Pacific Takes Pac-12 Power Rankings 11/9: UCLA creeps up in South

North

1. Oregon 9-1 6-1 (1)

Winning the North is an afterthought to the Ducks now, it is all about winning the Pac-12 Championship Game and a national championship. Will they be healthy enough to pull all of that off?

2. Stanford 5-4 3-3 (3)

Seemingly here by default due to how bad the North is below them. The Cardinal have a tough schedule remaining in the regular season and it isn’t out of the question that they could miss a bowl game.

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

Probably the only other team in the North outside of Oregon that is having an enjoyable season for their fans. The rest of the season is all about trying to get to a bowl for the Bears, and upset Stanford of course.

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

The Huskies have been fine against lesser teams, but struggled mightily against the big boys. They also might be the most injured team in the conference at this point.

5. Washington State 3-7 2-5 (6)

The Cougars go down to Corvallis, get the win, and hop out of the North cellar. No small feat for them at this point in a troubled season.

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

It has been a boring, disappointing season for the Beavers that could only be salvaged at this point by a monumental upset in The Civil War.

South

1. Arizona State 8-1 5-1 (1)

One of the nation’s hottest teams has a stranglehold on the South as long as they can avoid an upset. They are also almost guaranteed a Playoff spot if they can win out and beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

2. UCLA 8-2 5-2 (3)

That blowout win at Arizona State gets more impressive every week and the Bruins looked a bit more like they were supposed to going into the season by getting convincing wins in the past two weeks over Arizona and Washington. Now, it comes down to home shots at USC and Stanford in the final two weeks and hoping Arizona State gets upset.

3. Utah 6-3 3-3 (2)

An ultra-tough patch of their schedule has taken down the Utes and it is only going to lighten up a little bit in the next couple of weeks. They need to tough out some wins against Stanford and Arizona or will risk falling to the bottom of the South totem pole.

4. USC 6-3 5-2 (5)

The Trojans are quietly lurking in the South, holding onto at least just as much talent as anyone else, but are going to need to play to their full potential and get a lot of help if they hope to win the division.

5. Arizona 7-2 4-2 (4)

Another team lurking in the South, but this one has a much more realistic shot at winning the division if they win out. Don’t count out the Wildcats yet.

6. Colorado 2-8 0-7 (6)

Sad that it appears that the much-improved Buffs will not get a Pac-12 in unless they can pull off a massive upset at Oregon or a pretty big one at home against Utah.