There has been a changing of the guard in the Pac-12 football conference this season. USC, Stanford and Oregon have put together a combined 10-11 record including a 5-9 record in conference play. The Ducks in particular have surprised the college football world with an 0-4 record in conference play and based on what we have seen to this point there is a very good chance things get worse before they get better for these programs. Meanwhile, Washington, Washington State, Utah and Colorado have shown drastic improvement as they have thrived this season as the top four teams in the conference. Here is a look at the top four teams in the Pac-12 right now.
The USC Trojans are coming off a convincing win over California on Friday night but that still doesn’t change the fact that they’re a step behind the new wave of teams that’s come up. Here’s a look at who dominates the Pac-12 these days.
#4 Washington Huskies (7-0)
Nobody is overlooking the Huskies following their 7-0 start as they remained undefeated with a 41-17 blowout win over Oregon State last week. Washington has outscored its last three opponents 155-44 including lopsided wins over Stanford and at Oregon and they have climbed to No. 4 in the AP Top-25 in the process. Sophomore quarterback Jake Browning has completed 68.6-percent of his passes for 1,709 yards and 26 touchdowns while running back Myles Gaskin has averaged 6.3 yards per carry while rushing for 727 yards and six scores. Washington will look to extend its streak of 10 straight FBS wins when they visit No. 17 Utah this week in another tough Pac-12 test.
#17 Utah Utes (7-1)
The Utes are coming off back-to-back road wins over Oregon State and UCLA to improve to 7-1 and they can really shake up the Pac-12 title picture with a win over Washington this week. Utah will need another monster game from running back Joe Williams for that to happen after he torched the Bruins for 332 rushing yards and four scores last week. The Utes will also need their defense to limit the number of big plays they allow after they gave up nine plays of 15-plus yards and allowed 45 points to UCLA. Washington is much more dangerous on both sides of the football so Utah will be pushed to the test in a massive Pac-12 showdown.
#23 Colorado Buffaloes (6-2)
Colorado moved in to the AP Top-25 following a 10-5 win over Stanford on the road last week and now they get a bye week to prepare for their showdown with UCLA next week. The Buffaloes are already bowl eligible and now they will have the opportunity to chase a lot more than that as they are currently tied with Utah for the best record in the Pac-12 South division.
They’ve been quite impressive so far this season as their only two losses were to USC (by four points) and on the road to No. 4 Michigan. Most of their wins – other than the Stanford result – were by big margins.
Colorado owns the second-best defense in the Pac-12 behind only Washington and it will be very interesting to see how that unit holds up with four weeks to go including a showdown with Utah in their season finale. They’ll end the year with three of their final four games at home, which is a huge edge.
Washington State Cougars (5-2)
Mike Leach has learned to balance his offense with a heavy dose of the run game to compliment his Air Raid pass attack and the results have really worked in Washington State’s favor. The Cougars have won five in a row including Pac-12 wins over Oregon, Stanford, UCLA and Arizona State over the last four wins. Washington State is tied with Washington for the best record in the Pac-12 and they have been a major part of the changing of the guard in their conference with a 4-0 record in league play for the first time since 2003. The Cougars still have a tough road ahead but right now they are among the top four teams in the Pac-12 while USC, Stanford and Oregon are looking up at them in the standings.
