Pac-12 football power rankings after Week 2
The Pac-12 Conference is 20-3 in nonconference games through Week 2 of the 2023 college football season. It’s a terrific start for a dying league. Annoyance at the Pac-12 CEO Group for allowing this conference to die will remain considerable throughout the season no matter what, but the intensity of that annoyance will grow if the Pac-12 makes a serious run at the College Football Playoff.
With Oregon winning at Texas Tech and Utah winning at Baylor, two playoff contenders remained on course. Washington State also beat Wisconsin. All the really good teams in the league handled their business. Let’s now see how teams stack up in a 1-through-12 rankings list.
Remember: Rankings are not postseason projections. They are not indications of who would be favored in Las Vegas on a neutral field. Rankings are — and should be — reflections of resumes, what teams have accomplished. We stick to that approach and advise you to do the same.
Here are our latest Pac-12 power rankings — not the measurements of the best teams, but of the best resumes — through Week 2:
ARIZONA STATE
ASU would probably beat Stanford if the two teams played next week, but as we keep reminding you, this is a comparison of resumes, not which team is better. ASU has the worse resume than Stanford due to an FCS win matched against Stanford’s FBS win over Hawaii.
STANFORD
Yikes. Stanford looked really, really bad against USC. The Trojans are good, but Stanford looked like a high school team (much as 2022 Colorado did against the Trojans).
Hawaii struggled against Albany late Saturday night. Stanford’s win over Hawaii was greatly overvalued by us and a lot of other Pac-12 watchers. Stanford looked like the 12th-place team we thought the Cardinal would be before the season. However, the Cardinal are ahead of Arizona State because they beat an FBS team while ASU beat an FCS team.
CAL
Cal missed three field goals and scored only 10 points on seven different possessions inside the Auburn 40-yard line.
Cal gave away a game it should have won. Yuck.
Follow Auburn Wire for more on that game last night.
ARIZONA
Arizona put up a good fight but lost at Mississippi State. Jayden de Laura continues to make far too many mistakes for the U of A to become a bowl team.
OREGON STATE
Are the Beavers the eighth-best team in the Pac-12? No. They do have the eighth-best resume, however. They have an FCS team and San Jose State on their resume through two weeks. That’s worse than any other unbeaten Pac-12 team. That’s why OSU is here. Don’t worry, Beaver fans: Keep winning, and this will all take care of itself.
OREGON
Oregon has an FCS win plus Texas Tech. That FCS win, through two weeks, keeps Oregon lower on this list.
USC
Is USC the sixth-best team in the Pac-12? Of course not … but that resume is not a top-tier resume through three games. Nevada and Stanford are really bad.
No worries, though: Win every game, and USC will be No. 1 in December, when it counts.
UCLA
San Diego State isn’t very good, but SDSU is better than Nevada. UCLA gets the nod over USC for now, even though the Trojans are a far better team. UCLA has beaten better opponents through Week 2.
UTAH
Utah’s resume would look better if Baylor had beaten Texas State and if Florida didn’t appear to be very incompetent. As is, the Utes won twice without Cam Rising and have to be happy with their survival skills.
COLORADO
TCU’s defense is awful. Nebraska’s offense is awful. Colorado is 2-0 and exceeding expectations, but we can’t say this is the best resume in the Pac-12 through two weeks.
Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete Colorado coverage.
WASHINGTON
Tulsa isn’t good. Boise State, the team Washington beat in Week 1, lost in Week 2. This resume is decent, but it is not the best.
WASHINGTON STATE
Is Washington State the best team in the Pac-12? No. However, it has the best resume after beating Wisconsin. That’s a quality win over a Big Ten team with a high-profile coach. No Pac-12 team has a great resume, but Wazzu has the best of the bunch through Week 2.
