Marsh Power Rankings (Week Seven)

[David Marsh]

The Ducks had a bye but it was still a very very interesting week. I will be honest and say the top portion of these rankings are far easier than the bottom, and to date the opposite has been true. 

 

12. Colorado (1-5) - Colorado won on Saturday against Cal, so why isn't Cal down here? Well Cal did a lot to lose that game. Cal had more offense and was on the whole the better team on the field except they couldn't finish. Colorado is playing with some energy with their new interim head coach Mike Sanford. Could Sanford be the next head coach at Colorado? Possibly he had Colorado playing with passion but even with all that it is clear that Colorado does not have the talent on the field just yet.

 

11. Cal (3-3) - Cal showed why Oregon fans were happy that Wilcox is not at Oregon. Their defense was pretty good against Colorado but their offense and special teams couldn't score to save their lives. They left at least nine points on the field during regulation. If they scored any of those points they would have won. Instead, they have the most embarrassing defeat on their record. 

 

10.5. Notre Dame (3-3) - Wait Notre Dame isn't in the conference... and that's absolutely true. But for Funsies they would rank here. They beat Cal but lost to Stanford. My point being... Notre Dame is bad this year and isn't that just delightful! 

 

10. Arizona State (2-4) - Arizona State beat Washington in their last game and that win is looking solid but Washington's defense is looking bad, more on that later. Arizona State will have a few chances to try and win a few games and it will all come down to how good this interim staff is. 

 

9. Stanford (2-4) - It feels odd to put Stanford here as they are the only team now that doesn't have a single conference win. Both Cal and Colorado have conference wins! But I do think Stanford will get at least two conference wins this year. They will probably beat Arizona State and Cal. Or the way things are going... they may not. 

 

8. Arizona (3-4) - Arizona lost to Cal but beat Colorado, so why is Arizona so far ahead of Cal? Well Arizona is improving from week to week whereas Cal is stuck in neutral, or getting worse. Arizona has a deadly offense but their defense is letting them down but they are improving. 

 

7. Washington (5-2) - Isn't if funny that Washington's problem this year is the complete opposite from their problems the last two years... they are all offense and no defense where last year they couldn't score if the other team was on the sideline. But this year their defense is so bad it's like the defense is just sitting on the sideline. Washington will win games where they are a shootout but lose if they actually need to play defense. 

 

Also... Washington has continued to prove that they can't travel. It will be interesting to see how they do at Cal, Oregon and Washington State. 

 

6. Washington State (4-3) - What happened to Washington State they seemed unstoppable, and then they had road games. Washington State plays better at home, like pretty much everyone in this conference. Washington State hasn't proven they can win on the road, or at least win on the road in the Pac-12 and that is something they will need to do if they want to move up these rankings. 

 

5. Oregon State (5-2) - Oregon State has figured out their quarterback problem for now. I wouldn't say it is permanently fixed but they have a working solution for the moment. Oregon State might finally be putting together a mid season win streak. Their next game is an early November showdown at Washington. If Oregon State's defense can keep this one close then their run game will have a chance to take out the Huskies. 

 

4. USC (6-1) - Down go the Trojans! But they are still much better than everyone below them here but they lost to Utah so that has to count against them even if it was just by one point. In short this team has a ton of skill position power but when it comes to defense they live and die by turnovers.

 

3. Utah (5-2) - Utah took down USC but lost to UCLA so this is one of those times where they fit perfectly in the rankings based on their record. This Utah team, however, is not the dominant team we saw last year. Their pass rush is not as good and their defensive backs were just too fast for USC but they did do just enough to beat USC. 

 

2. UCLA (6-0) - Why isn't UCLA at No. 1? Simply because they haven't had to play away from home besides one game against Colorado which shouldn't be considered much of an achievement. 

