Pac-12 Football Rankings – Week 9


Pac-12 football rankings heading into Week 9 of the 2016 season. Washington and Utah win to set up next week’s huge showdown.


Jake Browning proved again why he’s one of the nation’s top quarterbacks and deserving of all the Heisman Trophy attention. His performance against Oregon State helped keep Washington undefeated heading into next week’s game at Utah.

The Utes pulled out a tough road win for the second straight week and likely couldn’t be happier to be home. They can make a big statement by knocking off the Huskies next week.

Here’s a look at the rest of the Pac-12 heading into Week 9.

Week 9 Pac-12 Football Rankings

12. Arizona (Last Week – 12)

Rich Rodriguez got a week off of his hot seat while the Wildcats had a bye. Arizona has lost four in a row heading into next week’s home matchup with Stanford.

11. Oregon State (11)

Oregon State’s 41-17 loss to Washington was its second straight. It’s scored fewer than 20 in three of its last four games.

10. Oregon (9)

The Ducks overcame a 21-point deficit against Cal and even took the lead in overtime. But that wasn’t enough to prevent their losing streak from hitting five a dropping them to 0-4 in the Pac-12. Mark Helfrich is going to need some wins in order to save his job.

9. California (10)

The inconsistent Bears are now 4-3, having alternated wins and losses through the season. They have allowed at least 31 points six times, and they’ll have one less day to prepare from Friday’s tough win over Oregon for Thursday’s matchup at USC.

8. UCLA (8)

The Bruins have lost three in a row by a combined 19 points. Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t pull through in Saturday’s 52-45 loss to Utah. They’ll get the week off before a Thursday night matchup at Colorado.

7. Arizona State (7)

ASU’s promising start is out the window. The Sun Devils have dropped three of four since beginning 4-0 and lost this week to Washington State at home, 37-32. They’ll play three of their final four on the road, beginning next week at Oregon.

6. Stanford (3)

Christian McCaffrey returned and accounted for over 100 total yards. The Cardinal finished with just 263 for the game, though, and lost a tough-to-watch 10-5 contest to Colorado. Stanford has lost three of its last four and are far from the team that was favored heavily to win the conference.

5. Washington State (6)

The Cougars just keep on rolling. Their winning streak now stands at five, including four straight to open Pac-12 play. The most surprising part of it? Washington State has won its last two without hitting 400 total yards with that high-powered offense.

4. Colorado (5)

Saturday’s win over Stanford certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Buffaloes will take it. That’s two straight victories since losing to USC, and they’ll get next week off before facing UCLA on a Thursday night.

3. USC (4)

The Trojans get a week to rest during their three-game winning streak that was badly needed following a 1-3 start. They’ll have two prime opportunities to add to that run with home games against Cal and Oregon before having to travel to Washington on Nov. 12.

2. Utah (2)

The Utes are living dangerously, but they still improved to 7-1. They won road games the last two weeks over Oregon State and UCLA by a combined 12 points, and they know they’ll need to be much better when Washington comes to town next week.

1. Washington (1)

The Huskies and standout quarterback Jake Browning just keep on rolling. They won their third straight blowout since surviving overtime at Arizona, but they’ll surely be in for another tough road test next week as the top two teams in the Pac-12 battle it out.