The old Pac-12 is dead and gone with its teams scattered across the country. But let’s pretend for a moment the old Pac-12 still exists and take the time to rank them. I pulled Mr. FishDuck from his fun at slot games online because he had some strong opinions about these rankings, so let’s take a look.
12. UCLA (1-2): UCLA is bad and there really isn’t any way to spin it. Chip Kelly left the program late last season and they brought in a first time head coach in DeShaun Foster. He’s young and the players seem to like him, but the roster Kelly left behind wasn’t that great to begin with, and UCLA hasn’t exactly put forward plenty of resources for football in recent years, either. We’ll see if they can salvage this season in any way, but it feels unlikely.
11. Arizona (2-1): Arizona looks pretty bad this year. Their two wins came against New Mexico and Northern Arizona, and their loss was a complete demolishing at the hands of Kansas State — a Kansas State team that was in turn demolished by BYU. This Wildcat team has lost a whole lot of valuable pieces from last year, and look like they are in a bit of a rebuild at the moment.
10. Stanford (2-1): Stanford lost to a middling TCU team, but did manage to pull off a win against Syracuse. This team is headed in the right direction, but they will not reclaim their glory days of the 2010s any time soon.
9. Washington (3-1): The Huskies lost to Washington State and that means, by default, they need to be placed below Washington State right now. It’s also not a good sign when the best team Washington has played so far is Washington State and that’s their loss. Washington gets their first B1G road trip to Rutgers this week where they are currently a slight underdog.
8. Washington State (4-0): How good is San Jose State? Well, based on their current record, rather underwhelming. San Jose State failed to close out their game against the Cougs last week. They had complete control over the pace of the game and just didn’t slam the door on them. The reality is that Washington State is probably in for a rude awakening this week against Boise State, who will be the most complete team they’ve faced all year.
Mendoza looks to pass against Auburn.
(Photo From YouTube ESPN Video)
7. Arizona State (3-1): The fighting Kenny Dillinghams are looking much improved this year. Right now they feel like a shoo in to bowl eligibility. Their only dominant win has been over Wyoming, but this team is scrappy and playing their hearts out. They’ll find ways to win, though I think they are a far cry from competing with the top of the Big 12.
6. California (3-1): The Golden Bears have a win over Auburn, an SEC program — which helps them a lot. They had a close loss to a bad Florida State team this last week, and that was a very winnable game for them. Cal has a quarterback in Fernando Mendoza who has a ton of potential and a solid run game. But Justin Wilcox still needs to figure out a way for this team to score points on a more regular basis. There were flashes of what this offense could be last year and they still need to take the next step. If they do this, then I think this Cal team rockets up to No. 3 or 4.
Cal gets to host Mario Cristobal and Miami at home on October 5th after their bye week, so they may yet surprise us.
5. Colorado (3-1): It feels wrong to put Colorado so high, but at the moment they still have a dynamic passing offense and an improved defense over last year. Throw in a heavy serving of luck and you have a team that is probably bowl eligible. Their offensive line is still awful, as Shedeur Sanders was sacked eight times against Baylor last Saturday. If Sanders or all-star athlete Travis Hunter go down, then this team plummets to the bottom real fast.
4. Oregon State (3-1): Am I being too nice to the Beavers here? Maybe, but the reality is that Trent Bray has put together a solid, though rather boring, team. They play disciplined football and currently have the highest average time of possession in the country. If the game is close, they can find a way to win — though as we saw in the Civil War game, if they get behind they will struggle to catch up — especially if they are outmatched.
As it stands right now I think this Beaver team could beat the teams ranked below them, and maybe even beat No. 3 on this list if their injury problems continue.
3. Utah (4-0): Unsurprisingly, the Utes are a pretty good team. Cam Rising is out with an injury again, but they still managed to eek out a win against Oklahoma State. They also have a win over Baylor in Big 12 play, which is bad news for Baylor as they are 0-2 against former Pac-12 opponents. If they are able to get Rising back, they stand a chance at taking the Big 12 in Year 1, but they’ll need some luck to make that happen.
As of right now, the Utes feel like a vulnerable team, and if they don’t get Rising back they could fall down this list quickly. Right now they are a team that looks a whole lot like the Utes from last year, and that team fell apart down the stretch.
Michigan ran through USC’s defensive front on their way to victory.
(Photo From YouTube ESPN Video)
2. USC (2-1): USC has one of the better wins this season against LSU (granted, LSU does not look too good either). USC also put up a strong fight against Michigan this last week, but it is because of how they lost that they sit second in this ranking. They got beat on the ground by an offense that can’t throw the ball to save their lives. The reality is that the Trojans have one of the same fundamental problems they’ve had for years now: they just aren’t all that deep in the trenches. Their players got tired and couldn’t stop what they knew was coming at them.
For that reason alone they can’t take the top spot.
1. Oregon (3-0): Am I a homer here? Probably, but in terms of teams with the most potential, it looks like the Ducks are turning the corner. It is hard to dispute the top spot right now. They also have a win over a Top 25 team, Boise State. The Ducks have yet to put together a whole game, but if they keep improving week-to-week they’ll definitely be competing for the top of the B1G.
We won’t get a true sense of how these teams rank against each other because there aren’t that many crossover games. It is also difficult to determine just how good the old Pac-12 conference is compared to the remaining Power 4. But regardless of how you feel about realignment, we will all grow to miss some of these match-ups.
But this Saturday, we will get to enjoy one of them when Oregon takes on UCLA, and that game should help to determine if I have some of these rankings correct.
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Eric Becker
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in technology in SLC, Utah.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.