Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 8: Oregon, USC, Arizona State Rise, Stanford Falls
Saturday Blitz Pac 12 Power Rankings Week 8
This may offend Bruins fans that we dropped them below a team that lost this past weekend, but Oregon State is proving that it is one of the better Pac 12 teams this year, and it could potentially be a Top 25 team. The Beavers played Utah to overtime last Thursday night, and we can’t ignore that, so we are bumping them up this week in our Pac 12 Power Rankings with the belief that they are legitimate.
We initially thought Sean Mannion would be the superstar for this team at quarterback, and he has played great, but a by-committee rushing attack and surprisingly decent defense has moved this team to 4-2. That formula could do wonders for this team going forward with the rest of the Pac-12 schedule, so don’t sleep on just how good these guys could be by the end of the season.
Every game left on the schedule is winnable except maybe Oregon. But the Ducks are at home. The only other ranked team they play, Arizona State, is also at home. Stanford, Cal, Washington State, and Washington are all winnable games, and the Beavers should win at least three of those. Getting to 7-5 shouldn’t be a problem with how well this team has played, but we believe it can do more.
That’s why we have put it at No. 6 in our Pac 12 Power Rankings.