Pac-12 Power Rankings updated after Week 12 of college football

Welcome back, folks, to another edition of On3’s Pac-12 power rankings. Just below, we’re looking back at an action-packed Week 12 slate and heading towards the final weekend of the regular season.

Last week, we promised a Pac-12 title game scenario breakdown and here it is: Washington is in! Their spot is secured after a win over Oregon State this past weekend, knocking the Beavers out of contention in the process. But they’ll still have something to play in their trip to rival Oregon this week. With Arizona sitting at 6-2 in Pac-12 play with a win over Oregon State, if Oregon were to lose to the Beavers to fall to 7-2 in the league, Arizona would leap Oregon for the title game spot if they take care of business in the Territorial Cup vs. Arizona State to finish 7-2 as well, since they would possess the tiebreaker.

Format: Team (Record) (Movement in Rankings vs. Last Week)

1. Oregon (10-1)

Won 49-13 at Arizona State — As was just discussed, Oregon’s playing for everything this week and potentially next. At 10-1 with a very strong resume, the Ducks are very possible College Football Playoff contenders if they can hold off rival Oregon State at home this weekend and then go beat Washington in the Pac-12 title.

Of course, that’s a rocky road and the Ducks shouldn’t be dreaming yet. As for last week, Oregon had no trouble with an Arizona State team that’s been near the bottom of the league all season but had been playing well of late. Bo Nix was wildly efficient, completing 24-29 passes for 404 yards and six touchdowns to keep up with LSU’s Jayden Daniels in what’s become a two-horse Heisman race down the stretch.

2. Washington (11-0)

Won 22-20 at Oregon State — The Huskies may not dominate the rest of the conference the way Oregon has, but Washington has simply kept churning out victories against a very difficult schedule. This past weekend, they completed the regular season sweep of Oregon schools by beating the Beavers 22-20 in Corvalis, arguably their toughest road game of the year.

To finish up, UW returns to Seattle to play Washington State for the Apple Cup, which was just renewed for the future but will have its finale as a Pac-12 rivalry this coming weekend. The Cougars just trounced Colorado but should hardly threaten Washington since they had lost six straight games prior. Win or lose, a rematch with Oregon or Arizona awaits in the Pac-12 title.

3. Arizona (8-3) (+2)

Won 42-18 vs. Utah — Washington and Oregon have all the playoff buzz, but Arizona may be the single hottest team in the Pac-12 right now. Since losing at Washington by a touchdown and at USC in overtime, the Wildcats have run off five straight victories, including wins over Oregon State, UCLA and most recently, Utah.

Against Utah, Arizona raced out to to a 28-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter without taking a single snap from inside the Utes’ red zone. Thanks to touchdown passes of 21, 31 and 32 yards each from Noah Fifita, along with a punt block touchdown, the Wildcats shut down Utah immediately en route to a 42-18 victory. They now have a shot at the Pac-12 title if they can win the Territorial Cup at Arizona State and get some help from Oregon State beating Oregon.

4. Oregon State (8-3) (-1)

Lost 22-20 vs. Washington — Oregon State stumbled in the first leg of a two-game gauntlet to end the regular season and is now completely out of the Pac-12 championship race. But that doesn’t mean the Beavers have nothing to play for, as a quick trip south to Eugene for a game vs. arch-rival Oregon awaits to end the year. OSU can play spoiler for Oregon’s Pac-12 title chances, their College Football Playoff chances, and Bo Nix’s Heisman chances all at once.

Plus, Oregon State still has their shot at the school’s fourth double-digit-win season of the 21st century and can notch the second such season in a row if they beat Oregon and win the bowl game. That has never happened in the history of the Beavers’ football program.

5. Utah (7-4) (-1)

Lost 42-18 at Arizona — Utah deployed a very untypical offensive plan in Saturday’s lopsided loss at Arizona, as quarterback Bryson Barnes passed the football 53 times — which is 22 more times than Utah as a team has passed the ball in any other game this season. It’s also the most times Utah has passed the ball in 10 seasons aside from a game in 2021 against San Diego State.

The result wasn’t pretty as Arizona stampeded out to a three touchdown lead before the teams even swapped end zones once. They added a fourth to begin the second quarter and Utah could never come back. Once you’re down by almost 30, you gotta pass the football to try and put some points back on the scoreboard in a hurry, but the Utes could muster just 18 total.

