One week into the 2014 season and I think we all know there's nothing wrong with reading heavily into the past week's wins and losses, so let's get right to the updated rankings.
Right after I explain some things. First-place votes are shown parenthetically and in the event of a tie, teams are listed parenthetically.
Week 2 power rankings
1. Oregon (5)
Berkelium97: 9.6 yards per play.
Leland Wong: Oregon did Oregon things against an FCS team, so nothing to see here. But going for the 2-pt conversion on the first TD they scored? #juiceboxes
Nick Kranz: I'm not going to bother commenting on teams that destroyed FCS-or-the-equivalent teams. Get back to me next week.
atomsareenough: Oregon plays FCS school, lopsided score results. Nothing to see here.
Sam Fielder: Completely housed an outclassed and overmatched South Dakota team. Which is exactly what they should have done.
boomtho: Oregon destroyed a team they should have destroyed, and Mariotta had a nice day passing and rushing (the latter which may alleviate potential injury worries).
2. Stanfurd
Berkelium97: So much for my hopes of a repeat of the 2005 game.
Leland Wong: This pains me, but Stanfurd did Stanfurd things against an FCS team.
atomsareenough: That Stanford beat UC Davis handily is not surprising (alas, a repeat of 2005 was not on order). The fact that they were up 38-0 at the half and pitched a shutout despite Hogan only playing half the game is noteworthy.
Sam Fielder: Unfortunately, my hopeful wishes of their demise seem greatly premature and exaggerated. Not that UC Davis is a great marker of talent, but a 45 point shutout victory is enough to put them here.
boomtho: The Furd did unspeakable things to poor Ron Gould - the Aggies only crossed midfield at the end of the game.
3. USC
Berkelium97: I know this isn't the same FSU team without Carr at the helm, but 701 yards of offense? Color me impressed with Sark's debut.
Leland Wong: Sark had instant success in his debut? I DO NOT LIKE THIS. Why can't everyone have trouble acclimating to their first-year coaches like we did?
Nick Kranz: This year's version of Fresno St. probably won't be very good, but it's still reasonable impressive for USC to take them to the wood chipper like that.
atomsareenough: Fresno State is replacing Derek Carr, but they still are a legit opponent, and USC trounced them. Although their week leading up to the game was comically chaotic, Sark's crew played well.
Sam Fielder: Fresno State may not be the same team as years past, but boy oh boy did USC put their distraction filled week behind them and throttle the Bulldogs.
boomtho: Very impressive win over a solid Fresno State team and Kessler looks like the real deal. Kills me to put them this high, though I think Sark will have his usual inexplicable losses at some point.
4. UCLA
Berkelium97: Their offense was surprisingly inept and their defense looked great until it didn't (UVA actually outgained UCLA). But a road win over a Power-5 is always an impressive Week 1 accomplishment.
Leland Wong: And to think I almost gave them my first-place vote last week. I suppose I should be impressed that their defense managed three TDs on the road (to the East Coast), but their measly lone offensive TD and the fact they were outgained by Virginia (as Bk97 mentioned) makes them drop in my poll.
Nick Kranz: I think it's pretty likely that three months from now UCLA's struggles at Virginia look like a silly artifact of random chance and early season rust. But it's enough that they should clearly be behind Oregon and Stanford for the moment.
atomsareenough: 8 point win over Virginia? For a team that was ranked in the top-10? Yuck. Apparently their O-line still has issues.
Sam Fielder: Struggled on the road playing an early game on the East Coast and still managed to get the W. The ugly victory drops them in my ranking here, but a good team should win that game and they did.
boomtho: Struggled mightily on the road, though it was somewhat expected given the early start and travel. Hundley and that offense will be better, though certain blogs will still call for Mazzone to be fired.
5. Arizona State
Leland Wong: True, they dominated their Wildcat opposition last week, but their suspect defense is looking suspectier. The opposing RB gained 128 yards on 16 carries for a whopping 8 yards per carry. Even taking out his longest run of 60 yards, that's still an incredible 4.5 yards per carry. Ultimately doesn't matter as their defense only yields two TDs (both in the second half) and their offense is powerful enough to steamroll Weber State.
atomsareenough: ASU plays an FCS school, rinse/repeat from Oregon. Nothing we can really learn from this one.
