Monday, September 15, 2008
Well, now a week is in the book since my highly controversial pick of UCLA at the #1 spot was made. We all saw what happened to them at the hands of BYU, so I would remind you that the Power rankings have less to do with being a prediction of who is the best in the Pac 10. The Power Ranking is more of look at who's resume for the current season is the best. Last week, it was clearly UCLA who was 1-0 with an impressive win against a ranked Tennessee team.

This week is going to be tricky, considering the fact that the Pac 10 went just 3-7 against non-conference teams, marking the worst single week total in over a decade. It's safe to say that Week 3 of the 2008 College Football season did not do any favors for the Pac 10's credibility.

So who is it gonna be this week? Yeah, as if you all didn't know...


1. Southern Cal (2-0)
USC, with a blow out victory over Ohio State get's the #1 spot. They are the best in the Pac 10, and they clearly have the most momentum of any team thus far.

2. Oregon (3-0)
Oregon is #2 by default. They had a good win on the road, in comeback fashion, so they certainly deserve being #2, BUT their momentum for the future took a huge hit with the loss of Justin Roper. Still, my Power Rankings, as I've stated on numerous occasions deals with past performance and does not predict the future. Hopefully, Justin will be ok... Oregon's going to need him.

3. California (2-1)
This is where it gets tricky. Whose losses hurt their momentum the most, and whose losses were more indicative of poor performance. I have Cal at #3 because their loss was on the road at Maryland and despite falling behind big, they made it interesting at the end.

4. Oregon State (1-2)
For starters, NO, I do not think that Oregon State is the fourth best team in the Pac 10. Still, they were one of only three teams in the Pac 10 to win this week and given that they won in blowout fashion, I think that OSU gave themselves a lot of confidence going into next week.

5. Arizona (2-1)
Bad loss, losing to New Mexico, but at least they lost on the road. Given that Arizona had no illusions of running the table, this loss might not have hurt their confidence as much as some might think.

6. Arizona State (2-1)
I listed ASU behind Arizona because, despite both teams suffering bad losses to inferior opponents, ASU lost to UNLA at home. I've see games at Sun Devil Stadium and if the home team loses to an over-matched opponent, there is something gravely wrong. ASU is going to need some regrouping, and fast, considering they next host Georgia on national TV in just five days.

7. Stanford (1-2)
What can you say? Stanford had a big win in week one, at home, against Oregon State and has been playing like a high school team ever since. The first half was close with TCU, but then to see the juggernaut that is TCU take them apart, you can understand why they sit at number 7.

8. UCLA (1-1)
Congrats to UCLA for holding the Power Ranking record for the farthest one week drop ever. It seems to me that last year, I dropped a team five slots, but from #1 to #8? A 59-0 loss to a solid but not spectacular BYU team will do that to you. Good luck Mr. Neuheisel. I can't wait to see how you rally the troops around this loss.

9. Washington (0-3)
Of course, UW must be in the bottom two. I simply put them at #9 because they were destroyed at home to Oklahoma, but considering Oklahoma is #3 in the nation, it might not be acceptable, but it is understandable. UW should find it easy to regroup and move on after the bye week, but we shall see.

10. Washington State (0-3)
Losing to Baylor by 28 will earn you a spot at #10.


Comments

DM14