SI Pac-12 Week 2 Power Rankings: UCLA Climbs the Polls
It was quite the weekend for the Pac-12.
The UCLA Bruins dominated headlines across the country on Saturday night, defeating LSU in the Rose Bowl for the Pac-12's first victory over an SEC team in decades.
UCLA's victory unfortunately was one of few bright spots for the conference over the weekend, as the Pac-12 saw conference favorite Oregon struggle at home vs Fresno State and Montana upset typical powerhouse Washington in Husky Stadium.
Other teams to watch such as USC, Arizona State and Utah handled business in week one of the new season, while the rest of the teams below in the Pac-12 saw mixed results.
Week two doesn't hold any promises, either. Oregon and Washington pack their bags for road trips in the Big Ten, as the the two teams look to battle Ohio State and Michigan, respectively. Arizona State hosts the always tricky UNLV, and Colorado looks to upset what is sure to now be a top five ranked squad in Texas A&M.
So, what do the power rankings look like for the Pac-12 heading into week two? Sports Illustrated's publishers who cover teams in the conference gather every week to establish power rankings. To view last week's rankings, click here.
Who moved up? Who moved down? What teams still need to prove themselves?
SI's Pac-12 Week 1 Publisher Power Rankings:
1. UCLA 2-0 (1 first-place vote) 67 total points
2. USC 1-0 (3) 66
3. Oregon 1-0 (2) 63
4. Utah 1-0 55
5. Arizona State 1-0 48
6. Colorado 1-0 37
7. Cal 0-1 35
8. Washington 0-1 33
9. Stanford 0-1 23
10. Oregon State 0-1 20
T-11. Arizona 0-1 11
T-11. Washington State 0-1 11
How AllSunDevils Voted
1. USC; 2. UCLA; 3. Oregon; 4. ASU; 5. Utah; 6. Washington; 7. Colorado; 8. Cal; 9. Oregon State; 10. Washington State; 11. Stanford; 12. Arizona
Donnie Druin, Deputy Editor: Man, what a wild weekend for the Pac-12. UCLA proved itself worthy of jumping a few spots in the rankings, while Washington's loss really stings for their chances to prove how legitimate they are. USC remains atop of my power rankings after Oregon hung on by a thread at home. It's still early on, but our power rankings are sure to see some massive shifts in the first few weeks of the season.
Week 2 Notes
- Washington had the biggest fall after losing at home to Montana, dropping from #3 to #8. Oregon also drops from the top spot after narrowly escaping defeat on Saturday.
- UCLA makes a significant jump following their win against ranked LSU, skyrocketing from #6 to #1. Cal also sees a jump from #9 to #6.
- Teams such as USC, Utah, Arizona State, Cal and Oregon State stayed in their same respective places.
- This is the first week where the poll's top three teams all finished with over 60 total points in the poll.