Sam Fielder: Hammered Weber State, which isn't even a state, but still fell in my rankings because others teams just looked more impressive.
boomtho: I think I had them here before, and they didn't do much to either move up or down.
6. Arizona
Berkelium97: 787 yards of offense?!
Leland Wong: Wait, 787 yards? Please tell me you're joking. Concerns about losing Ka'Deem Carey and Matt Scott may have been blown out of proportion. Apparently RichRod can just plug anyone in there and it'll all work.
atomsareenough: I was concerned about Arizona having to develop both a new QB and RBs, but the QB (Solomon) threw 4 TDs and the RBs (mainly Jones-Grigsby and Wilson) had nearly 10 and 15 yards per carry as they racked up 58 points and 787 yards of offense. Against UNLV, but still, that's impressive
Sam Fielder: Went back and forth between them and UDub here but ultimately decided that the 'Cats won at home big and I'm still not sold that they're more than a mediocre team.
boomtho: 787 should be a Boeing plane, not total yardage. Ridiculous.
T7. California (1)
Berkelium97: One of two Pac-12 teams with a win over a Power 5 team. NW >>>>>>>> UVA, so I give Cal the nod over UCLA.
Leland Wong: It pains me not to vote the Bears higher here, but it's probably for the best that I don't buy in too much just yet. The Bears had a (mostly) great performance on the road on Saturday, but we have to prove we can play this way consistently before I'm ready to move Cal into the next tier of teams.
Nick Kranz: [afraid to say what I'm really thinking for fear of a jinx]
atomsareenough: The Bears beat Northwestern. On the road. Surprising? No, not to me anyway. But I needed to see Cal be effective on both sides of the ball before I gave them any love here. Well, here it is, and it's well deserved. Go Bears!
Sam Fielder: Pulled out an upset victory against a decent team. I really like what I saw on Saturday and I still think this team can play much better. Here's hoping they continue moving up this list.
boomtho: WE. BEAT. AN. FBS. TEAM. (PS, F*** FITZ)
atomsareenough: I like referring to P-fitz as That Bitch Gerald.
T7. Utah
Berkelium97: Apparently there was some hand-wringing from Utah fans about the defense, but the box score looks good to me.
Leland Wong: Another classic example of "nothing to see here" thanks to FCS scheduling. It'll be interesting to see how they do next week against the same Fresno State squad that USC humiliated because of the transitive property of sports and all.
atomsareenough: Utah did a lot of good things in a blowout win against an FCS school. But it's just a blowout win against an FCS school, so again, there's limited insight to be found.
Sam Fielder: Hammered a team that they should have. Not much else to see here, but at least they won.
boomtho: Big win at home, and nice to see one time Cal Bear Kaelin Clay have a huge day (2 return TD's!).
9. Washington
Berkelium97: Squeaking by with a win over an abysmal Hawaii team is not a good start to the Petersen era.
Leland Wong: This isn't actually so much about them struggling against Hawaii. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt because they were on the road and without their would-be starting QB. This has more to do with the nine teams above them just looking stronger, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy seeing them this low.
Nick Kranz: I'm not one of the folks predicting Petersen would immediately turn UW into a contender, but I didn't expect that. If that performance is truly representative, then UW might have the worst offense in the Pac-12 North.
atomsareenough: Was the team hung over from partying in Hawai'i or something? Do we have any reason to believe the Rainbow Warriors are anything other than bad this year? Even with no Cyler Miles, which the Huskies had all summer to prepare for mind you, there's no real excuse for eking out a 1-point victory over Hawai'i. What a joke that this team was ranked by the media to begin this season.
Sam Fielder: A W is a W, but man did they struggle against what looks to be a not so great Hawaii team. Will this be a kick in the pants catalyst or is it a sign that they're slipping? I'm hoping the later for sure.
boomtho: Struggled heavily at Hawaii, but I still believe in the Cult of Petersen.
