The knock on the Pac-10 seems to always be that the teams beat up on each other all season long, and that prevents national title contenders or multiple BCS berths coming out of the conference. Well, so far that it has held to be true throughout the middle of the conference. Numbers four through nine in the Pac-10 are so thinly separated it is feasible to make an argument for any of them being higher than the others. Parity lovers, the Pac-10 is your dream conference.
Oregon is the remaining unbeaten team in the Pac. We are at the unofficial half-way point of the season, and one out of ten teams is unbeaten. Most teams have only played three conference games up to this point, yet no one outside of Eugene is blemish-free. Of course, Oregon could run the table, and likely get a non-USC Pac-10 team in the BCS title game. They could. But, given the Pac-10's proclivity for rearranging the conference totem pole, is it likely? I wouldn't take it to Vegas.
This week's Power Rankings after the jump. Brought to you by Smooty, uofafanatic, and joenewby4040.
First-place votes in parenthesis
1) Oregon (3) - The Ducks remain atop the Pac-10 for another week. A tough stretch lies ahead.
2) Stanford - Beware Pac. Ever since that loss at Autzen, doesn't it seem like the Cardinal are sneaking under the radar a bit?
3) Arizona - The most fragile ranking in the conference. No one knows where the Cats' season is headed at this point, with Foles sidelined indefinitely. Saturday feels like the first game of a new season for Arizona.
4) Washington - Where do you put the Dawgs? Washington was taken behind the woodshed by Nebraska, who lost to Texas, who got killed at home by UCLA. So...let's put Washington four spots ahead of UCLA. Science.
5) USC- The question with USC is not whether they are talented, but whether they can put forth a consistent effort every week.
6) Oregon State - Tough loss for the Beavers last weekend, but they only have themselves to blame. They will remain a nightmare match-up the remainder of conference play.
7) Cal - Throttled.
8) UCLA - How long can this exercise in futility continue? Does having Paul Wulff in the same conference somehow make Neuheisel look acceptable? How does this guy not succeed in the L.A. market?
9) ASU - Still only one victory over an FBS opponent.
10) WSU - Paul Wulff is getting more out of his players this year, than ever before. it still is not enough.