Marsh Power Rankings (week 5)

[David Marsh]

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 snapshot 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. 

 

See Week 4's rankings here. 

 

Please disagree or comment on these rankings because that is where so much of the fun is with these rankings. 

 

12. Colorado (0-5) - Colorado is bad, so bad they have finally fired their head coach and this is now a bad team that is truly lacking leadership. It will be a shock if they win any games this year. So good news to teams playing Colorado, this is almost a bye week. 

 

11. Arizona State (1-4) - Arizona State has more talent that Colorado but they are in a coaching search and have written off this season. Unlikely ASU will beat anyone outright but if a team sleeps on them they might make things scary as this team still has some play makers. 

 

10. Stanford (1-4) - Stanford is bad, the transfer portal era will keep the Cardinal from being good, even if the refs seem to do everything they can to keep them in the game. It is possible this team steals a win or two in conference but they are not looking at a bowl game for the second consecutive year in a row. 

 

9. Arizona (3-2) - Arizona has life and if they get hot they could make a bowl game, but the problem is that there aren't many teams ranked below them for "easy" wins, as they have already dismantled Colorado and they have ASU at the end of the year but they skip Stanford this year. So I see Arizona getting to 4 maybe 5 wins total. 

 

8. Oregon State (3-2) - This is really the first change from last week's rankings. The Beavers are almost a complete team, except for quarterback where they are woefully lacking right now. They should have beaten USC but for their 4 interceptions and they weren't even supposed to beat Utah but they took far more of a beating than they should have because they couldn't take care of the ball. Their defense and run game both look solid, they just need to work out their quarterback problem.  

 

7. Cal (3-2) - Cal has defense and their offense is better than last year with a new quarterback and runningback but they really do seem to lack some of the firepower needed to hold down some of the more prolific offenses in the Pac-12 this year. 

 

6. USC (5-0) - USC has had an easy schedule so far but that is going to come to an end soon enough. USC gets Washington State this week, though at home. Washington State has an agressive defense and an offense that can score quickly. USC does have a good secondary but their offense has struggled with pressure. Both Oregon State and Arizona State have given USC a pretty good scare over the past couple of weeks. Washington State may be more than they can handle, but if they survive then it is worth bumping USC up at that point. Right now they feel overrated by the National media. 

 

5. Washington (4-1) - Washington was finally challenged and they lost. They also lost on the road which will probably be a continuing trend this year. Washington has had to travel much the past two years and that will be something that will be a struggle. 

 

4. UCLA (5-0) - UCLA beat Washington which was a meaningful win and got themselves a ranking in the top 25 of the AP poll. So UCLA moves up a spot though we will get a better sense of what UCLA is made of in the next month as they will have to play Oregon and Utah. 

 

3. Washington State (4-1) - Washington State couged it against Oregon and survived Cal. This is an aggressive team that should stay in the top half of the Pac-12 this year, barring any critical injuries. They square off against USC this week and WSU is probably the more complete team, the only downside is that WSU has to go to USC but WSU has proved they can win in a hostile away environment this year. 

 

2. Oregon (4-1) - Beating Stanford is a big deal for the Ducks. It has felt the past few years that Oregon plays Stanfod and the refs. Oregon was clearly the better team, even when shooting itself in the foot and getting some truly baffling calls from the refs. Oregon is still the most talented team in the Pac-12 and they are growing week to week but they still have yet to put together a solid four quarters of play. Oregon has Arizona this week which has its own risks, then a bye week, then they host UCLA. The good news for Oregon is that all their toughest games will be at home this year. 

 

1. Utah (4-1) - Utah hasn't given much reason to doubt their top spot. However, Utah does hit one of the hardest sections of its schedule this year with UCLA, USC, and Washington State all on deck before they hit an easier part where they have Arizona and Stanford. Then they get Oregon. Utah will get truly tested starting this week and we will see where they end up. 

