Pac-12 Power Rankings: Utah, Stanford in control of their own destiny

Things are starting to become a lot clearer in the Pac-12, for the most part

Now that every team is at least halfway through their schedule, things are starting to clear up a little bit.

Here's our latest Pac-12 Power Rankings, where the top two have separated themselves from the pack.

1. Utah Utes (6-0), (3-0 Pac-12)

Previous ranking: 1

A lot of people thought Arizona State was going to be the sexy upset alert pick, but the Utes battled until the end and sealed the game in the 4th quarter. Many don't think that Utah is a top five team in the nation, and that's okay. There's still a lot of season to be played, but as of now, I'm a believer in Utah.

Devontae Booker is the heart and soul of this offense, and no one has figured out a way to stop him. Arizona State came close, and that was largely due to the fact that they were blitzing heavily on every play, forcing Travis Wilson to beat them with his arm in the rain.

Utah isn't doing anything flashy, they're just getting the job done. They get a big one at USC this weekend, but this Utah team is the real deal, and should be able to send USC to a below .500 record.

2. Stanford Cardinal (5-1), (4-0)

Previous ranking: 2

This is one of the most complete teams in the country, and Stanford is running like a well-oiled machine. Christian McCaffrey is leading the charge for the Cardinal and their offense is firing on all cylinders. In all five of their wins, they have scored 31+ points, and nobody seems to be able to stop them.

UCLA was banged up, and they're without their three best defensive players, but Stanford absolutely pummeled them on Thursday night. A few more wins, which is very doable for Stanford's schedule, and they're back in College Football Playoff contention. Their early loss to Northwestern shouldn't be much of a hinderance, even if the Wildcats continue to drop, because at that point, Stanford has 11 more games to recover and win. Meanwhile, some teams might drop out after a loss in week 8 or so.

They've already benefited by playing four Pac-12 games in the span of six weeks, and their most difficult conference game will come by the way of California. Aside from that, they get a lucky draw with the Washington schools, Oregon and Colorado, none of whom should bring huge worries. But in the final week of the season, they get Notre Dame, which could have CFP implications.

3. California Golden Bears (5-1), (2-1)

Previous Ranking: 5

California was the beneficiary of a bye week and a couple of Pac-12 South losses including USC and UCLA, which moves Cal up a few spots to No. 3.

They had a week to prepare for UCLA, and this will definitely tell us a lot about both programs. A win for Cal and it keeps them in contention for the Pac-12 North, and it gives UCLA three-straight losses in the Pac-12. But a win by UCLA, and it just gives the Pac-12 that much more parody.

Cal has a ridiculous schedule remaining, including USC, a trip to Oregon and Stanford, all to end the season with Arizona State. Good luck, Golden Bears.

4. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-3), (2-2)

Previous ranking: 6

Arizona State lost, yet moved up in the rankings? Yep. This is a completely different team from the time they got stomped on at home by USC, handily taking care of UCLA and putting up a strong fight on the road against the No. 3 team in the nation. The USC and UCLA losses also certainly helped Arizona State's case, and the head-to-head win over UCLA helped put Arizona State over the Bruins.

Todd Graham's defense is such a high risk/reward defense, but it's worked the past two weeks for them. What killed the Devils this weekend was their offense, and Utah's pesky defense. The defensive line was getting all sorts of pressure on Mike Bercovici. When the ASU quarterback was able to get it off, his receivers would drop it, and then the run game was shaky at best.

You wonder what has gone wrong compared to last year, when Bercovici had all the Heisman dark horse hype in the world. I am a big Mike Norvell fan, but I've heard a lot of people complain about how he isn't adjusting the offense to Bercovici's skill set, rather still having it suited for Taylor Kelly.

5. UCLA Bruins (4-2), (1-2)

Previous ranking: 3

UCLA got worked by Stanford. They're battling some big time injuries, but you would think they'd put up a bigger fight considering this was a must-win for the Bruins. Now with two losses in the Pac-12, they'll need a lot to happen in order to get back into the conversation.

Unfortunately, Josh Rosen started going downhill after he played Arizona. And it was the defense of Arizona State that really exposed him. He doesn't take too kindly to a blitz and definitely starts to show his freshman when he has a defender in his sights coming at him.

Without Myles Jacks, Eddie Vanderdoes and Fabian Moreau, the defense is depleted. But you would think those top-25 recruiting classes would be able to takeover.

6. USC Trojans (3-3), (1-2)

Previous ranking: 4

USC came out fighting vs. Notre Dame, and probably surprised a lot of people. I had a feeling that they would play it close, but I thought it was going to be a close, grind-it-out kind of game.

