4. Pac-12
Washington remains the lone standout team in the Pac-12, but a few schools are coming on strong to elevate the conference’s standing overall.
The Huskies had no trouble with Oregon State and jumped to fourth in the AP Poll, just a few votes behind Clemson. Jake Browning is on track for a Heisman invite to lead a complete and balanced Washington roster, although the Huskies have tough games against Utah, USC and Washington State coming up.
No. 17 Utah survived a 52-45 shootout on the road ahead of next week’s matchup against the Huskies. Running back Joe Williams has returned from retirement to pile up 511 rushing yards and five touchdowns in Utah’s last two games.
No. 23 Colorado is back in the AP Poll after winning 10-5 at Stanford, and its game to close the season against the Utes could be for the Pac-12 South title. Washington State has won four straight to begin conference play and is the first team out of the top 25 following its 37-23 victory at Arizona State, and looks to be the only serious threat to the Huskies in the North.
USC is also in the hunt and could be ranked soon given its current form, but once again the middle of the conference can’t seem to sort itself out. Stanford, UCLA and 2-5 Oregon have been huge disappointments, while nobody knows what California is going to do any given week.
With only one team in the top 10 and the huge dropoff to Utah at No. 17, the Pac-12 ranks well behind the nation’s top three conferences at the moment. Still, a few teams are beginning to separate themselves from the chaos in the middle, which is good for the conference’s standing overall.