SI Pac-12 Power Rankings: UCLA Drops Again to Finish Regular Season

The Fan Nation and Sports Illustrated publishers of the Pac-12 have come together to unveil their takes on the conference's hierarchy heading into championship weekend.

UCLA football (9-3, 6-3) fell from No. 5 to No. 6 in the latest edition of the SI Pac-12 Power Rankings following the team's 35-28 win over Cal. There was not a consensus on where the Bruins belonged compared to their conference foes, but they were once again held out of every voter's top three as the regular season came to a close.

All Trojans was the highest on UCLA by putting them at No. 4. Ducks Digest and All Utes were the next most favorable to the Bruins by slotting them in at No. 5, while Cal Sports Report, All Cardinal, All Bruins and Inside the Huskies had them the lowest at No. 6.

Oregon State can be credited with bumping UCLA down a spot, considering their upset win over Oregon moved them from No. 6 to No. 5. Washington jumped up to No. 2 after beating Washington State in the Apple Cup, but Utah will actually be the team facing top-dog USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday.

There are seven Pac-12 teams who locked up bowl eligibility this regular season, and with six of them looking to reach double digit wins in the postseason, the final power rankings that come out in early January could look very different.

Here are the full power rankings, along with the ballots and some brief thoughts from each of the publishers:

2022 WEEK 14 SI PAC-12 FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS

1. USC, 84 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Washington, 74 points
3. Utah, 69 points
4. Oregon, 63 points
5. Oregon State, 56 points
6. UCLA, 53 points
7. Washington State, 42 points
8. Arizona, 35 points
9. Cal, 26 points
10. Arizona State, 23 points
11. Stanford, 14 points
12. Colorado, 7 points

JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

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

Comment: How Oregon lost that game and a chance to win the Pac-12 title is beyond me. A blunder by the punter and Dan Lanning's fourth-down choice doomed the Ducks. Washington and USC go from 4-8 last year to this, thanks to transfer quarterbacks.

MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

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

Comment: Oregon showed it doesn’t belong in the Pac-12 championship with an embarrassing collapse against Oregon State. USC and Utah should be a fun game, especially since the Utes handed the Trojans their only loss of the season. David Shaw stepping down creates one of the more interesting head coaching searches in the country on the Farm.

KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

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

Comment: The Shaw era is over in Palo Alto after some great years at first, and some not so great ones recently. It was time, but still sad times at Stanford. This Pac-12 matchup will be everything we all wanted. USC needs a win as badly as anyone across the country.

SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

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

Comments: The top tier in the Pac-12 is pretty expansive and unclear, especially considering the regular season has come to a close. There are probably five teams that can make a serious case for being the best in the conference, but the championship game between Utah and USC – plus the ensuing bowl games – will likely bring things into focus before the end of the year.

WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS

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

Comment: Not too much changed this week; the top half of the conference clearly separates from the rest. USC will face Utah to crown a champion this Friday, and I expect USC to redeem its loss from earlier this season at a neutral site against the Utes. Interestingly enough, Washington will likely end up in the Rose Bowl if that happens.

COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

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

Comment: Against all odds, the Utes snuck into the Pac-12 Championship and are set for a rematch with USC in Las Vegas on Friday.

DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES

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

Comment: People all season long have underestimated the UW offense. After all, the Huskies are now 10-2 with barely a trace of defense. . . . Just look at those top six Pac-12 teams and their nine-win seasons — it's a landmark conference season, which will be made better if USC can get into the CFP at least once before the Trojans head for the Big Ten and disappear from postseason contention. . . . Oregon's Dan Lanning may turn out to be a more successful and someday veteran coach but his game management skills are something left to be desired. He let two games get away because of bad fourth-down choices. Wasn't it Jimmy Lake who showed us all that you don't hire assistant coaches anymore to be Pac-12 head coaches?

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