You would think that Steve Sarkisian being gone might help the situation out, considering the upgrade that would come in leadership. This team is too talented from top to bottom to be sitting at .500, and it's a shame that these kids have to go through all of this monkey business. You typically commit to a coach, not a program, and without their head coach, they're going to be playing to salvage their season and up their draft stock.

They get Utah this weekend at home, and this could be a huge win for USC. They have the talent to pull it out, it's just whether they come out fast and can knock Utah out of rhythm early.

7. Oregon Ducks (4-3), (2-2)

Previous ranking: 10

Oregon had to battle to get above .500 for the season. I still think that a win at Michigan State would have avoided this disastrous three-loss season through seven weeks, but it's all irrelevant at this point.

Luckily for Oregon, Washington doesn't have much of an offense, which is why they only allowed 20 points, or maybe how Washington scored 20 points. Vernon Adams came back, and it definitely helped out the offense. If Oregon was going up against just an average defense, the Ducks could have easily put up about 40 points.

Vernon Adams will help guide the ship back to a serviceable record for their standards, but for now, they're fighting an uphill battle in the Pac-12.

8. Washington Huskies (3-3), (1-2)

Previous ranking: 7

The margin between Arizona and Washington is really close, but because they have a strong defense, I'll value that more over the offense that seems to be way too inconsistent for Arizona.

The Huskies offense really failed the team against Oregon this week. The defense did all they could, and kept Oregon in reach, but the offense just couldn't keep up. They have to fight from behind constantly, which puts the offense in a bad position with freshman quarterback Jake Browning. If Washington can grab an early lead somehow, and ride out their defense, this can be a solid team that will beat you with less than 20 points.

They draw Stanford this week and I'm not sure that their defense is good enough to try and contain this Stanford offense.

9. Arizona Wildcats (5-2) (2-2)

Previous ranking; 8

Arizona has been riddled by injuries all season long, and that sure has had an effect on this team. This isn't a team that should be expected to win eight or nine games at this point, in case anyone was still hoping for another Pac-12 South Championship. This is about a seven (maybe eight) win team this season, given the remainder of the schedule. Disappointing? Of course. Especially when most expected an 8-win season at bare minimum, including myself, to start the season, but that 2014 Pac-12 South Championship definitely got to our heads.

Colorado is a very average team, and the team has won two Pac-12 games since 2012. They haven't been able to recruit talent since Mike MacIntyre has joined, and it's showed over the last few years. But the fact that Arizona was trailing for a decent amount of time, needing some home run plays by Jared Baker and the spark of Jerrard Randall, is pretty inexcusable in my opinion.

Their true colors started to show vs. Colorado, and the previous six games have been proof as well.  Arizona is going to beat the teams they're supposed to beat, which is how it's been the last three seasons, and can be seen in the Pac-12 South record. UTSA, Nevada, and NAU should be free wins for any decent power five team, and the blowout losses to UCLA and Stanford are just a testament to how good those teams were, and where Arizona is. Oregon State and Colorado have been at the bottom of these power rankings for a reason, and Arizona struggled mightily against the latter.

10. Washington State Cougars (4-2), (2-1)

Previous ranking: 9

Washington State has won two consecutive football games, good for them. A good win vs. Oregon on the road and then a solid win over Oregon State and the Cougars have found themselves with four wins on the season.

Their passing attack is dangerous, and I think this spells some serious trouble for Arizona. This is a very winnable game for Washington State, and they could repeat what happened the last time they came to Tucson.

11. Colorado Buffaloes (3-4), (0-3)

Previous ranking: 11

Colorado has been at 11 for quite some time, and it's because they're not very good. They had some pretty good things go their way against Arizona, including a questionable fumble recovery that was snatched away from Anu Solomon, a punt that hit Trey Griffey, allowing the Buffaloes to recover inside Arizona territory, and then some.

Yet, they still couldn't capitalize. They held Arizona's offense stagnant, and Colorado was able to run the ball effectively. They came close, but just couldn't pull it off. Now the Buffaloes will struggle for bowl eligibility.

12. Oregon State Beavers (2-4), (0-3)

Previous Ranking: 12

Oregon State has been No. 12 in these rankings ever since I can remember. They're really on the verge of going winless in the Pac-12, and that's a shame considering this was a fairly successful program just a few years ago, and those recruiting classes would now come full circle.

They just can't seem to string together a complete game and compete, but just give it time, Beavers.

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