Nathan's Pac-12 Rankings Week 5

 They’re back!!  Yes, apologies for not posting any rankings for Week 4.  What can I say, I got busy.  What are you gonna do?  That’s the nice thing about starting a blog where you are mainly accountable to yourself and your tiny/non-existent group of readers!

 WOW!  I certainly didn't expect that my Wildcats would crap the bed against UCLA!  Not sure what to say, except they really didn't play well that night.  Congrats to UCLA for the great win!  They then followed up in their reign of dominance with a strong showing at ASU... Oh, wait, that's right...  They followed up by completely getting out-played at ASU.  Crazy week in the Pac-12!

Props to Oregon for finding a way to avoid a letdown so far.  They managed to beat Washington, the toughest opponent that they have left on their mild schedule, so things are looking good for them if they stay focused.  It seems that with the unbalanced schedule, there is little chance that Arizona, UCLA or ASU can catch them for the regular season title.

1. Oregon (7-0,18-2, 2) Oregon heads to Stanford and Cal this week.  Teams that they should beat, based on how they've been playing, but the road in conference play is a treacherous place!  Will the Ducks show (again) that they have what it takes to avoid the upset?
2. UCLA (6-2,16-5, 1) With only the cross-town game with USC on their schedule, this is a good week for Travis Wear to get some rest.  Let’s hope that the rumors of Shabazz getting the flu are exaggerated.
3. Arizona (5-2,17-2, 3) The Wildcats continue to be ranked in the top 10, but it won’t last long if they don’t play with consistent energy during their trip to Washington.
4. Arizona State (5-2, 16-4, 4) Big win for ASU over the Bruins, but that will seem far away if they don’t follow that up with some road victories in Washington.  I actually am starting to believe in this Sun Devils team, but a couple losses on the road would not help.
5. Colorado (4-4, 14-6, 6) Colorado seems to have righted the ship.  They are finally back to .500 in conference play, and a win over rival Utah on Saturday can get them back in the conference race.
6. Washington (4-3, 12-8, 5) - Washington couldn't pull off the win over Oregon, and have now lost 3 straight conference games.  The bad news is that they still have to play the Arizona schools twice this season.  At least this week they get a crack at them at home.  A split would be a good week for Washington.
7. California (3-4, 11-8, 8) The Golden Bears have been a quintessential middling Pac-12 team so far this year.  They have talent at the guards, and occasional strong play up front, but can’t seem to put it together against stronger opponents.
8. Stanford (3-4, 12-8, 9) I haven’t really watched Stanford, so I’ll just say that their domination of Utah on the road was impressive.  Not many teams score over 80 points against the Utes!
9. USC (3-5, 8-13, 7) Southern Cal hasn't really impressed since the firing of Kevin O'Neill, so the verdict is still out on a mid-season coaching change.  I’m still convinced that there is more to the story on why they fired O'Neill mid-season as opposed to waiting until the end of the year.
10. Washington State (2-5, 11-9, 10) Wazzu hung on for their first conference road win last week at Oregon State.  Let’s see if they can surprise either of the Arizona schools at home this week.
11. Oregon State (1-6, 11-9, 11) The Beavers got a nice win over Washington, but then followed that up with a loss to lowly Washington State.  The road trip at Stanford and Cal doesn't look very inviting.
12. Utah (1-7, 9-11, 12) The Utes returned to form last week after their surprising first win at Washington.  A victory over Colorado this week would be a big step forward for the program.

Picks for Wednesday and Thursday games:
Wednesday:  USC @ UCLA, Oregon @ Stanford.
Thursday:  Arizona @ Washington, Arizona State @ Washington State, Oregon State @ Cal