Apologies for the late post, in all the excitement over the latest Confrencegeddon flare up I forgot I hadn’t posted yet. Things have settled down and it looks like I won’t have to start doing Pac-16 rankings anytime soon. On to this weeks soon to be out dated rankings.
NORTH
1. Stanford (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12)
LW 1
Stanford continues pummeling weak opponents, although Arizona put up more of a fight than either of the first two. Andrew Luck continues to pad his stats against weaker teams, something that he’ll get to do for another 3 weeks as the Cardinal take on UCLA, Colorado, and Washington State.
2. Oregon (2-1, 0-0)
LW 2
For a brief period there was some panic in Eugene. Did lowly Missouri State really just score on the might Ducks (pun intended)? How can we be losing to a team like that? Sadly for the Bears it was but a brief glimmer of hope as Oregon quickly asserted itself by scoring the final 56 points of the game unanswered. Running back and Heisman hopeful LaMichael James didn’t go easy on the Bears, posting a 200+ yard rushing game for the fourth time in his career.
3. Washington (2-1, 0-0)
LW 3
For 3 out of 4 quarters Washington was Nebraska’s equal. The 3rd quarter however, everything seemed to fall apart. Perhaps the Huskies were unnerved by a pair of terrible calls by officials, both on punts that helped swing the game back in Nebraska’s favor. Perhaps they were just worn out. Regardless it was a game that got away from the Dawgs. Offense hasn’t been a problem for the Dawgs who posted their 3rd 30+ point performance, but the defense continues to be a concern.
4. Cal (3-0, 0-0)
LW 4
Cal is 3-0, so why aren’t they ranked above Washington? Well the near miss against Colorado last week coupled with what Seattle Time’s Bob Condotta called a glorified scrimmage in this weeks game against Big South cellar dweller Presbyterian doesn’t give a lot of reason to be confident in the Bears. Washington’s performance against Nebraska, despite the loss was more impressive than most expected. Luckily we’ll have a more definitive answer after next weeks matchup between the two north schools in Seattle.
5. Washington State (2-1, 0-0)
LW 5
It felt like old times again this week as WSU Coug’d it in their game against San Diego State. For awhile it looked like they must might pull it off. However a 24-14 lead early in the 4th quarter quickly evaporated as the Aztecs scored an unanswered 28 points to secure a 42-24 victory. Still, the Cougs have the chance to get back on track with games against Colorado and UCLA in coming weeks before hitting the brick wall that is Stanford.
6. Oregon State (0-2, 0-0)
LW 6
The Beavers had a bye this week, which is fortunate since their first two games were embarrassing. Still my money is on Oregon State in this weekends Pac-12 pillow fight against UCLA.
SOUTH
1. USC (3-0, 1-0)
LW 2
The Trojans seemed to have little problems with the visiting Orange wrapping up a favorable home slate before their first road test against the Sun Devils. USC looked much better in this game then the previous two weeks and should have a good shot at a 4-0 start.
2. Utah (2-1, 0-1)
LW 3
Utah’s victory was so one sided that not even the angel Moroni himself could have helped BYU in this one. Utah’s defense took the ball away from the Cougars seven times. Meanwhile Utah’s offense was prolific scoring a shocking 47 unanswered points. If the Utes can continue this type of performance throughout the season they can still contend for the Pac-12 south title.
3. ASU (2-1, 0-0)
LW 1
Arizona State’s sloppy football finally caught up to them in Champaign Illinois. 3 turnovers and nearly 100 yards worth of penalties hurt the Sun Devil’s chances in this game. They will have to clean up their game if they hope to beat the visiting Trojan’s and position themselves strongly for a Pac-12 South title run.
4. Arizona (1-2, 0-1)
LW 4
Another big loss for the Wildcats as they reach the halfway point of a brutal 4 game stretch against ranked opponents. Stanford led the entire way. Arizona is looking at a losing season if it can’t pull a few upsets along the way at this point.
5. Colorado (1-2, 0-0)
LW 6
After a rough first two games the Buffalos finally earned a win against in state rival Colorado State. If they can put in another solid performance there is a real possibility of an upset win over an Ohio State team that struggled against Toledo and lost to Miami in the past two weeks.
6. UCLA (1-2, 0-0)
LW 5
Almost nothing could make this Trojan Husky happier than seeing Slick Rick’s Bruins drop into the bottom spot. A blow out loss at home to Texas in front of few fans can’t be making the hot seat any cooler for Neuheisal. On top of that the Bruin’s benched starting QB Keith Prince after he threw 3 interceptions in the first quarter. Looks like former starter Richard Brehaut will have the ball again for now.