Huskies Climb in Power Rankings, Poised to Make Big Jump

The University of Washington football team struggled some but, literally in the end, was able to show it belongs as the Pac-12's fifth-best team by beating Oregon State.

Now comes a much different identity check: Are the Huskies any better than that?

They go to Oregon this weekend as the nation's No. 24 team in the Associated Press poll to face No. 6.

They check into Autzen Stadium in Eugene as the No. 5 team in our SI Pac-12 power rankings hoping to upend the No. 1 Ducks.

Already well received after winning 7 of 9 games, Kalen DeBoer and his coaching staff have a chance to really rubber stamp their UW program, claim a high-level good bowl game at the minimum and maybe shake up the conference's upper echelon.

The leapfrogged Oregon State, with the two swapping positions 5 and 6. Now they'll see if they can stay on the field with Oregon.

It used to be a given that they were better than the Ducks. That was a long time ago. Prior to DeBoer, five Husky coaches struggled to beat these guys as the University of NIKE solidified its program and made the UW pay for past piling on.

The power rankings are as follows:

SI PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS/Week 11

1. Oregon 8-1, 6-0 . . . (7) 84 points

2. UCLA 8-1, 5-1 . . . 76

3. USC 8-1, 6-1 . . . 69

4. Utah 7-2, 5-1 . . . 65

5. WASHINGTON 7-2, 4-2 . . . 56

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

7. Washington State 5-4, 2-4 . . . 43

8. Arizona 3-6, 1-5 . . . 32

9. Arizona State 3-6, 2-4 . . . 25

10. Cal 3-6, 1-5 . . . 24

11. Stanford 3-6, 1-6 . . .17

12. Colorado 1-8, 1-5 . . . 7

JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

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

Comment: Just biding my time until the two important Nov. 19 games are played. In the meantime I'll contemplate Stanford's humbling 52-14 loss to Washington State, and debate whether Stanford should be forced to play Colorado in some sort of Pac-12 Relegation Bowl, like Premier League Soccer does in England.

MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

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

Comment: Oregon wasn't as dominant during these past two weeks as I expected, but they were able to get a blowout win over Colorado before beginning a tough stretch to close out the regular season. This week's game against Washington will be a quality test for them and I expected them to rise to the occasion with the momentum they've built and in front of their home crowd, where they play their best football.

KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

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

Comment: Stanford looked as bad as it gets in their blowout loss to Washington State. Fans are calling for Shaw's job, and traveling to Utah couldn't come at a worse time. In terms of the conference standings, it is now a five-team race with the potential to cut it to four with this Oregon/Washington matchup.

SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

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

Comment: The true powers in the conference held serve this weekend, even though UCLA and USC's wins probably got a little too close for comfort down the stretch. Washington asserted itself above Oregon State with a tight Friday night win, but it's still all about next weekend, when UCLA-USC and Oregon-Utah highlight the decisive Pac-12 slate. If one of those top tier teams loses this week, that's a tough look for any of them.

WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS

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

Comment: Oregon is still the team to beat in the conference. I don’t see USC beating UCLA or even Notre Dame the way its defense has played lately. The Trojans are definitely still a year or two away from becoming real contenders. The program has turned around dramatically from last year, but still has room to improve. Washington is quietly having a great season outside of a bad loss to Arizona State.

COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

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

Comment: Not a lot of changes this week but I don’t expect anything to really happen until November 19 when the top four teams face off. For now, injuries remain a concern for the Utes as the running back room sustained several against Arizona. Star tight end Dalton Kincaid is still questionable and Cameron Rising doesn’t seem to be quite himself. Defeating Oregon will require a lot. Hopefully the next two weeks can offer enough time for the Utes offense to rest and prepare for the Ducks.

DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES

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

Comment: It's Oregon and Washington week. Sort of like Republicans and Democrats. Do we need to remind you, they don't like each other in any way. It's one of the top five cross-state rivalries in the country. Sort of like Georgia and Florida. Unless the Huskies find a defense in six days, it might not be competitive. But Kalen DeBoer has lost two games by a touchdown each and continues to surprise with his offense and will leave a little doubt coming in.

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