Utah Utes reclaim No. 3 spot in Pac-12 Power Rankings
1. USC 11-1, 8-1 . . . (7) 84 points
2. Washington 10-2, 7-2 . . . 74
3. Utah 9-3, 7-2 . . . 69
4. Oregon 9-3, 7-2 . . . 63
5. Oregon State 9-3, 6-3 . . . 56
6. UCLA 9-3, 6-3 . . . 53
7. Washington State 7-5, 4-5 . . . 42
8. Arizona 5-7, 3-6 . . . 35
9. Cal 4-8, 2-7 . . . 26
10. Arizona State 3-9, 2-7 . . . 23
11. Stanford 3-9, 1-8 . . . 14
12. Colorado 1-11, 1-8 . . . 7
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.
When these two programs played back in October, the teams combined for 85 points, 1,118 Yds, 59 1st downs, and 7.7 Yds per play with a final score of 43-42 in favor of Utah. Since then, the Trojans offense has only seemed to have gotten better but so has Utah's defense.
With that being said, I fully expect a dogfight for the Conference trophy as the Trojans hope to make the College Football Playoff while the Utes seek redemption in the Rose Bowl.
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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