Week 7 was one of those weeks where you watch a conference like the Pac-12 and just have to throw up your hands if you’re someone who has been touting the conference’s strength — though there likely aren’t many people in that camp at this point. It was a week in which the highest-ranked team in the conference suffered their second loss of the year while the only unbeaten team remaining also suffered a loss as well.
In the case of the latter, it felt inevitable that the Colorado Buffaloes were going to have a difficult time going on the road to face the USC Trojans. To be clear, the Trojans are not a powerhouse this season, something that we’ve seen on a number of occasions already. However, this Colorado team’s 5-0 start felt a lot like fool’s gold with only one truly quality win to their credit, and that was just over Arizona State.
As for the Washington Huskies, who entered the week as the top-ranked team in the Pac-12, they put forth a better showing than I honestly expected them to, but were ultimately thwarted in overtime by Justin Herbert and the Oregon Ducks. It’s now apparent that the Ducks, who would be 6-0 if not for a late-game debacle against Stanford, are the premier team in the Pac-12.
Having said that, the lack of quality behind them has to be put into question. There might be some fine records, but what we’re seeing on the field is unimpressive in the highest (lowest?) regard. If you need evidence of that, a previously winless UCLA Bruins team beat a previously ranked Cal Golden Bears team by 30 points on Saturday. That just about says it all about how good the middle tier of the Pac-12 actually is.