Pac-12 power rankings: Unbeaten Week 1 for conference, but some close calls in LA

The quest to get all 12 teams from the conference into the postseason is off to a splendid start.

OK, that’s neither probable or plausible, but the Pac-12 did finish the first (true) week of college football a perfect 11-0. There was drama in Los Angeles – both at the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl – and Oregon put up a 77-point effort that made you wonder if Chip Kelly was still calling the shots and Marcus Mariota was throwing the passes in Eugene.

Here’s how we rank the league after an unblemished week one.

1. USC (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 2): Ronald Jones rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns, Sam Darnold shook off an abysmal start and USC rallied to beat Western Michigan late. All of it was overshadowed by Clay Helton’s incredible gesture to get the Trojans’ blind long snapper, Jake Olson, on the field for an extra point.

2. Washington (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 3): A 16-point win over someone like Rutgers might be fine for anybody not vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Problem is, the Huskies are and could’ve used a few more style points.

3. Stanford (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 1): The only non-winners in the Pac-12 this weekend didn’t play a game, but perhaps scored the biggest victory of anyone: rest before a meeting with USC.

4. Washington State (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 4): Last week, I asked whether Mike Leach had a better chance of beating sovereign immunity than the Cougars did of winning against the Big Sky. Well, Leach’s pockets are still empty but his ball club is 1-0.

5. UCLA (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 8): Wait … Josh Rosen and the Bruins did what?

6. Oregon (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 7): Each time Oregon scores, the Duck mascot will do as many pushups as the team has on the scoreboard at that point. That was 77 points, 462 pushups and a whole lot of new pectoral muscles on Saturday.

7. Colorado (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 5): I’m not sure the Buffaloes deserved to drop two spots after hammering their in-state rival. I suppose I was just that impressed with the Bruins and Ducks.

8. Utah (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 6) : Utah didn’t necessarily look bad, but it was only a “meh” showing from the Utes against the second best team in North Dakota.

9. California (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 10): Justin Wilcox traveled into ACC country and got a gutty win over North Carolina in his first game as a head coach (hand clapping emoji).

10. Arizona (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 11): OK, so a 62-24 whipping of Northern Arizona doesn’t exactly tell you much. But were the 2016 Wildcats capable of that?

11. Arizona State (1-0, 0-0; last week: No. 9): The Sun Devils barely escaped New Mexico State, but the next five weeks go San Diego State, Texas Tech, Oregon, Stanford and Washington. Gulp.

12. Oregon State (1-1, 0-0; last week: No. 12): It’s not completely unreasonable to think the Beavers do no better than No. 12 in these power rankings the rest of the year…