After opening the year with a potentially devastating loss at Northwestern, the Stanford Cardinal have rebounded with six straight wins including a 5-0 record in conference play to establish themselves as the top team in the Pac-12. However, while the Cardinal now look like a lock to win the Pac-12 North division, the outlook is a little more complicated in the South division where the top five teams are either separated by one game or tied. Here is a look at the how the six teams from the Pac-12 South rank heading in to Week 9 of the college football season.
1. Utah Utes
Utah is coming off a tough 42-24 loss at USC but nobody expected them to go undefeated in the Pac-12 South. Suffering their first defeat of the year on the road in a tough environment against a pretty good team isn’t enough to write the Utes off just yet. Utah still has notable wins over Michigan, Oregon, California and Arizona State to fall back on and should be able to regroup this week when they host Oregon State. The Utes still own the best record in the Pac-12 South at 3-1 and until they lose another game, they have to be considered the top contender in that divisions.
2. USC Trojans
There aren’t many teams that can physically beat up on a Kyle Whittingham team but that is what the Trojans did last week against Utah. Despite their start to the season, they are a team that is still loaded with potential and in a decent position at 2-2 in conference play. USC looked like a much different team in its win over the Utes than it did in a loss to Washington the week before and which team shows up the rest of the way will go a long way in determining whether the Trojans contend for a Pac-12 South title or not.
3. UCLA Bruins
UCLA is coming off a big win over a ranked opponent in Cal but it’s not enough to forget their back-to-back losses to Arizona State and Stanford just yet. That’s why they remain third on our list. The Bruins are another team with immense potential and enough talent to win the Pac-12 South but they already face an uphill climb after stumbling against the Sun Devils and Cardinal. They’ve been very inconsistent. The schedule won’t get any easier including trips to Utah and USC to close out the season.
4. Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona State had the week off following its 34-18 loss at Utah and the bye couldn’t have come at a better time as they get set to host Oregon on Thursday night. The Sun Devils looked good in their upset win at UCLA but they also have a pair of losses to the Trojans and Utes, and will need to bounce back with a big win over the Ducks to put themselves back in the conversation as a legitimate contender in the Pac-12 South. The two losses hurt but both have come against quality opponents.
5. Arizona Wildcats
After stumbling early on in lopsided losses to UCLA and Stanford, the Wildcats will face a must-win game this week at Washington in order to make sure they can lock up a spot in a bowl game. The schedule gets a lot tougher with back-to-back games at USC and then against Utah the following two weeks and it’s already too late to consider Arizona a legitimate threat in the Pac-12 South.
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6. Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado might not contend for a Pac-12 South title but they ended a 14-game losing streak against conference opponents with a 17-13 win over Oregon State last week. That is something to hold on to heading in to a potentially devastating stretch where they will face UCLA, Stanford, USC, Washington State and then Utah to close out the season. They might still be in last place but they’ve been far more competitive than in previous seasons.
