SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings: UCLA Jumps to No. 3 After Beating UW
UCLA, mired in sixth place in our SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings last week despite an unbeaten record, finally has impressed the voters.
The Bruins vaulted three spots to No. 3 after their 40-32 win in a duel of unbeaten at Pasadena.
The next test comes immediately for UCLA, which hosts preseason Pac-12 favorite Utah on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
USC and the Utes remain 1-2 in the rankings after each posted victories last week. Oregon stayed at No. 4 while the Huskies slipped from a tie for second to fifth.
Cal, after its 28-9 loss to Washington State, is tied for No. 8 with Arizona, a team the Bears beat 49-31 the week before.
The Bears have a bye this week before traveling to winless Colorado on Oct. 15. The Golden Buffaloes also have this week off after firing coach Karl Dorrell on Sunday.
WEEK 6 - - SI PAC-12 FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS
1. USC 5-0, 3-0 . . . (5) 81 points
2. Utah 4-1, 2-0 . . . (1) 77
3. UCLA 5-0, 2-0 . . . (1) 69
4. Oregon 4-1, 2-0 . . . 66
5. Washington 4-1, 1-1 . . . 55
6. Washington State 4-1, 1-1 . . . 48
7. Oregon State 3-2, 0-2 . . . 43
8 tie. Cal 3-2, 1-1 . . . 32
8 tie. Arizona 3-2, 1-1 . . . . 32
10. Stanford 1-3, 0-3 . . . 19
11. Arizona State 1-4, 0-2 . . . 16
12. Colorado 0-5, 0-2 . . . 7
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-- JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT
1. UCLA, 2. USC, 3. Utah, 4. Oregon, 5. Washington, 6. Washington State, 7. Oregon State, 8. Cal, 9. Arizona, 10. Arizona State, 11. Stanford, 12. Colorado
Comment: L.A. is where it's at this week. (I can almost hear Randy Newman singing). I'm still not convinced about USC, but it is 5-0 and ranked in the top 10. And what in the world has happened to Stanford the past few years?
-- MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST
1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. Oregon; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Washington State;
7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado
Comment: UCLA showed that it wasn't a mistake that its undefeated earning its first win over a ranked team this year. USC stays perfect and that Utah game has to be circled on everyone's calendars. Oregon's offense is explosive and exciting but there are still some areas they need to figure out on defense.
-- KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL
1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. Oregon; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Washington State; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado
Comment: Stanford fell to their third straight ranked opponent, and were simply just outmatched. This week they will look to beat a struggling Oregon State to get back on track.
-- SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS
1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. UCLA; 4. Oregon; 5. Washington State; 6. Washington; 7. Oregon State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado
Comment: The Trojans don't look unbeatable after getting off to a slow start against the lowly, coach-less Sun Devils, which should make the race at the top of the conference all the more interesting. The Bruins already knocked off the Huskies to assert their position among the other top-tier teams, but they're going to have to do it again versus the Utes if they're going to want to stick around at all. UCLA-Utah and USC-Washington State will both be extremely important games, and the rankings could be in for another shakeup next week.
-- WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS
1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. Oregon; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Cal; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado
Comment: USC and Utah are almost interchangeable at this point. USC’s game with Arizona State was too close for too long. UCLA is undefeated, but I don’t think they would beat Oregon right now. The bottom three teams in this conference are significantly worse than the rest.
-- COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES
1. Utah; 2. USC; 3. UCLA; 4. Oregon; 5. Washington; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Cal; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado
Comment: Utah has nearly cemented themselves as the team to beat while others still have a lot of questions to answer. Washington's momentum came to a screeching halt, UCLA looks good but Utah will be a real test and USC still needs to show they can comfortably beat a respectable opponent. These next two weeks will prove who is the real deal and who is a fraud.
-- DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES
1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. UCLA; 4. Oregon; 5. Washington; 6. Washington State; 7. Arizona; 8. Oregon State; 9. Cal; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado
Comment: Get ready for rapid-fire. Seven of the 12 coaches have changed over in the past 22 months. Welcome to realignment, Pac-12 style. League-wide, only two teams are unbeaten, the ones not long for the league. Yet five Pac-12 members made it into the AP Top 25 this week, so there is outside respect for what's going on. Told you someone would exploit that thin Husky secondary.
Cover photo of UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
