USC continued its multi-week free-fall in The Oregonian/OregonLive’s power rankings.
The Washington Huskies lost a first-place vote — but not their spot at the top of the Pac-12 football power rankings from The Oregonian/OregonLive — after a too-close-for-comfort win over the Arizona State Sun Devils last weekend.
The Huskies remained the No. 1 team in our weekly rankings, earning six first-place votes and 83 points from our seven-member panel, to outpace the second-place Oregon Ducks by five votes. The Ducks, despite falling to Washington in Seattle earlier this month, earned one first-place vote.
The Oregon State Beavers also held firm in our rankings, landing all seven third-place votes to finish third for the second consecutive week.
There was movement beyond the Beavers, as the USC Trojans continued their multi-week free-fall, plummeting from fourth to sixth place. The Trojans, who debuted at No. 1 in our rankings in September, netted just 48 votes after suffering back-to-back defeats.
USC’s pain was the Utah Utes’ gain. Utah (63) moved up to fourth place in our rankings, distancing itself from the fifth-place UCLA Bruins (54) by nine votes.
Did the Arizona State Sun Devils climb out of the cellar after their near-upset over the Huskies? Did the Colorado Buffaloes slide yet again?
Here are this week’s power rankings from The Oregonian/OregonLive sports staff:
(Voting panel: James Crepea, Nick Daschel, Aaron Fentress, Joe Freeman, Sean Meagher, Joel Odom, Bill Oram)
1. NO. 5 WASHINGTON HUSKIES (7-0, 4-0)
Poll points: 83 (6 first-place votes)
Last week (1): Beat Arizona State 15-7
This week: Washington at Stanford, 4 p.m. PT, Saturday (FS1).
2. NO. 8 OREGON DUCKS (6-1, 3-1)
Poll points: 78 (1 first-place vote)
Last week (2): Beat Washington State 38-24
This week: Oregon at Utah, 12:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (FOX)
3. NO. 11 OREGON STATE BEAVERS (6-1, 3-1)
Poll points: 70
Last week (3): Idle.
This week: Oregon State at Arizona, 7:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (ESPN).
4. NO. 13 UTAH UTES (6-1, 3-1)
Poll points: 63
Last week (5): Beat USC 34-32.
This week: Oregon at Utah, 12:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (FOX)
5. NO. 23 UCLA BRUINS (5-2, 2-2)
Poll points: 54
Last week (6): Beat UCLA State 42-7.
This week: Colorado at UCLA, 4:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (ABC).
6. NO. 24 USC TROJANS (6-2, 4-1)
Poll points: 48
Last week (4): Lost to Utah 34-32.
This week: USC at Cal, 1 p.m. PT, Saturday (Pac-12 Networks).
7. ARIZONA WILDCATS (4-3, 2-2)
Poll points: 45
Last week (7): Idle.
This week: Oregon State at Arizona, 7:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (ESPN).
8. WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (4-3, 1-3)
Poll points: 32
Last week (8): Lost to Oregon 38-24
This week: Washington State at Arizona State, 5 p.m. PT, Saturday (Pac-12 Networks)
9. COLORADO BUFFALOES (4-3, 1-3)
Poll points: 26
Last week (11): Idle.
This week: Colorado at UCLA, 4:30 p.m. PT, Saturday (ABC).
10. CAL BEARS (3-4, 1-3)
Poll points: 22
Last week (9): Idle.
This week: USC at Cal, 1 p.m. PT, Saturday (Pac-12 Networks).
11. ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (1-6, 0-4)
Poll points: 13
Last week (12): Lost to Washington 15-7.
This week: Washington State at Arizona State, 5 p.m. PT, Saturday (Pac-12 Networks)
12. STANFORD CARDINAL (2-5, 1-4)
Poll points: 12
Last week (10): Lost to UCLA 42-7.
This week: Washington at Stanford, 4 p.m. PT, Saturday (FS1).
