David Marsh

My rankings might have too much USC anti-hype I am fuly expecting them to get exposed badly this year.

In truth I flip flopped on who should be ahead Washington or Washington State. I went with Washington State because of their win against Wisconsin on the road is far more impressive than Washington's win. In truth I think it's a tie between the two they are close. I think Washington State has been challenged and lost... To us ... But they'll learn from that. And Washington hasn't been challenged yet. So we'll have to wait. I think this last game for Oregon has taught the team a lot about travel. They will need to travel better in the future. I think that might be more in the coaches' end at this point than players. But credit to both for not giving up.

Maybe there should be a rule of if its 70-0 the game is automatically over. There is no benefit for anyone involved at that point. Granted.. there was no benefit for anyone involved earlier in that game but still.

Last year I got a kick out of doing this every now and then. It is difficult for me to commit to doing this every week so I'll do my best. If you agree, disagree please post something or even post with your own rankings. These rankings are subjective and a team's record only plays part of what goes into where I place them in my ranking, some teams are just better or worse than what their record suggests. This is also a snap shot look at where I feel these teams are at this moment, as if these teams were to play tomorrow they should beat those below them and lose to those ahead of them but nothing is obviously set in stone, teams grow as the season goes on. 12. Colorado (0-4) - Colorado is just bad this year. It is likely that Karl Dorrell will be the next coach within the Pac-12 to lose his job. It feels like it is only a matter of time. 11. Arizona State (1-3) - Arizona State fired their head coach in Herm Edwards and really looks like a program without a head coach right now. Granted with a head coach they didn't look good either but at least they had a direction, this team has a whole lot of problems with NCAA sanctions probably on the horizon for recruiting violations in the 2020 season. 10. Arizona (2-2) - Arizona is headed in the right direction but they aren't there yet. This program was in real bad shape before Jed Fisch took over and he is building something respectable but it is going to take some time to get there. It is possible they move up in these rankings in future weeks, but losing to Cal in the first conference game does not set themselves up for a bowl game this year. 9. Stanford (1-2) - Stanford is a program that might honestly not come back to power the way they were in the last decade. The transfer portal is something they really only lose players to rather than gaining any benefit from it. With Stanford's academic rules as they are talent does not come to Stanford via the transfer portal, only leaves. Stanford will take some teams out this year and they will be dangerous but this isn't the Stanford we got used to seeing for the past 15 years. 8. Cal (3-1) - Cal has had their moments this year. They haven't embarrassed the conference for starters. Their offense looks much improved but this team doesn't look ready to compete at the upper level of the Pac just yet. They beat up Arizona this last Saturday but that doesn't say much along with surviving against UNLV in the non-conference schedule. They did however, nearly defeat a Notre Dame team that is trying to figure themselves out with a new coaching staff. 7. Oregon State (3-1) - Oregon State is a good team and honestly should have beaten USC. They have a strong run game and a solid defense but they lack that passing game to really get take them the rest of the way. With four interceptions it is difficult to win a game and the Beavers almost did that to USC. 6. USC (4-0) - This is a pretty low ranking for an undefeated team but this isn't completely about records. This USC team looks weak on both their offensive and defensive lines. Oregon State was constantly in the backfield causing problems. Their secondary looks solid and their receiving corp is deadly but they were gutted by the Beaver's run game. What happens when they play any of the teams ahead of them in this ranking that have better offensive and defensive lines and can bully them in the trenches? It probably won't be pretty. 5. UCLA (4-0) - UCLA looks solid but they haven't played anyone of any note at this time. They have played Bowling Green, Alabama State, South Alabama, and Colorado, and they almost lost to South Alabama. They have a lot of returning pieces and that is pretty much the only reason why they are up this high at this time. This team has yet to be tested in any meaningful way. 4. Washington (4-0) - Washington is 4-0 which is a bit of a shock for a team that cleaned house of their coaching staff last year. This new staff is getting the most out of their players and this Washington team looks like they could be deadly. However, the Huskies have yet to travel and this team hasn't traveled well over the past few years. They also haven't played anyone that would be considered good at this point, Michigan State doesn't look too good, certainly no where near as good as last year. We'll see how well that win ages but it was still an important win for the conference. 3. Washington State (3-1) - The Cougs are going to be a problem for many in the conference this year. This is an aggressive defensive and a potent offense that is a bit weird to prepare for which will give them an edge. They could be better than Washington or they could be worse, it is difficult to tell at this point. But Washington State's away win over a mediocre Wisconsin team looks better than Washington's win over what appears to be a bad Michigan State team at home. 2. Oregon (3-1) - Oregon escaped Washington State but they really should have won by more. This Oregon team is probably the most talented and well rounded team in terms of talent in the conference. Sure USC has a ton of highly ranked DBs but their lines looks suspect. Oregon needs to get their defense in sync which is a big reason why they are not No. 1 and maybe No. 2 is too high right now but this staff and team is growing so fast right now that it really does feel like they could be ready to take on anyone in the conference next week. That week one loss to Georgia is this team's motivation now and a marker for how good they need to be in order to compete. This team has the highest ceiling in the conference, they just need to realize it and grow into it. And Oregon is the only team that has a win over a currently ranked top 25 opponent in BYU, so that has to count for something. 1. Utah (3-1) - A strong roster of returning players, a veteran coaching staff leaves Utah at the top spot for now. Utah tends to get better as the year goes on because they may not recruit the best talent but they develop the talent they get and that takes time. Right now it feels like Utah could probably beat anyone in the conference but that will probably not last.

