The updated Associated Press Top 25 for the week was announced on Sunday and it included something historic. While it may go unnoticed by some, eight teams from the Pac-12 Conference are ranked entering the week. It is bittersweet as the Pac-12 Conference starting in 2024 is the Pac-2 with 10 teams departing for other conferences and better financial stability — well that is one of the reasons.
Oregon State and Washington State are the lone teams that remain and both are ranked this week. The Pac-12 ranked teams include USC (5), Washington (8), Utah (12), Oregon (13), Oregon State (16), Colorado (18), Washington State (23), and UCLA (24). The previous high for ranked teams in a single week in the AP poll was six.
Colorado is one team that has surprised me this season. Deion Sanders knows the game of football. He has plenty of athletic players on his team. In Week 1 he defeated TCU on the road and most recently took care of Nebraska at home. The Buffs and Ducks, who beat Texas Tech in Week 2, are on a collision course in roughly two weeks which could see the college football universe with all eyes on the Pac-12 opener between Colorado and Oregon. It is a game that ESPN College Gameday looks for on the schedule prior to the season and is a pleasant surprise when it appears.
Last season Colorado won just one game. ONE. This season, they are 2-0.
Washington State beat a solid and 20th-ranked Wisconsin at home and moved into the rankings for the first time this season. Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward was 22 for 32 for 212 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team on the ground with 43 yards in the 31-22 win over the Badgers to get to 2-0 on the season.
I do not expect eight teams from the Pac-12 to be ranked for long. As conference play begins, teams will begin to beat up on each other. However, in the final season of the Conference of Champions as we know it, this is an amazing swan song from what could right now be the best conference on the country.