Pacific Takes Pac-12 Power Rankings Week Six: Arizona takes top spot in South

North

1. Oregon 4-1 1-1 (1)

The Ducks held onto their top spot despite losing mainly because Stanford lost at Notre Dame. The Ducks look exceptionally vulnerable, but so does the entire Pac-12 at this point.

2. Stanford 3-2 1-1 (2)

It is hard to knock a team too much for losing by three points at Notre Dame, but the loss probably cost the Cardinal the top spot in the North this week. It is going to be very interesting to see how they play in the conference this year as their stellar defense is going to have to slow down prolific offenses each week.

3. Cal 4-1 2-1 (5)

The big winner in the North, the Bears seem to be perpetually playing out epic high-scoring battles to the end. You could actually say that the Bears could easily be 5-0 had they knocked down a pass against Arizona, but you could also say that they would be 3-2 if Washington State makes a putt of a field goal.

4. Washington 4-1 0-1 (3)

The Huskies are still a bit of an enigma. They have played one tough game against Stanford and did well in a loss, but we have yet to see how they will perform against the conference’s big time offenses.

5. Oregon State 4-1 1-1 (6)

The Beavers held onto a big win in Boulder to get them headed in the right direction after getting snuffed out by USC. The Beavers don’t look flashy this season, but maybe their evenness will give them an advantage in a wild and crazy Pac-12.

6. Washington State 2-4 1-2 (4)

The Cougars are oh so close to being a major contender, but have dropped two close ones at home. They put themselves in a huge whole ranking wise and bowl wise by dropping their opening two non-conference games.

South

1. Arizona 5-0 2-0 (3)

And bam, Arizona is the new Pac-12 leader and not just in the South. Hanging onto this spot in an ultra-competitive Pac-12 is not going to be easy though.

2. UCLA 4-1 1-1 (1)

The Bruins blew a golden opportunity to become the top dog in the Pac-12 by not being able to hang on against Utah and now have an uphill battle to stay relevant nationally. They can still keep right in the race for the Pac-12, but they are going to have to step up their game to do that this week against Oregon.

3. Arizona State 4-1 2-1 (4)

The Sun Devils may have saved their season by rallying back against USC. Mike Bercovici is starting to look like a fine stand in for Taylor Kelly.

4. Utah 4-1 1-1 (5)

The bounce back of the week, the Utes are still very much in the Pac-12 race after giving away a game at home to Washington State the week before. Now they need to show that they can play like they did Saturday week after week.

5. USC 3-2 2-1 (2)

Like UCLA, USC blew a shot at getting a serious leg up in the Pac-12 by not holding and avoiding an upset. The Trojans really need to bounce back this week and win at Arizona or the losses could quickly start piling up.

6. Colorado 2-4 0-3 (6)

The lone Pac-12 team that doesn’t look to have a shot at the title. The Buffs are much improved again in 2014, but getting wins in a Pac-12 this tough is not going to be easy for them.