10. Oregon State
Berkelium97: Despite a halftime deficit to Portland State, the Beavers managed to secure an unimpressive victory. I guess that's an accomplishment after they lost their openers to FCS teams in 2011 and 2013.
Leland Wong: They didn't succumb to the inexplicable FCS loss this year! Does anyone know how much the Portland St. QB weighs this year? Because if it's 245 pounds, then they deserve a bump of like up two spots for beating such a player.
Nick Kranz: Here's a question to ponder: How did OSU only beat PSU by 15 points when they won the turnover battle 5-to-1 and more than doubled PSU's yardage total? The Beavers are weird, but the final score probably isn't representative of how in control they were.
atomsareenough: I know Portland State has a 245-lb QB and all, but a 2-TD win against the Vikings? Trailing at the half and needing 5 FGs to pull it out? Remember when Cal had an uncomfortably close game against PSU last year and then proceeded to suck?
Sam Fielder: Hey, at least they won this year right? Still struggled against an FCS team, but I'm sure Riley will right the ship like he always does.
boomtho: Riley's annual early struggles are as regular as [joke redacted]. This team still has great offensive talent and Mannion will lead them back to success.
11. Washington State
Berkelium97: Rutgers was a bowl team last year, but they had a thoroughly mediocre offense. They should not have run wild on the Cougs like that.
Leland Wong: A one-score loss in the season opener against an East Coast school? I'm surprised by the outcome, but I still think they'll be a force in the Pac-12 this year. 532 passing yards is scary and 6 net rushing yards is lulzy.
Nick Kranz: Last year's Rutgers offense was bad, but that didn't stop them from rolling up 41 points by averaging 10 yards every pass attempt and 5 yards every rush attempt 3,000 miles from home. Grim tidings in Pullman.
atomsareenough: So much for sneaky-good. They'll likely improve over the course of the season, but losing to Rutgers certainly lowers the outlook.
Sam Fielder: I still think this team has an upset in them somewhere, but they reliably Coug it every year don't they?
boomtho: Video game passing stats but complete lack of a running game led to a bad loss by the Cougs. They're still going to be a pain in the league but I think they have less upset potential.
12. Colorado
Berkelium97: After taking a 17-7 lead, Colorado gave up 24 unanswered to Colorado State. Back into the basement they go.
Leland Wong: Is the rebuild looking a little tougher without Paul Richardson? Still wouldn't laugh at the Buffs just yet, as QB Sefo Liufau had a respectable day, completing 61.5% of his passes with 2 TDs and 0 INTs.
Nick Kranz: When Colorado State says 'We're going to run the ball every play, we DARE you to stop us!' and you can't . . . well, that earns you a last place vote in our power poll.
atomsareenough: Well, that was embarrassing.
Sam Fielder: I don't understand why this rivalry game is first each year, but they got beat soundly by a team that isn't that good. Looks like the rebuild might take a little longer in Boulder.
boomtho: Just like year 2 of Embree, Colorado lost to CSU. Major cause for concerns for Buffs.
Notes
Last week, among the 2.5 million viewers of our Week One rankings, one Bear stepped forward with an idea. PhilaBear suggested releasing how each of us voted "in the interest of transparency." Well, transparency, your new name is CGB. It's nice to meet you.
Something tells me Bk97 will be the most popular CGBer who contributed to this post... Boomtho's top six were a perfect match for the final poll and his 7th-ranked team (Utah) is in a tie for 7th in the compiled poll. I seem to be the only one who's okay with giving Leach a pass for laying an egg in his 2014 opener.
I also have a new feature that some of you may like. I'll be keeping track of the rankings each week so you can see how the teams are trending; click for full size. Why yes, that is the easily-identifiable style of Microsoft Excel because a bioengineer writing for a college athletics blog will have no choice but to use these common scientific tools (Excel and MATLAB) for sports applications.
The top five teams stayed mostly the same (with Oregon retaining their spot), while all the lesser teams are a jumbled mess as we try to figure out just how good they'll be.