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Pac-12 Power Rankings: Huskies on Outside Looking In at Top Tier

Defensive woes keep UW from making a big conference jump.
Dan Raley|
Pac-12 Power Rankings: Huskies on Outside Looking In at Top Tier
Pac-12 Power Rankings: Huskies on Outside Looking In at Top Tier

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Washington Huskies

We can all be in agreement here: the Chip Kelly-rebuilt UCLA Bruins are No. 1 in our SI Pac-12 power rankings, at least until someone beats them, which very well could be this weekend. For now, the seven conference voters from the FanNation/SI network have spoken.

The Bruins, Ducks, Utah and USC appear to be the class of the league, its Final Four per se.

It's been six long years since the Pac-12 has had a CFP team, since Chris Petersen's Huskies qualified in 2016 and didn't stay long after meeting Alabama in the national semifinals. 

UCLA, as long as it keeps winning, as a chance to break the dry spell. 

Everyone else, six or seven games into their respective schedules, is playing for bowl placement.

With more offense than anyone in the Pac-12, and almost no defense, the Huskies remain on the outside of the top tier looking in. If Kalen DeBoer could only find himself a pair of somewhat savvy and totally healthy cornerbacks, and a safety or two.

The secondary is a bigger worry than anyone's really letting on. 

Stewart Mandel of the Athletic ambitiously took a somewhat midseason stab at bowl pairings this week and he had seven Pac-12 teams in the mix in his projections.

He has a healthier Huskies (5-2 overall, 2-2 Pac-12) as the league's No. 4 team facing the ACC's 13th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-1, 1-1), beaten only by Clemson 51-45 in overtime, in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 28. 

Mandel also has the Bruins and Cincinnati meeting in the Cotton Bowl, USC and Michigan pairing up in the Rose Bowl, Washington State and Boise State tussling in the L.A. Bowl, Oregon and Texas A&M playing off in the Vegas Bowl, Utah and Oklahoma State mixing it up in the Alamo Bowl and Oregon State and North Carolina State going at it in the Sun Bowl. 

Our Week 8 power rankings are as follows:

 

SI PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS/Week 8

1. UCLA 6-0, 3-0  (7) . . . 84 points

2. Utah 5-2, 2-1 . . . 71 

3. USC 6-1, 4-1 . . . 70

4. Oregon 5-1, 3-0 . . . 59

5. WASHINGTON 5-2, 2-2 . . . 54

6. Oregon State  5-2, 2-2 . . . 51 

7. Washington State 4-3, 1-3 . . .  40 

8. Arizona 3-4, 1-3  . . .  31 

9. Cal 3-3, 1-2 . . . 25

10. Stanford 2-4, 0-4 . . . 22 

11. Arizona State 2-4, 1-2 . . . 21

12. Colorado 1-5, 1-2 . . . 8

JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

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

Comment: The top four teams are the only ones that matter and you could probably put them in any order you want. The Fab Four are bunched nicely in the AP rankings between No. 9 and No. 15. The bottom five teams are becoming an embarrassment. Cal should probably be dropped lower after Saturday's loss to Colorado, but none of the other four deserve to be higher.

MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

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

Comment: Oregon was on its bye week ahead of a massive showdown against UCLA. It's great to rest up before a big game, but the challenge this week will be maintaining that momentum from its Arizona win. Utah's win over USC is significant, as Oregon and UCLA are the only remaining teams without a Pac-12 loss. Cal losing to Colorado is absolutely embarrassing after things were looking a bit more promising this year in Berkeley. 

KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

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

Comment: I will gladly admit that up to this point we were completely wrong about UCLA. The Bruins will again have a chance to prove how good they are with GameDay in Eugene for their matchup against Oregon. Lincoln Riley-led defenses have always been an issue, and continue to be the thing that holds his teams back. Stanford had a HUGE win over Notre Dame that may have saved jobs, morale and its season. The Cardinal are playing a bad Arizona State team at the perfect time.

SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

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

Comment: It feels like there's a "Game of the Year" every week at this point, and that just goes to show how genuinely good the top of the Pac-12 is this year. Last Saturday, it was Utah defending its home turf and beating USC. This week, it's UCLA and Oregon facing off following byes with ESPN sending "College GameDay" to spotlight the showdown in Eugene, and the winner will ultimately be in the driver's seat for the conference crown.

WYATT ALLSUP, ALL TROJANS

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

Comment: Utah narrowly beat USC Saturday, but it never felt like the Utes were the better team. Oregon takes on UCLA this week to contend for the top spot in the conference. Overreaction: Colorado picks up its first win on the season and gets to jump Berkeley this week. 

COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

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

Comment: Someway, somehow Utah kept its Pac-12 Championship hopes alive and defeated USC in dramatic fashion to shake things up amongst the top four. This week, a matchup between UCLA and Oregon will provide a similar situation as the Bruins hope to stay on top but Oregon is nearly unbeatable at home. Outside of these four programs, nobody really seems to be a threat and it'll be a tight race to the finish line as there are still several matchups that involve the top teams.

DAN RALEY, INSIDE THE HUSKIES

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

Comment: This Pac-12, this next-to-last conference as we know it, is about as fun as it gets. Upsets. Lots of points. Great quarterbacks. UCLA will be hard-pressed to go unbeaten and hold off Utah. Any one of the top four looks like a complete team. Washington could have the best offense of all, but oh that secondary, makes it a mortal team. Can’t wait for the next six weeks of games.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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