knocked the Cardinal out of the AP (and coaches) poll, which broke Stanford's streak of 72 straight weeks ranked in the top 25. It's clearly not the same Stanford team we've seen in recent history, but the Cardinal still shouldn't have any problems with Oregon State. If the Cardinal drop their game to the Beavers, the season could end as a huge failure.
The sailgating fans of the Huskies look back fondly on Nov. 1, 2003. Eleven seasons later, Washington still hasn't beaten Oregon since. And it hasn't been close — every one of those 11 losses have come by 17 or more points. Bad news gets worse for the Huskies, too, as they're pretty banged up. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles, after finally throwing his first interception of the season, left last week's game with a suspected concussion. By the end of the game, the Huskies were also down to their fourth-string running back. Although Husky Stadium is one of the hardest places to play in the Pac-12, ASU might be catching Washington at just the right time.
No matter how underwhelming the Bruins have been this season, there's no denying Cal again proved itself as being much improved from last season in a two-point loss to UCLA. The defense still isn't there, and it probably won't be at any point this year, but the Bears are competitive, which is more than they could say last season. It doesn't get any easier, though, as Cal hosts Oregon on Friday night.
In yet another Pac-12 thriller, Oregon State dropped its second Pac-12 game. The Beavers and Huskies are the only two "contenders" with a losing record in Pac-12 play. But at least the Huskies' losses have come to Stanford and Oregon, rather than Utah and USC, which are good in their own right. But the Beavers' wins have been far from impressive. If Oregon hasn't separated itself enough from the rest of the North, Oregon State picking up its third loss against Stanford should be enough to essentially eliminate them from the race.
And here is where the conference drops off, at least in terms of records. Washington State has been far better than Colorado, playing teams closer, but still boasts just the same 2-5 record. At least the Cougars have a conference win, a 28-27 upset of Utah. They have a chance at another, hosting UA on Saturday.
Colorado seems to have managed to regress since last season. The Buffaloes were expected to be at least all right this season. Instead, they're getting blown out on a weekly basis. Last year, Colorado was at least playing some teams close. To this point, Colorado's best performance in conference play came against ASU, and that still ended in a 38-24 loss. Although, with the way UCLA is playing, maybe Colorado gets its first Pac-12 win on Saturday.
Graphics by Evan Webeck | Sports reporter
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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