The funny thing is that Oregon actually came out of the redo better than the first time around. Hutson caught the punt with a fair catch at the 5 on the first punt then after the redo the punt was caught at the 10. But still.... Something that should have been fixed after one down not two.

I'm sure they have some good pay packages set for them for NIL. Miami also has a 5 star QB committed to them which doesn't make much sense to us... But then again his NIL deal is supposedly between 8-9 mil so that makes sense.

Stanford isn't what they used to be and we should have a more focused team this year against them. It's also a home game which is a bonus as traving can be difficult on a new coaching staff.

They haven't played anyone but what looks like a bad Michigan State team. MSU was demolished by Minnesota yesterday 34-7. That "ranked win" the Huskies is losing its shine by the day and fast. Still an important win for the conference.

I think that is coming into play more and more when we watch this year's offensive line. They are all Cristobal's guys and yet they are playing better than ever. No sacks on the season still... And they are making holes for a dynamic run game... And giving time for Nix to pass. Brown didn't look that comfortable at all last year. At least not consistently.

I think between Utah and WSU they keep the Trojans out of the conference championship game. USC has an awful offensive line and WSU is going to bring some major heat. USC only survived the Beavers because Nolan thee 4 interceptions and shot themselves in the foot with penalties on a successfully drive. The cougars are going to make USCs day miserable with their attack. USC, like Oregon, has receivers fast enough to get over the top of WSUs secondary. But unlike Oregon, USC doesn't have the offensive line to allow their QB to sit comfortably and make the throw with enough time. Utah's defense and offense should embarrass USC as USC is really lacking defensively everywhere but their secondary. As for WSU v Utah... I think it could go either way. WSU with a slight edge because it's their home game but both Utah and WSU are used to the high desert environment so maybe Utah won't be thrown off by the later fall weather in Pullman.

Dillingham is not asking too much of Nix and Nix knows he doesn't need to play hero ball. After that pick six he stayed calm and went back to work running the offense. Ensuring Nix doesn't need to play hero ball is critical to his success. Few quarterbacks can play hero ball at a consistently high level. So making sure Nix can make the plays he needs to is critical. This doesn't mean we keep him restrained to throwing short routes .... He completely has the ability to throw a deep ball. But he has also learned that a loss of a down is better than forcing a throw that could lead to far worse.

WSU is a tough team... Since Leach took the job WSU has been difficult to prepare for week to week because of their air raid offense being so different from the rest of the conference. I know it is now the "coug raid" but it is still very air raidy and difficult to defend. So I'm happy Oregon got a win yesterday. I think the major key to how high this year's team ceiling is all comes to week to week growth from players and coaches. Road games are hard on a new coaching staff so they got a win on this one but they will have to travel again and they need to get more wins in the road. I don't think Oregon would have gotten out of Pallouse with a win last week in truth. They have growth from the team that beat BYU. And next week they will have to play Stanford and show growth again. If they keep growing I think a conference championship is completely possible. I also think WSU is going to be in the hunt for a conference championship, especially with the new format. USC looks like a pretender their offensive line is garbage and it is only a matter of time until it is exposed for what it is... Utah and UCLA and even WSU are going to be a nightmare for USC to deal with.

I feel Dilly could learn a thing or two about fly sweeps by watching this Oregon state team. It is also painful to watch Travis Dye in a Trojans uniform.

It was tipped but it was also a super predictable play. If it wasn't tipped I don't think it would have been a successful play anyways.

I guess a QB sneaks isn't a sack because Nix was a runner for that QB sneak play that was blown up.... I'll take it but I thought that would have counted as a sack potentially.

There will be plenty of opportunities going forward. Oregon has faster recievers than many pac-12 secondaries and there needs to be the confidence on Dillingham's part to call for some more deep shots. I was actually pretty impressed with his throw towards Cota when he needed to get the ball out fast. If it was a split second later it would have been caught... Granted it couldn't be a split second later because.of pressure but it was darn close.

The couger offense continues to be a bit weird and difficult to prep for when you only have a week to do so. Oregon's secondary took some big hits today and hopefully they make another leap.

Hey now... Players just don't get Cristobal's culture and how they aren't playing physical enough. If they just played more physical they would have won.

Dilly has some work to ensure we actually punch the ball in. But I feel this coaching staff is learning quickly. It's also more fun to learn after a win than a loss... But you need to be aware that you learn the right lessons.

I would agree with this. I knew what play was coming the second I saw Dollars in motion. Mauigoa knew also and bit down on it hard. If nix went anywhere else with the ball it could have been a touch down.

It felt like in the red zone Dillingham was possessed by Cristobal with predictable run plays. Though if Cristobal was busy possessing our OC why didn't Miami win?

Again MC has the excuse this year he needs "his guys" and they need to get players to buy into the culture. But you know what ... Players are probably starting to buy out of the culture at this point and buy into the transfer portal. Especially the QB and those recievers.

Oregon got the win but in the end winning by 3 feels more appropriate than winning by 10. I don't feel the Ducks earned winning by 10. That said... I'm happy we at least won.

Alan my friend ... You called it. They Couged it! WSU should have had us dead to rights but they left the door open and we came busting through.

And in previous games they haven't done much either.