Jacob Thorpe’s Pac-12 power rankings

The conference’s powers are struggling.

Arizona State coach Todd Graham talked at media day of going undefeated, winning the Pac-12 South and playing for a national championship. Right now, a bowl game seems like a better goal for the Sun Devils, who were less than impressive in their 35-21 win over Cal Poly.

In the Pac-12 North, Oregon is still clearly the best team. But the other Pac-12 North schools can no longer take comfort that the division hegemon is a national championship contender that would perennially kick everyone else’s butts no matter where it played. Now the Ducks are just the most talented team in a weak group, and they may not even be the best. So far, California is the team in the north that has met every challenge it has faced, and the California schools sure seem to be stockpiling all of the talent these days.

1 USC (2-0, last week: 1) After warming up with a pair of cupcakes, USC’s schedule gets more difficult from here on out. Not difficult, per se, but the teams are better than Idaho.

2 UCLA (2-0, last week: 2) Picking an All-Bruins team will be an effective fantasy football strategy in a few years.

3 California (2-0, last week: 4) So far, Cal’s defense has given every reason to think that it is capable of supporting the ridiculous Golden Bears offense.

4 Oregon (1-1, last week: 3) Shame on Oregon for losing a nonconference game. If USC can win at Notre Dame in a few weeks, the conference will have a new standard bearer.

5 Arizona (2-0, last week: 6) Arizona looked much better against Nevada last week, but a date with UCLA looms and the Wildcats likely still won’t have Scooby Wright, or his backup.

6 Utah (2-0, last week: 5) A stiff defense and power running game that teams aren’t preparing for most weeks make the Utes the team everybody hates to play.

7 Stanford (1-1, last week: 8) It has to be disconcerting for Stanford fans that for all the school and football team have to offer, they still can’t find a quarterback to beat out Kevin Hogan.

8 Washington (1-1, last week: 9) Jake Browning and Myles Gaskin played well, but pipsqueak freshmen at quarterback and running back aren’t going to work against better teams.

9 Colorado (1-1, last week: 11) The upcoming rivalry game with Colorado State, which beat the Buffs last season, could be the biggest contest of Mike MacIntyre’s coaching career.

10 WSU (1-1, last week: 12) The Pac-12 has a lot of dynamic kick returners and they’ve all got the WSU game circled on their calendars.

1 1 Arizona St. (1-1, last week: 7) The Sun Devils will undoubtedly play better. But for now, no team has done less with its opportunities.

12 Oregon St. (1-1, last week: 10) It’s going to be a long, cold winter in Corvallis. One where the fans will try to gleam hope from young players making big plays in blowout losses.