1. Oregon (up one spot)
Nick Kranz: De-fault, the two sweetest words in the English language!
ragnarok: Back on top, but more because Stanford lost than anything the Ducks did vs. Utah.
Sam Fielder: Didn't look great against Utah, but still got a W.
atomsareenough: Ha ha, suck it Stanford. Oregon takes care of business, Stanford does not.
2. USC (up five spots)
atomsareenough: Nicely done, Trojans. It's too bad for them that the Washington State game was so early in the season. But then, maybe it was a necessary contributing factor to rid them of Kiffin. Anyway, the USC-UCLA game has suddenly gotten a lot more interesting.
ragnarok: Dunno if they're the second-best team in the Pac-12, but they're probably at least the second hottest. Orgeron has gotten this team to 8 wins, and only Oregon has more in the Pac-12.
Sam Fielder: Rocket up to 2nd for now as the hottest team in the P12.
Berkelium97: The Trojans get their first quality win of the year. They look like a poor man's Stanford, but they managed to outfurd the furd.
Nick Kranz: They beat Stanford, and they deserve credit, but they still got blown out by Arizona State and they still lost to Washington State.
3. Arizona State (up one spot)
atomsareenough: Easily dispensed with Oregon State. They only have 1 conference loss. They've beaten USC. They're in good shape heading into the showdown with UCLA. Even if the Bruins win, the Trojans could very plausibly end up sending ASU to the championship game the next week.
Berkelium97: It was a low-scoring affair, but the Devils dominated the game. If Kelly can bounce back from his second consecutive sub-par performance, the Devils should book a ticket to the Pac 12 title game this weekend.
ragnarok: Visit UCLA this weekend in what is a huge South showdown.
Sam Fielder: Really interested to see what they can do against UCLA.
Nick Kranz: I think UCLA is the better team, but ASU has home field advantage. Could go either way.
4. Stanford (down three spots)
Nick Kranz: Just not enough offense. I would most certainly like to see what Dykes and Franklin could do with their offensive line.
Berkelium97: An overrated furd team gets exposed for the second time in Pac-12 play. They really need to find a passing game that can move the ball when the run game gets shut down.
atomsareenough: If a tree falls in a Coliseum, and there are no Stanford fans to witness it, does a Bear still defecate in the woods? Anyway, I'm sure the Cardinal will be veritably scarlet with rage at their loss to USC, and will promptly take it out on Cal this week, but I don't really care, because their Rose Bowl chances have delightfully been dealt a possibly fatal blow. Also, getting a taste of Shayne Skov's tears makes it all worthwhile. Schadenfurd is such sweet, sweet nectar.
Sam Fielder: Their loss didn't quite redeem Saturday, but it made it a lot better.
ragnarok: The Cardinal might have a hangover from the tough loss @ USC, and they might overlook the Bears looking ahead to Notre Dame. It still won't be enough.
5. UCLA (down two spots)
Nick Kranz: Khairi Fortt for running back!
Berkelium97: The Myles Jack experiment continues to pay dividends.
atomsareenough: The Bruins have beaten the teams they should beat, including Washington this week, but the Bruins lost decisively to the two best teams they've played. The next two games against ASU and USC will tell us a lot about whether they are contenders or pretenders.
Sam Fielder: Had trouble picking between them and ASU...thankfully they'll settle it on the field this week. Also, Jack is FILTHY good.
ragnarok: But if the Bruins beat ASU and then lose to USC, they could end up in a 3-way tie atop the Pac-12 South.
6. Washington (down one spot)
Sam Fielder: SEVEN AND FIVE...
ragnarok: How many 7-5 seasons can Sark string together?
atomsareenough: Cyler Miles was decent against UCLA, but proved to be the inferior M[y]les on the field that night. Will he get his first start against Oregon State? Will the Huskies get past 7 wins??
Berkelium97: If Price's shoulder injury is serious, they may lose their two remaining games.
Nick Kranz: There's a big gap between the top five and the bottom seven. The surprising part is that, for me, Washington is clearly in that bottom seven.
7. Oregon State (up two spots)
atomsareenough: The Beavers are scuffling, losing solidly in Tempe to ASU, but thanks to playing the Pac-12 basement early, they've nonetheless managed to rack up 4 conference wins. They should have a chance against a potentially Keith Price-less Washington team next, as well.
Sam Fielder: Still not sure what to make of this team...and the season is almost over.
Berkelium97: It looks like we were right to doubt a team that struggled against EWU and SDSU. Now that they're facing teams with a pulse, the Beavers are flatlining.
8. Washington State (up one spots)
ragnarok: Took down Arizona, now just needs a split vs. Utah and Washington to get to 6 wins and a bowl game.
atomsareenough: YARRR! The Cougars beat Arizona and are but 1 win away from bowl eligibility. In an ideal world, they'd lose to Utah and beat Washington in the final week so that the Cougars and Utes are both bowl eligible (and Washington won't eclipse 7 wins that way), but I'm sure Coug fans don't care how it happens as long as they get that 6th win somewhere.
Berkelium97: Wazzu has a decent chance at getting 7 regular-season wins. That would be quite the accomplishment after a miserable October.
Sam Fielder: Big win this week and good improvement from them this year.
Nick Kranz: Offense still very iffy, but defense has moments of inspiration. Can Sonny follow a similarly weird path?
9. Utah (down one spot)
Sam Fielder: Respectable game vs. Oregon
Nick Kranz: Who knew that Travis Wilson was the MVP of the Pac-12?
atomsareenough: We'll miss you, Travis Wilson. The Utes still put up a decent fight against Oregon without him though.
ragnarok: An up-and-down season for the Utes, but ending @ Washington State and vs. Colorado means 6 wins is still in reach.
10. Arizona (down three spots)
Nick Kranz: Ka'Deem Carey and a whole pile of meh.
Berkelium97: Another Pac-12 team who will likely finish 6-6
atomsareenough: The Wildcats may have 6 wins, but I'm back to thinking they're not very good.
Sam Fielder: Fell apart vs. WSU. And their win vs. us looks even worse now.
11. Colorado (up one spot)
ragnarok: Emphatically not the worst team in the Pac-12.
Sam Fielder: No disputing the fact that they are clearly #11.
atomsareenough: The 2013 secret to looking like a good football team: Play Cal.
Nick Kranz: I wonder if Liufau is a good quarterback for a bad team, or if he can be a good quarterback without the caveat.
12. California (down one spot)
Nick Kranz: /sad trombone
ragnarok: This feels like rock bottom. Unless Stanford drops 60 on the Bears next weekend. In which case that will be rock bottom, right? Depressing note: the Bears have won just 4 of their previous 24 games, and only 2 of those games were against FBS foes.
atomsareenough: We are so, so bad. Soooo incredibly bad. I think we are probably going to be the underdoggiest underdog that has ever dogged under anything in the history of the Big Game this week. In the infinitesimally small likelihood that we somehow manage to pull off an upset, it will be pretty much the most amazing thing ever. Go Bears.
Sam Fielder: I wanted to rank us 14. Can the Men In Black come flashy-thing us collectively for the 2013 football season?
Berkelium97: Not just the worst team in 2013, this may be one of the worst teams in conference history.