Stanford still Pac-12’s best

Week 1 is officially over, and college football has begun. The long wait is over. Every PAC 12 team has played, and now let’s power rank the conference.

12. Washington State

The Cougars were a good team last year. They came into the season with moderately high expectations and were believed to have a chance competing for the PAC 12 title. But losing to an FCS team? That’s rough.

11. Oregon State

Oregon State lost to Minnesota. It was a close game, but still Minnesota is considered a bad Big Ten team. Oregon State looks to be a bottom level PAC 12 team again, but at least the Beavers didn’t lose to an FCS team.

10. Arizona

Arizona started the year off in a nail biting loss versus BYU; a last second field goal kept the Wildcats from starting the year off 1-0. BYU is not a great team, but they’re pretty good. By no means was the loss an embarrassing one for Arizona.

9. Colorado

Colorado was predicted to be one of the worst PAC 12 teams in 2016. They sure didn’t play like that against Colorado State. Colorado blew out Colorado State, but the Rams aren’t exactly a scary team. Colorado is better than last year but not by a lot.

8. California

Cal beat Hawaii by twenty. Solid win. But then the nation sees Michigan man handle the Rainbow Warriors by sixty points. Cal’s win isn’t as impressive. Cal would be higher ranked if not for Michigan beating Hawaii so easily.

7. Arizona State

Just a couple years ago, the Sun Devils were one of the PAC 12’s best. Now, they have become a mediocre team. They beat their opponent Northern Arizona easily, but it’s not an impressive win given that they played an FCS team.

6. USC

New coach. New quarterback. And playing the best team in the nation. That’s a recipe for disaster. USC looked like a terrible team against Alabama, but they still have stars like Adoree’ Jackson, Ronald Jones II, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. USC will still be a pretty good team in 2016.

5. Utah

Utah was a major team in the PAC 12 last year. After their win against Southern Utah, it seems that the Utes will take a small step backwards in 2016. They won 24-0, but last year’s team would’ve won by much more.

4. UCLA

The Bruins forced OT at Kyle Field, home of the 12th man. Josh Rosen played marginally well, but the players around him struggled. Everyone seemed to drop his passes. UCLA rallied at the end and almost won the game, which is why they are ranked highly.

3. Oregon

Oregon’s defense was surrounded by questions heading into 2016. Those questions were not answered against UC Davis, who scored twenty eight points. How does that even happen? Oregon’s offense looked good, but their defense did not.

2. Washington

Washington was predicted as the breakthrough team in 2016. Against Rutgers, the Huskies showed that they will compete this year. The team looks really good after dominating in their opener, but not good enough to surpass Stanford as the PAC 12’s best.

1. Stanford

The Cardinal are still the PAC 12’s best. They started the first half strong, but slowed down in the second half. In the second half, Stanford played conservatively and ran the ball almost every down. It was a typical game for Coach Shaw; it’s not his style to blow out the other team.