 

1. Oregon (5-1) - Crazy enough Oregon is one of two teams undefeated in conference play. They have their hardest games left this year at home which is a major advantage. Also Oregon has one of the best quarterbacks in the conference and certainly the best offensive line. They just need to beat out UCLA this week to hold onto this top spot and at that point they become in undisputed No.1 in the conference. 

 

What are your thoughts on these rankings? 

[DUCati855]

Looks great David. Except I would put ND at 12.5!

[debbieduck]

On 10/17/2022 at 2:06 PM, David Marsh said:

The Ducks had a bye but it was still a very very interesting week. I will be honest and say the top portion of these rankings are far easier than the bottom, and to date the opposite has been true. 

 

12. Colorado (1-5) - Colorado won on Saturday against Cal, so why isn't Cal down here? Well Cal did a lot to lose that game. Cal had more offense and was on the whole the better team on the field except they couldn't finish. Colorado is playing with some energy with their new interim head coach Mike Sanford. Could Sanford be the next head coach at Colorado? Possibly he had Colorado playing with passion but even with all that it is clear that Colorado does not have the talent on the field just yet.

 

11. Cal (3-3) - Cal showed why Oregon fans were happy that Wilcox is not at Oregon. Their defense was pretty good against Colorado but their offense and special teams couldn't score to save their lives. They left at least nine points on the field during regulation. If they scored any of those points they would have won. Instead, they have the most embarrassing defeat on their record. 

 

10.5. Notre Dame (3-3) - Wait Notre Dame isn't in the conference... and that's absolutely true. But for Funsies they would rank here. They beat Cal but lost to Stanford. My point being... Notre Dame is bad this year and isn't that just delightful! 

 

10. Arizona State (2-4) - Arizona State beat Washington in their last game and that win is looking solid but Washington's defense is looking bad, more on that later. Arizona State will have a few chances to try and win a few games and it will all come down to how good this interim staff is. 

 

9. Stanford (2-4) - It feels odd to put Stanford here as they are the only team now that doesn't have a single conference win. Both Cal and Colorado have conference wins! But I do think Stanford will get at least two conference wins this year. They will probably beat Arizona State and Cal. Or the way things are going... they may not. 

 

8. Arizona (3-4) - Arizona lost to Cal but beat Colorado, so why is Arizona so far ahead of Cal? Well Arizona is improving from week to week whereas Cal is stuck in neutral, or getting worse. Arizona has a deadly offense but their defense is letting them down but they are improving. 

 

7. Washington (5-2) - Isn't if funny that Washington's problem this year is the complete opposite from their problems the last two years... they are all offense and no defense where last year they couldn't score if the other team was on the sideline. But this year their defense is so bad it's like the defense is just sitting on the sideline. Washington will win games where they are a shootout but lose if they actually need to play defense. 

 

Also... Washington has continued to prove that they can't travel. It will be interesting to see how they do at Cal, Oregon and Washington State. 

 

6. Washington State (4-3) - What happened to Washington State they seemed unstoppable, and then they had road games. Washington State plays better at home, like pretty much everyone in this conference. Washington State hasn't proven they can win on the road, or at least win on the road in the Pac-12 and that is something they will need to do if they want to move up these rankings. 

 

5. Oregon State (5-2) - Oregon State has figured out their quarterback problem for now. I wouldn't say it is permanently fixed but they have a working solution for the moment. Oregon State might finally be putting together a mid season win streak. Their next game is an early November showdown at Washington. If Oregon State's defense can keep this one close then their run game will have a chance to take out the Huskies. 

 

4. USC (6-1) - Down go the Trojans! But they are still much better than everyone below them here but they lost to Utah so that has to count against them even if it was just by one point. In short this team has a ton of skill position power but when it comes to defense they live and die by turnovers.

 

3. Utah (5-2) - Utah took down USC but lost to UCLA so this is one of those times where they fit perfectly in the rankings based on their record. This Utah team, however, is not the dominant team we saw last year. Their pass rush is not as good and their defensive backs were just too fast for USC but they did do just enough to beat USC. 