6. UCLA (7-4) (+1)

Won 38-20 at USC — After a pair of disheartening losses to the Arizona schools, there was a small ‘Fire Chip’ movement that was quickly doused when the Bruins rebounded this past weekend, going on the road to pummel rival USC 38-20. Chip Kelly had public supporters before the win, but he certainly silenced any job insecurity talk by getting a seventh win and putting the punctuation mark on a truly disappointing season for UCLA’s rival.

Against the Trojans, starting quarterback Ethan Garbers‘ return was a huge boost. He wasn’t forced to do a whole lot, but the steady veteran came through with 155 passing yards and three passing touchdowns while leading the offense to nearly 40 points in a road win. That’ll get the job done with how strong the Bruin defense is.

7. USC (7-5) (-1)

Lost 38-20 vs. UCLA — USC and UCLA swapped spots a week ago and now they’ve swapped spots once again after playing each other this past weekend in Memorial Coliseum. The Bruins got back on track with a 38-20 win while USC limped to a fifth loss in their last six games, ending the year at just 7-5 despite having a quarterback that’s likely to go No. 1 in the NFL Draft.

Now, all that’s left is a fairly meaningless bowl game to cap off a wildly disappointing second season in SoCal for Lincoln Riley. After firing the defensive coordinator midway through the year and now losing Caleb Williams after the season, there are many questions and few answers heading into year three.

8. California (5-6)

Won 27-15 at Stanford — After losing their fourth game in a row in by one point vs. USC a couple of weeks ago, Cal bottomed out at No. 12 in these rankings. But since, the Golden Bears rebounded strong, stringing together back to back wins over Washington State and Stanford to distance themselves from the very bottom tier.

As was highlighted last week, Cal can score the football and put up some serious yardage — and they did both vs. Stanford. The Golden Bears amassed 455 yards of offense vs. the Cardinal, with star running back Jadyn Ott going for 166 yards on the ground while QB Fernando Mendoza tossed for 294 yards and three pass TDs.

9. Washington State (5-6) (+3)

Won 56-14 vs. Colorado — It’s been a roller coaster last 10 days for the Cougars. Two Saturdays ago, the Cougars lost their fifth game in a row at California and went on to hit rock bottom at 12th place in the Pac-12 Power Rankings last Tuesday, where we laid out the game they had coming up vs. Colorado for sole possession of last place.

But Washington State came out and destroyed Colorado to avoid falling into 12th place all by themselves, exploding for a season-high 56 points in the process. The win earned them a three-spot jump in the power rankings as the Cougars prepare for a tall task in the Apple Cup at Washington.

10. Stanford (3-8) (-1)

Lost 27-15 vs. California — Stanford had a chance to nab California’s spot in these rankings heading into this past weekend. But, they just couldn’t slow down the Golden Bears at home in Week 12 as Cal cooked the Cardinal in a two-possession victory.

Prior to that defeat, Stanford had already scored wins at Colorado and at Washington State to give them a leg up in the bottom third of these rankings. Alas, a loss to a surging Cal team knocks them down a couple pegs. To finish off the year, Stanford will now host Notre Dame.

11. Colorado (4-7) (-1)

Lost 56-14 at Washington State — Well, last week, Washington State’s downfall was called “so horrible it’s almost hard to believe” and the same could be said about Colorado. Except, the Buffaloes were centerstage all season long and college football fans were tuned into to one grisly loss after another, culminating in this past Friday.

Against Washington State, the last-place team in the conference, who hadn’t won a game since September, Colorado was down 42-7 at halftime. In the second half, after starting quarterback and Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur was sat out, the backup QB came in and completed a batted pass to himself before rolling out and illegally throwing a second forward pass, but he threw it straight into triple coverage for an interception, so the play stood. It was that kind of night for Colorado as they went on to lose 56-14 in Pullman to take sole possession of last place.

12. Arizona State (3-8) (-1)

Lost 49-13 vs. Oregon — Arizona State’s stay outside of the No. 12 spot was brief as the Sun Devils enjoyed 11th place for the previous seven days… before Oregon waltzed into town and beat ASU like a drum. Now, the goal for Kenny Dillingham is to avoid a last place finish and win a rivalry game.

That’s right, Arizona is the final team on the schedule for Arizona State and it’s no secret just how red hot the Wildcats are. But rivalry hatred isn’t the only motivator here as ASU is currently a game up on Colorado tied for second to last with the Buffs all on their own at the bottom. Win vs. Arizona or get a Colorado loss at Utah and Arizona State will avoid a last place finish in the Pac-12.

With 10 of 12 teams in conference action this coming week, there is still A LOT to be decided in the final year of the Pac-12 conference as we’ve long known it.