Pac-12 Power Rankings updated after Week 9 of college football

Welcome back, folks, to another edition of On3’s Pac-12 power rankings. This time, we’re looking back at an action-packed Week 9 slate.

This past weekend featured another prime slate of intra-conference action. Oregon is the toast of the week after they shellacked Utah on the Utes’ home field. Meanwhile, top-rated Washington escaped with another close win while we have to give some love to Arizona State after picking up their first conference win. So below, go ahead and check out how the On3 Pac-12 Power Rankings shake out as we round the corner and head towards Week 10.

Format: Team (Record) (Movement in rankings vs. last week)

1. Oregon (7-1) (+1)

Won 35-6 at Utah — Oregon takes over the top spot after going the opposite way from Washington in their games since that battle in Seattle. The Ducks responded strong by beating Washington State after the loss to the Huskies, and then turned in their best performance of the season and one of the best in the entire Pac-12 when they went on the road and punked Utah 35-6 with five touchdowns to the Utes’ zero.

In this weekend’s win, Oregon was lethal in the red zone, turning practically every scoring opportunity into a touchdown while busting up Utah with a balanced offensive attack overall. They may have missed that kick vs. Washington, but Oregon is playing the best football of any team in the conference right now.

2. Washington (8-0) (-2)

Won 42-33 at Stanford — That’s now four straight weeks Washington has escaped with a Pac-12 victory of less than 10 points, which is likely why they dropped to No. 2 despite an undefeated record and the win over the No. 1 team. They triumphed over Arizona by a touchdown on the road several weeks back, then eked out a win vs. Oregon in that monumental matchup before skating by last-place Arizona State in an ugly 15-7 contest. Then, this weekend, Stanford gave the Huskies all they could handle before UW finally pulled away.

Washington better watch their step because they’re playing with fire as the schedule only gets tougher to end the year. Coming up, the Huskies have trips to USC and Oregon State sandwiched between a home matchup vs. Utah before ending the year with unraveling rival Washington State. It’s hard to imagine this club doesn’t slip up if these games keep coming down to the wire.

3. UCLA (6-2) (+3)

Won 28-16 vs. Colorado — UCLA continues to be the easiest team to predict in a conference full of chaos. The Bruins have just two losses and they both came on the road against ranked Utah and Oregon State teams. Meanwhile, they’ve taken care of business against every other team on their schedule, though none of them were ranked.

Going forward, the Bruins are headed for a game that looks like a toss-up as they travel to play at Arizona. As we’ll discuss in the Wildcats’ section, they’re a darn good football team that is only playing better and better by the week. It feels like we’ll know a lot more about the Bruins after that contest.

4. Oregon State (6-2) (-1)

Lost 27-24 at Arizona — The Beavers hit their high-water mark in these rankings last week at No. 3 but didn’t do well with the spotlight, falling on the road against what’s become a very dangerous Arizona team. More on them in a minute, but for OSU, this isn’t a terrible loss by any means, and it doesn’t even take them out of Pac-12 title contention.

After all, it’s just the Beavers’ second loss of conference play. Washington is practically a shoo-in to make the championship game at this point, but Oregon State can steal that No. 2 spot by winning out and beating Oregon. However, they may also have to topple Washington in Corvalis the week prior to keep that dream alive — and as mentioned in the Washington section, the Huskies are playing some vulnerable football.

5. Utah (6-2) (-1)

Lost 35-6 vs. Oregon — That was not the Utah we’re all used to under Kyle Whittingham. The Utes threw up a huge clunker in one of the biggest games of their season, failing to score a single touchdown as they watched the Ducks waltz past the goal line five different times en route to a nearly-30-point blowout.

The defense couldn’t stop Bo Nix or Bucky Irving while the Ducks put the clamps on Utah’s offense. Quarterback Bryson Barnes finally had a game you’d expect for a former third-stringer, completing right at 50% of his passes while tossing a pair of picks.

6. USC (7-2)

Won 50-49 at California — USC fans and bettors were left with a smile on their faces after the win over California, but not without a heart attack along the way. The Trojans appeared destined for three straight losses and possessed just a 10% chance to win the game (by ESPN’s model) when they went down 43-29 in the fourth quarter.

