Pac-12 Football Power Rankings 2017: Week 2 edition

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 27: Keller Chryst of Stanford passes during the College Football Sydney Cup match between Stanford University (Stanford Cardinal) and Rice University (Rice Owls) at Allianz Stadium on August 27, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) /

Washington played Rutgers and didn’t dominate until the fourth quarter. It was a lackluster performance offensively and an adequate job defensively. First of all, I have been, and will remain, skeptical of the Huskies until Jake Browning plays well versus a good defense. It might be hard to find too many of those opportunities on their unimpressive schedule. As a result, I believe the Huskies won’t be battle tested when a big game comes along.

Week 2 opponent: Montana

The Bruins were by far the hardest team to rank this week. UCLA was the least impressive team of Week 1, and most impressive team of Week 1 — all in the same game. So, I was left with more questions about the Bruins than I had answers. I moved them up so high because Josh ‘Chosen’ Rosen is back. When he’s playing good football, the Bruins are formidable. It took guts, courage, and a never-say-die attitude for to come back from a 44-10 deficit.

Week 2 opponent: Hawaii

Don’t start throwing things at me about Stanford moving to No. 2 in the power rankings after beating Rice. I must remind you I would have ranked the Cardinal hire had I been certain Keller Chryst was healthy. Because he is healthy, Stanford is a national championship contender. I always give teams credit when they play bad teams and they dominate. Stanford was dominant in every phase of the game. I would not be surprised to see Stanford beat USC this weekend.

Week 2 opponent: USC

USC barely held on to the No. 1 spot in the power rankings this week. The Trojans would not be No. 1 if Stanford had played a decent team and put up a solid performance. There wasn’t one point in the game that USC looked like a national championship contender. Sam Darnold had a rough start to 2017. So, the running backs ended up saving the day for the Trojans. Stephen Carr and Ronald Jones II are two of the most exciting backs in college football. Every time either guy touches the football they can score from anywhere on the field.

Next: College Football: Top 50 breakout candidates for 2017

They say the biggest improvement teams have is from Week 1 to Week 2. The Trojans better have a massive improvement if they are going to beat Stanford.

Week 2 opponent: Stanford

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