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

12. Stanford Cardinal (1-4, 0-3): The Cardinal botched one of its few chances to win another game with their one-point loss to Arizona two weeks ago. They were dominated by ninth-ranked Oregon last week.

They have an off week this week; they are underdogs against the bye week. Then, they travel to Boulder to face Shedeur Sanders and Colorado. The Buffs are reeling after consecutive losses, but the Cardinal can’t stop competent offenses, and the sight of fans in the seats might scare the team.

11. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-4, 0-2): Head coach Kenny Dillingham and the Sun Devils are still looking for their first conference win after losing a heartbreaker to the California Golden Bears last weekend. The defense must fix that leaky run defense to find their first conference win.

Dillingham is also dealing with a ton of injuries. It’s unclear who starts at quarterback against Colorado. They need to figure that out because the Buffaloes might be their best chance at a Pac-12 win.

10. Colorado Buffaloes (3-2, 0-2): Speaking of those Buffaloes, Coach Prime has to be happy with the fight they put up in the second half of their 48-41 loss to #5 USC. They made it a game with their second-half comeback. With the Trojans and Ducks in the rearview, Colorado has put the toughest part of their schedule behind them.

Now, they can focus on getting three wins to get to a bowl. That starts against Arizona State.

9. California Golden Bears (3-2, 1-1): Former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital looks like a solid offensive coordinator hire for Justin Wilcox and the Bears. Except for the Auburn game, California looks to have a solid offense.

That said, the Bears have a tough stretch, playing four ranked teams over the next month. Can they pull the upset against one of them?