Pac-12 Power Rankings: Are the #9 Ducks the best in the West?

This week in the Pac-12 Power Rankings: The top teams all win. Wazzu makes some noise, while Stanford and California have attendance issues. 

Hey, hey, hey
Every dog has his day
It’s a dog-eat-dog
Dog eat dog

Dog eat dog
Read the news
Someone wins
Someone lose
Up’s above and down’s below
And limbo’s in between
Up you win, down you lose
It’s anybody’s game

Dog Eat Dog by AC/DC

Welcome back to Pac-12 Power Rankings headquarters, somewhere between Traveler’s and Ralphie’s stables. This is the time of the year when it becomes dog-eat-dog among the teams of the Left Coast conference. There’s a difference between last year and this year, however.

The Pac-12 has three elite teams: #8 Oregon, #9 USC, and #7 Washington. That’s not to say that those teams don’t have some warts because they do. The Ducks have played the bottom teams of the conference; that changes next week. The Trojans can’t tackle, and Washington has yet to play a competent passing offense.

Is Cameron Rising’s knee injury more significant than first thought? We won’t speculate here at headquarters, but there’s something fishy going on. Washington State is playing solid football early this season. The Cougs might not be good enough to win the Pac-12, but every contender they play had better be ready to play.

Martin Stadium, a.k.a the Moth Kingdom, is one of the most challenging places to play in the Pac-12, especially at night.

So, to cups of territories and cups made of apples, bells of victory, and wars that are not so civil, here are the Pac-12 Power Rankings heading into week six.