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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pac-12 power rankings

These things are easy to sort through when there are as many losers as there are winners. But when Pac-12 teams all decide to put together impressive victories on the same day, it gets a little tougher. Such was the case this week, with the top five remaining unchanged. There is movement at the bottom, though, which is good news for USC. And the Cougars crack the top half. The rankings …

1 Oregon (3-0, 0-0 in Pac-12; last week: 1) – As deep as league is, hard to see anyone beating the Ducks. Marcus Mariota is the truth.

2 UCLA (2-0, 0-0; last week: 3) – Bruins look for real. For real.

3 Stanford (2-0, 0-0; last week: 2) – Time to unveil more of playbook against feisty ASU.

4 Washington (2-0, 0-0; last week: 4) – 53-point favorites against Idaho State. Huskies probably capable of twice that.

5 ASU (2-0, 0-0; last week: 5) – It would be wrong to throw an asterisk next to ASU’s entry for the rest of the season. Right?

6 WSU (2-1, 1-0; last week: 7) – With another blowout on tap this week, Cougars’ confidence train keeps on chugging.

7 Arizona (3-0, 0-0; last week: 8) – Wildcats question marks with week off before 1st real game.

8 Oregon St. (2-1, 1-0; last week: 10) – Overtime win over Utah stems ultra-panic mode.

9 USC (2-1, 0-1; last week: 12) – Trojans crawl out of our rankings basement with a must- must-win over Boston College.

10 Utah (2-1, 0-1; last week: 6) – Bounceback win over BYU just what Utes need. Loss could send them reeling, (UCLA, Stanford next.)

1 1 Colorado (2-0, 0-0; last week: 9) – Tough to drop ’em two spots without playing a game, but hey, most other teams won …

12 Cal (1-2, 0-0; last week: 11) – … except for Cal. But hey, at least they can score points.