Pac-12 Football Power Rankings 2017: Title race heats up in Week 12

We are entering the 12th week of the Pac-12 football season and the race for the conference title is beginning to heat up.

It took until Week 12 to finally get some stability in the Pac-12 power rankings. The Pac-12 South is decided. USC will represent the South in the conference title game. With two weeks left there are still three teams that can win the Pac-12 North (Washington, Washington State, Stanford).

It’s sad that the strongest conference is now a long shot for the College Football Playoff because it has the most parity. Both USC and Washington State have an outside chance if things break right.

The Pac-12 winner needs Alabama to win the SEC Championship which would give Georgia two losses and Auburn three. Also, Oklahoma must win the Big 12 and either Miami or Clemson needs to win both games they play (the last regular season game and ACC Championship). If all three of those things happen the Pac-12 has a shot.

Now on to the Week 12 Pac-12 power rankings:

The Beavers have two games to get one win in conference play. If they fail to do so it will make the second time in three years they have gone winless in conference play. It is a sad state of affairs in Corvallis right now. The team initially had a surge after Gary Andersen departed as head coach. They nearly upset Stanford. Since then, Oregon State has not been a threat to get out of the Pac-12 power rankings cellar.