 

2. UCLA (6-0) - Why isn't UCLA at No. 1? Simply because they haven't had to play away from home besides one game against Colorado which shouldn't be considered much of an achievement. 

 

1. Oregon (5-1) - Crazy enough Oregon is one of two teams undefeated in conference play. They have their hardest games left this year at home which is a major advantage. Also Oregon has one of the best quarterbacks in the conference and certainly the best offensive line. They just need to beat out UCLA this week to hold onto this top spot and at that point they become in undisputed No.1 in the conference. 

 

What are your thoughts on these rankings? 

Like it with one exception maybe?  USC is going up by 3 touchdowns early in game when refs made a horrible roughing the passer call. They made several others all against USC. If this Game were to be played at USC they would kill Utah.  

[30Duck]

I applaud you for Coloado-Cal, head-to-head does mean something and is useful in tiebreakers, but just because a team beats another team once doesn't mean they are better overall. Oregon State is definitely primed for a good season, the only L i put on the rest of their schedule is against Oregon. 

[NJDuck]

On 10/17/2022 at 5:34 PM, debbieduck said:

Like it with one exception maybe?  USC is going up by 3 touchdowns early in game when refs made a horrible roughing the passer call. They made several others all against USC. If this Game were to be played at USC they would kill Utah.

Yes, the Pac-12 officiating is broken, needs to be fixed.  They've been making bad decisions all year.  But, as John Canzano mentioned, "The Trojans didn't lose because of the officiating.  They allowed Utah to score touchdowns on five of its six second-half offensive possessions."

[David Marsh]

On 10/17/2022 at 2:34 PM, debbieduck said:

Like it with one exception maybe?  USC is going up by 3 touchdowns early in game when refs made a horrible roughing the passer call. They made several others all against USC. If this Game were to be played at USC they would kill Utah.  

Lincoln Riley did complain about the reffing but he also conceded they didn't lose because of the ref's calls. USC didn't play much defense that game. Utah was caught flat footed at the start of the game but as the game went on they clawed back into it and eventually won it. 

 

I think it would be hard to determine who would win a rematch because both teams would make adjustments. 

 

With that said... USC was probably the better over all team but they didn't play as the better team for the full game. 

 

Additionally... the refs had a baffling call that a time out occurred in the middle of a play that benefited USC. So there were some bad calls on both sides. 

 

It was a very close game and Utah as the slight edge only because they won that game. 

[Haywarduck]

It isn't a new phenomena that Pac-12 refs get a calls wrong for the road team. This has been happening for a long time, anyone remember the Stanford game last year? We lost that game and the refs never should have been given a chance to help the smart guys. 

 

The problem is teams are letting the refs impact the outcome. You have to expect the worst, plan for the worst and can't be a whining pathetic spoiled brat program.

 

Blame the refs or give the other team credit, it looks the same in the standings. It does sound a lot worse when a coach mentions the refs when talking about the outcome, man up, there are refs, and the ball isn't round, live with it.

[Charles Fischer]

I like your ratings, your humor at 10.5 and agree with the bottom half confusion.  Now I hope that Oregon can keep winning and establish a clear No. 1 in the conference!

[Steven A]

On 10/17/2022 at 2:06 PM, David Marsh said:

Wait Notre Dame isn't in the conference

But they do have one conference game left.  And, if not for the ACC refs, they'd be 0-2.

 

Then again, the beat last year's Pac 12 champs, BYU.

 

So are they 2 - 1 with sc left?  

 

Asking for a friend.

[lownslowav8r]

On 10/17/2022 at 2:52 PM, David Marsh said:

Additionally... the refs had a baffling call that a time out occurred in the middle of a play that benefited USC. So there were some bad calls on both sides. 

There was one personal foul against USC during the last interception that was not called. There was very likely a targeting call in the last few minutes against USC. The refs swallowed their whistles at the end of the game.