Alright y’all I have power ranked the King, I have ranked the prince and I have ranked the red-headed stepchild of college football conferences. So now I will be power ranking the jester, yes the one everyone thinks is a joke of a conference. Man, I just love Power Rankings. Don’t you?
I don’t necessarily agree with those people this year. Past years yes, but this year I think the PAC 12 is as strong as it has been in a long time. Now the bottom of the league is pretty damn bad, but the middle and the top teams are top tier quality. Alright without further ado, here are my PAC 12, week 5 power rankings.
- USC: The Trojans are the best team in this conference right now by far. Yes they did just have a scare in Corvallis to a very good Oregon State team. That is the whole reason why they are number 1. Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison showed up to win the game, and that is what good teams and great players do. With Lincoln Riley at the helm, this team might just stay number 1 in this conference all year long. Playoffs?
- Washington: Another team where I can admit I was wrong. Hands up, I was wrong. As previously stated on the preseason episode of Units Only Go Up (available on Apple and Spotify) I did not think the Huskies were any good. I was very down on Penix. I thought he was highly overrated, and you know what, I was wrong. Apologies to him and kudos to me for admitting I was wrong and moving on. I love the way he is seeing the field, getting into the hands of his playmakers and the offense is clicking. I don’t remember a Washington offense humming like this. That being said when they play the Oregon’s and the USC’s let us see what happens.
- Utah: Yes, that Florida loss seems to be getting worse because the Gators have lost some games. No matter how bad the team is at Florida, the swamp is so hard to play at. Especially at night, early in the year, with the humidity and heat. I will give that loss a pass for all of those reasons; plus they almost pulled out the win at the end. In the last three games since Florida , he has 9 tds and 1 int all while putting up 34 points in each game. The offense is clicking and the defense has only let up 27 points in the same time frame. No one wants to play in Salt Lake City, place gets nuts!
- Oregon State: This Beavers team is one word, GRITTY. They are not the best in any one area, more of a jack-of-all -trades team. They just do their job when it is called on. Chance Nolan at QB is more of a playmaker than a true definition QB. This team drove USC all the way to the last minute, and i think they will do that a lot more in this PAC 12 Season. Oh, Corvallis is probably the coolest name of a college town, too.
- UCLA: This team is a mystery to me, but I want to love them. They have handled business versus the lesser competition they have faced so far. Minus the South Alabama game, although I will say the Jaguars are a very good group of 5 team. It is that Chip Kelly tempo offense I love with Charbonnet running and Dorian Thompson Robinson playmaking at QB. They can score with any team in the PAC 12, but can they get the stops needed to win vs. the better teams in the league?
- Oregon: Where do I start with this team? I do not know if I love the Oregon and Bo Nix experience; for example the BYU and EWU games, or if I have questions like the blowout to Georgia and the close game vs. Washington State where he had turnover problems. I will say he is electric to watch, whether it is triumph or failure. I think he knocks off a top 3 power ranked team in this conference, while also losing to a bottom three.
- Washington State: The Cougars are definitely a team I feel most people want to cheer for. Great uniforms, great home field, great story with the transfer of Cameron Ward from Incarnate Word. I really want to will this team to knock off a USC or Utah. I think if they play a perfect game they could make it close. I just do not think they have the depth to compete with the big teams unless they are perfect, like what happened in the Oregon game.
- Stanford: This may seem a little high for the Cardinal. It might be from my own bias of respecting Stanford. I do really like E.J. Smith, Emmitts’s son, at running back. He is strong and crafty with great vision. He broke a few runs before USC took control and forced David Shaw and his offense to throw the ball more than they wanted. So they are here at 1-2. They will give teams fits for at least the first half of game. Leave these Stanford players in a game too long the upset would not be that difficult.
- Cal: There are over 120 FBS schools. It is hard doing power rankings of all teams. So again, I don’t get to know everything about teams. I do know they gave a decent Notre Dame team a scare in South Bend. Plummer seems to be a reliable QB from what little tape I have watched and their running game with Jaydn Ott won’t go anywhere. This one is a prove it to me, make me watch more games and more tape boys.
- Arizona: Read above ranking, this team lost to that team. You see I am not a liar or a fake college football analyst or gambler. If I don’t know I tell y’all and I get better.
- Arizona State: Firing your coach on the field after a game is a savage move. Bye, Herm. Emory Jones always had an upside; he had the skills to be a great playmaker. Will he be unleashed under the new leadership? If not. it could be a very long season for the Sun Devils.
- Colorado: Hahaha, this team is the worst team in Power 5 football. They lost so much after last year and did not have the depth to replace it right now. They have two young talented QB’s in Owen McCown and Brendon Lewis. The problem is the two QB system never works. Two more years they might move off the bottom of the power rankings, emphasis on might.
Thank you for reading my PAC 12 Power Rankings for week 5. I will get better at giving you the best information from my big brain every week. As always you can yell how stupid I am for not having your team higher, and I can tell you how wrong you are.