SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings: USC Climbs Back to the Top - Can Trojans Stay There?

Cal and Stanford reside at Nos. 10 and 11 heading into this week's 125th Big Game.

For most Pac-12 fans, the Big Game is merely an afterthought in the Big Week.

This is when things begin to get sorted out at the top of the conference race. Yes, there is one more week of the regular season ahead of us, but the long-awaited clashes between the Pac-12’s four season-long leaders will give us some clarity.

USC at UCLA and Utah at Oregon will go a long way toward determining which teams play Dec. 2 in the Pac-12 championship game, and whether USC can stay in the hunt for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Cal and Stanford will collide at Memorial Stadium in the 125th Big Game — the 40th anniversary of The Play. It’s a big deal in the Bay Area, but the rest of the conference views it as a matchup of two 3-7 teams.

USC, the league’s long\e remaining one-loss team, is the only Pac-12 program with a chance to squeeze into the four-team national playoff bracket. To get there, the Trojans have to beat their cross-town rival, then their historic rival in Notre Dame, plus win the Pac-12 title game.

Last week’s results, including losses by Oregon and UCLA, triggered upheaval in our SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings. The Trojans have ascended to the top, with Oregon dropping one spot to No. 2.

Cal held its position at No. 10, despite a 28-point loss at Oregon State. The Bears are one spot ahead of Stanford, which is coming off a 35-point defeat at Utah.

WEEK 12 - - SI PAC-12 FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS

1. USC 9-1, 7-1 . . . (6) 82 points

2. Oregon 8-2, 6-1 . . .71

3. Utah 8-2, 6-1 . . . (1) 60

4. UCLA 8-2, 5-2 . . . 59

5. Washington 8-2, 5-2 . . . 57

6. Oregon State 7-3, 4-3 . . . 48

7. Washington State 6-4, 3-4 . . . 41

8. Arizona 4-6, 2-5 . . . 37

9. Arizona State 3-7, 2-5 . . . 27

10. Cal 3-7, 1-6 . . . 21

11. Stanford 3-7, 1-7 . . .15

12. Colorado 1-9, 1-6 . . .7

-- JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

1. USC; 2. Oregon; 3. Washington; 4. Utah; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Arizona State; 10, Cal; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado.

Comment: I'm rooting for a five-way tie for first place at the end of the regular season, and it wouldn't take much imagination to make it happen. Put the top five teams in a hat and draw out any one you want as the likely conference champ. I'd like to put Arizona higher than eighth, but we can’T forget its first nine games. Cal-Stanford playing The Big Game? Talk about a misnomer.

-- MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

1. USC; 2. Washington; 3. Utah; 4. Oregon; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Cal; 10. Arizona State; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: Oregon lost a crucial game to Washington after Michael Penix Jr. shredded the Ducks' defense. Now they'll wait to see if Bo Nix will be able to play. If he isn't able to go against Utah, I don't see them returning to the conference championship game.

-- KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. Washington; 4. Oregon; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Arizona State; 10. Cal; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: With Stanford continuing to show no signs of life, maybe they will get up for this huge rivalry matchup against Cal. The Pac-12 had a tough weekend last week in terms of top teams beating up on each other or flat out losing. USC appears to be the conference's last bet to make the playoffs.

-- SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. USC; 4. Washington; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Arizona State; 10. Stanford; 11. Cal; 12. Colorado

Comment: The Bruins really choked one away against Arizona, further complicating not only the tiebreaking scenarios for the conference championship game, but also the hierarchy in the Pac-12 as a whole. UCLA and Washington have both suffered boneheaded, unexplainable losses, but they have also beat some of the best teams in the West. If UCLA can beat USC, then it proves last week was a fluke and that they are still a force to be taken seriously down the stretch alongside Utah and Oregon – who is still a contender despite a frustrating loss set up by tough-luck calls.

-- WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS

1. USC; 2. Oregon; 3. UCLA; 4. Washington; 5. Utah; 6. Arizona; 7. Oregon State; 8. Washington State; 9. Arizona; 10. Cal; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: Apparently, nobody can play any defense in this conference, so I’m going to treat every potential matchup as a shootout and essentially rank these teams based on their offenses. USC has been a one-sided team all year but is good enough offensively to play with anybody. The Trojans have the best coach, the best player, and the best set of receivers in the conference. Full faith they get it done against UCLA this weekend.

-- COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

1. USC; 2. Oregon; 3. Utah; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Arizona State; 10. Cal; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: With UCLA and Oregon both losing last week, this Saturday is basically a semifinal to determine who will be playing for the Pac-12 Championship in December. From what I’ve seen from the Utes as of late, the defense is playing their best football while the offense has returned some of their most dangerous weapons in Tavion Thomas and Dalton Kincaid. Saturday will certainly be a battle between the top four teams and nobody should be surprised if the Utes walk away from Oregon with a W and a ticket to Allegiant Stadium.

-- DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES

1. USC; 2. Utah; 3. Washington; 4. Oregon; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona; 9. Arizona State; 10. Cal; 11. Stanford; 12. Colorado

Comment: If the league hasn't been entertaining and powerful enough, we're moving to the stretch run with plenty of intrigue. Oregon-Utah should be a classic game. The league has seven bowl-eligible teams, plus Arizona and Stanford own quality wins. USC and UCLA, why are you leaving again? The Huskies once again proved you can win without defense if you have a big lefty on the mound throwing high, hard ones.

Cover photo of USC quarterback Caleb Williams by Gary A. Vasquez, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo