Pacific Takes Pac-12 Power Rankings week nine: USC hangs onto top spot in South

North

1. Oregon 6-1 3-1 (1) - The Ducks dominating win over Washington combined with Stanford's tough loss at Arizona State means the Ducks have a stranglehold on the North. Stanford winning out is probably the only way the Ducks can lose this spot now.

2. Stanford 4-3 2-2 (2) - Bad week for the North outside of Oregon means the Cardinal keep this spot by default. Good thing for them, they already have a win over Washington.

3. Washington 5-2 1-2 (3) - The Huskies have already lost to the North's top two teams. Their goal now is to fight off the three teams below them.

4. Oregon State 4-2 1-2 (5) - The Beavers moved up a spot despite losing at home to Utah. The schedule only gets tougher from here.

5. Cal 4-3 2-3 (5) - Another down-to-the-wire game for the Bears, but they lose this time and dropped below the Beavers. At least they bounced back after getting dominated by Washington the week before.

6. Washington State 2-5 1-3 (6) - The Cougars got a much-needed BYE week and still have a chance to finish in the top half of the North if they can keep playing as well as they did in the start of conference play.

South

1. USC 5-2 4-1 (1) - Arizona State gained some ground on the Trojans, but they held their top spot with their dismantling of Colorado. They will play a huge game at Utah this week.

2. Arizona State 5-1 3-1 (2) - The Sun Devils got the biggest win of the week in the conference, controlling Stanford in a win and got very close to taking the top spot in the South.

3. Arizona 5-1 2-1 (3) - BYE week for the Wildcats and they don't move. They have a very intriguing game at Washington State this week.

4. Utah 5-1 2-1 (4) - The Utes scored a second-straight huge road win at Oregon State, but didn't move up. They certainly will if they can beat USC.

5. UCLA 5-2 2-2 (5) - The Bruins got a must-win win at Cal to avoid a disaster slide, but are still a bottom dweller in the South until proven otherwise. They cannot afford to play a tough game with Colorado this week.

6. Colorado 2-5 0-4 (6) - The Buffs did some good things on offense against USC, but are planted in the bottom of the South for now.