However, a trio of fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns all by different Trojans helped USC erase the deficit and turn it into a lead. Of course, a fumble and turnover on downs by the Golden Bears were also major contributors as USC narrowly saved its season with a firework-filled 50-49 victory.

7. Arizona (5-3)

Won 27-24 vs. Oregon State — Arizona is perhaps the hottest team in the league outside of those well-established top two clubs. The Wildcats just picked up their second straight impressive win, defeating a surging Oregon State team at home one week after they disemboweled Washington State 44-6 in Pullman.

Looking at their body of work, this is simply a good football team. The Wildcats’ losses have come on the road against SEC power Mississippi State, then in overtime vs. USC and at home against Washington — all decided by one possession. Backup QB Noah Fifita has been a revelation as Arizona is a sleeper in the Pac-12 title race, having just two conference losses with their toughest games at home the rest of the way.

8. Washington State (4-4)

Lost 38-27 at Arizona State — Oh how the mighty Cougars have fallen. There was a time when Washington State was ranked in the top-20 and 4-0 with wins over Wisconsin and Oregon State, who were also both ranked at the time of those matchups.

But since the calendar flipped to October, WSU has lost four straight games to UCLA, Arizona, Oregon and Arizona State. Defeats vs. UCLA and Oregon on the road are nothing to be ashamed over, but it’s those games vs. the AZ schools which really stick out. The Cougars got pummeled 44-6 on their home field by the Wildcats and just let the worst team in the conference hang 38 on them in a two-possession victory. Woof.

9. Stanford (2-6)

Lost 42-33 vs. Washington — Outside of that miraculous comeback win over Colorado a few weeks back where Elic Ayomanor morphed into Superman, 2023 has been a pretty grisly year for The Cardinal on the football field. However, they did put up a respectable performance against undefeated Washington this weekend.

Nonetheless, Stanford still lost that one and has now allowed 40+ points in four straight games and five of their six Pac-12 games overall. That Colorado game really is the one bright spot in a sea of pitch black failure this season, as Stanford is otherwise winless in conference play and has a loss to FCS club Sacramento State out of conference.

10. Colorado (4-4)

Lost 28-16 at UCLA — Speaking of the mighty falling, Colorado continues their downslide. Once one of the top-ranked teams in these power rankings, the Buffaloes have slowly trickled down the list as they continue to struggle in league play.

Colorado is now just 1-4 in conference play and the results paint an even worse picture than that record suggests. Of course, they got smoked by Oregon to begin their league slate before losing to USC in a game that wasn’t close most of the way. Then, there was the 29-0 blown lead vs. Stanford and the loss to UCLA this weekend. Plus, their only win came by three points against last-place Arizona State.

11. Arizona State (2-6) (+1)

Won 38-27 vs. Washington State — Washington State fans aside, you simply have to be happy for Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils, who finally scored their first Pac-12 win of the season over WSU in a 38-27 performance and are out of last place in the power rankings! This team was headed for a breakthrough and finally got it after several weeks of close losses.

Prior to this past weekend, ASU had lost Washington, California and Colorado all by one possession, while also having been within seven against USC late in that game as well. After a 29-0 loss in the nine-turnover game vs. Fresno State as part of a six-game losing streak, there was doubt ASU would win another game all year. Alas, they’ve done it, and in large part thanks to Cameron Skattebo, who ran for 100+ yards vs. WSU and reached the end zone in his fifth straight game.

12. California (3-5) (-1)

Lost 50-49 vs. USC — The Golden Bears seemed in good position to steal their second win of the season in Pac-12 play after going up by two touchdowns against USC. But man, they just couldn’t hold on against a late Trojan flurry to ultimately lose by one point and now hit the cellar of these rankings.

California is now one of five Pac-12 teams with just one conference win, while the other seven schools all have between 3-5 wins. So yes, a very stark class division has arisen on the west coast. But that means that one of these clubs lower in the standings can string together some wins and finish at a respectable seventh or eighth in the league.

There you have it, folks. The On3 Pac-12 Power Rankings feature a pretty massive and perhaps controversial change at the top while the back half remained mostly the same aside from ASU climbing out of the very bottom for the first time in quite a while.