 

Do you agree or disagree with these rankings? Who is too high or too low? 

[Steven A]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:23 AM, David Marsh said:

playing Colorado

Is like having an SEC schedule.

 

I'd put $C above/below the warshington schools, 3rd.  They have done what they have needed to do to stay undefeated at this juncture.

[DUCati855]

David,

 

Your glasses are made of darker shades of green and yellow than mine. But, I like it! 

 

Where did you find those glasses? I want a pair.

[David Marsh]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:44 AM, DUCati855 said:

David,

 

Your glasses are made of darker shades of green and yellow than mine. But, I like it! 

 

Where did you find those glasses? I want a pair.

Or maybe a deeper hatred of USC because I really feel they are going to get exposed this weekend. I might be wrong. 

[JDuck]

USuC sucks, their lines will end them up at 8-4 again.  If their QB gets injured, it'll be worse.

[Charles Fischer]

As I stated before...Washington State could help decide the conference by slapping an unexpected loss on teams like USC, Utah, Oregon State and Washington.  Thus I like much of what you have David.

[shawnski]

1) I would have ranked BYE ahead of Colorado - they are truly awful 

 

2) Stanford is also right there. The team is about ready to pack it in

 

3) The Beavers are suffering from horrible QB play, they could go up or down depending 

 

4) Oregon and Utah are the best or top two

 

5) #s 3 through 10 are pretty interchangeable and could all beat each other depending on match ups, location, and injuries 

 

Nice job

[30Duck]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:27 AM, Steven A said:

They have done what they have needed to do to stay undefeated at this juncture.

Right, and what they've needed to that is play, Rice, Stanford, Fresno State, Oregon State and ASU. 

[30Duck]

David, I give your rankings an A because it's exactly how mine would look. I'd like to flip OSU and Cal, but the QB situation for the Beavs is so bad that Stanford will probably end up with more points at 11:45 Saturday night. 

[David Marsh]

On 10/4/2022 at 1:23 PM, 30Duck said:

David, I give your rankings an A because it's exactly how mine would look. I'd like to flip OSU and Cal, but the QB situation for the Beavs is so bad that Stanford will probably end up with more points at 11:45 Saturday night. 

It's all down to that Beaver quarterback. If they had a high quality quarterback they would probably be in my top 4, if not top 3. They are a solid team otherwise, but a quarterback is too important. 

 

The crazy thing is that of all the teams that rank above the Beavers only UCLA has a non-transfer quarterback. Utah's quarterback is not a transfer this year but he was last year so he did not start his career at Utah. It feels telling how the quarterback position is so important that outsourcing the development to other schools and bringing in quarterbacks as transfers has become super effective. 

 

It makes you think what if Oregon State went quarterback shopping like the majority of the conference.... 

[30Duck]

On 10/4/2022 at 1:35 PM, David Marsh said:

If they had a high quality quarterback

Definitely a high quality QB is needed, but the Beavs this year are the perfect fit for a game manager. Nolan left after throwing 5 INT's in the last 5 and a half quarters played. If he'd only thrown 3 instead of 4, the Beavs very likely beat USC.

[Steven A]

On 10/4/2022 at 1:17 PM, 30Duck said:

and what they've needed to that is play, Rice, Stanford, Fresno State, Oregon State and ASU. 

Can't argue that, everyone has warts.

 

WSU has a loss and wins over a non offense Cal; Wisc that just fired it's coach and have only beaten Ill State and NM State. 

 

And ewe dub is a1-loss team that has beaten an embarrassing Mich St., Kent St., Portland St and Stanford. 

[Log Haulin]

The only thing I would change is Wazzu at 3. The Coug that showed up last weekend was not the same team that played Oregon 2 weeks ago. I would put them 6 or 7.

 

I was actually shocked at how unimpressive the cougs were Saturday. I think Oregon literally ruined them. I hope they bounce back, to me they looked bad.