More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
Week 3 of the college season is in the books. Time sure does fly when Jeff Lockie is your quarterback. Anyway, with the passing of another week, power has shifted once again in the Pac-12. Here’s where the supremacy of the conference currently resides:
1. Arizona: Sure, the Wildcats throttled some hopeless unknown program in their most recent outing, but dropping 77 points over anyone is impressive. The Wildcats could also get their defensive leader Scooby Wright back as soon as next week. College Gameday comes to Tuscon next Saturday for a high-profile matchup between Pac-12 South contenders. The Wildcats’ week 4 opponent didn’t look so convincing in their last game either. Arizona could be in this top spot for quite some time.
2. UCLA: Undefeated is undefeated. However, the Bruins were very fortunate to come back from a 10-point BYU lead to win. Their wunderkind quarterback also looked shaky for the first time in his young career. UCLA and true freshman Josh Rosen now have to go on the road to a hostile “Zona Zoo.” I’m picking the Wildcats to win big.
3. Oregon: After the Jeff Lockie debut against Georgia State, every rational thinking Duck fan realized why Oregon brought in Vernon Adams on such short notice. Lockie’s stats don’t look terrible on paper. But a strict diet of passes to the flats and hand-offs to running backs could have made the towel boy look like a fully functioning Division 1 quarterback. Oregon brought out a Wildcat package with Bralon Addison numerous times for crying out loud. It’s do or die with Vernon Adams for the Ducks. More importantly, the Oregon defense looked incompetent once again. Keep in mind it was Georgia State who shredded this defense this past weekend. Georgia State.
4. Arizona State: On appearance alone, The Sun Devils resemble an SEC team. They’re big, physical, and athletic. And despite a week 1 loss to Texas A&M, they’re still my favorite to take the Pac-12 South title.
5. California: Cal did the most Cal thing imaginable and almost blew a three-touchdown lead to the Texas Longhorns. But make no mistake, even though Texas is no longer the Texas you and I are accustomed to, beating the Longhorns on the road is still no easy feat. Also, the Golden Bears’ defense might be as atrocious as Oregon’s. Still, Jared Goff is the best quarterback in the country and has the under-the-radar Bears 3-0. Like Oregon, Cal’s defense will need substantial improvement if they have realistic expectations of winning the Pac-12.
6. Utah: Utah is still undefeated. They have a solid offense and defense, yet they are still overlooked. A tough trip to Autzen Stadium this weekend looms, however.
7. Stanford: After their abysmal display against Northwestern, Stanford should have faded into obscurity for the remainder of the season. USC winning by a big margin was the logical outcome to this game. However, when you have college football’s Eli Manning, these sort of upsets are nothing out of the ordinary. Stanford beat USC because of course they did. Naturally, Stanford is destined to lose to Washington State now.
8. USC: This is becoming a yearly ritual for the Trojans. USC signs seemingly every 5-star recruit in the state of California, gets praised throughout the summer, then loses to an inferior opponent (or two). Stanford proved the Trojans aren’t as daunting as they were built up to be. With crosstown rival UCLA, the Arizona schools, and Oregon still left to face, this could be Sark’s last season in Los Angeles.
9. Washington: Out of all the terrible teams left to rank, the Huskies are the least terrible.
10. Oregon State: Throw all the Seth Collins hoopla out the window. The Beavers had to come from behind to take down San Jose State. The CSU dilemma appears to still be a thing for Oregon State. Fortunately for Beaver fans, archrival Oregon happens to be in the midst of a down year, which in the end, is all a Beaver fan can really ask for.
11. Washington State: The Cougars managed to produce another win, so throw some ice on Mike Leach’s hot seat. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
12. Colorado: The Buffs held on to beat Colorado State, 27-24. Talk about a statement win.