ASU Football: 2017 Pac-12 Week 12 Power Rankings

Stanford’s upset win over Washington put a dagger into the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff hopes, but a couple of teams inched closer to bowl eligibility.

It was another upset-filled week in the Pac-12 with Stanford defeating then-No. 9 Washington to end all hopes of the Pac-12 getting a team into the College Football Playoff.

The Pac-12 North is now in a three-way tie with Stanford, Washington and Washington State as all are leveled with two losses.

Washington State controls their own destiny owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Stanford and playing Washington next week in Seattle in the Apple Cup.

Stanford and Washington will need some help to get to Santa Clara.

In the Pac-12 South, the USC Trojans locked up the division title after defeating Colorado in Boulder, with UCLA defeating Arizona State as the Bruins are now a win away from bowl eligibility with two games remaining.

ASU will have to wait to Saturday to see if they can reach the six-win marker to become bowl eligible.

Our football coverage team of Alec Henden, Ethan Schmidt, Hunter Robinson, Jordan Kaye, Killian McClatchey, Sam Ficarro and Zach Pekale voted on this week’s Power Rankings with a new team sitting at No. 1.

Power Rankings: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 |

1. USC Trojans (LW: 2)

For the first time in four weeks, USC is atop of our Power Rankings after defeating Colorado 38-24 to seal the Pac-12 South title.

In an offensive shootout, running back Ronald Jones continued his tear rushing for 142 yards and one touchdown with quarterback Sam Darnold throwing for 329 yards and two touchdowns.

USC led 20-0 at halftime with the closest Colorado came to reaching USC was a 30-17 deficit in the fourth quarter.

In the updated College Football Playoff Rankings, USC’s ranking went unchanged, which is a discouraging sign for the Trojans and the Pac-12 for any hopes they had remaining.

USC will play their final regular season game of the season Saturday (6 p.m. MT on ABC) when they host their crosstown rival UCLA.

2. Stanford Cardinal (LW: 4)

In recent weeks, no team has moved more frequently in our Power Rankings than Stanford.

The Cardinal pulled off an upset of then-No. 9 Washington 30-22 last Friday behind another noteworthy performance from running back Bryce Love.

Love, who was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, rushed the ball 30 times for 166 yards and three touchdowns.

After trailing 14-10 at halftime, the Cardinal defense stepped up big time holding Washington to just eight points in the second half.

Quarterback K.J. Costello picked up his second win as starter spearheading the offense as the Cardinal were on the field for 13 more minutes than Washington.

Next up for Stanford is a rivalry game at home versus California Saturday at 6 p.m. MT on FOX.

3. Washington State Cougars (LW: 3)

After seeing their in-state rival lose Friday night, Washington State knows that if they win out, they will be heading to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The Cougars took a step closer to achieving that goal with a 33-25 road win over Utah.

Quarterback Luke Falk needed an ice pack on his shoulder after the game throwing 69 passes, completing 40, for 311 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Kicker Erik Powell converted four field goals with the longest coming from 44 yards away as he was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Cougs were actually out-gained by Utah, but the Utes turned the ball over seven times resulting in 30 points for Wazzu.

Washington State is on a bye week this week before a huge showdown in Seattle against Washington next Saturday.

4. Washington Huskies (LW: 1)

Washington is reeling after a disappointing 30-22 loss at Stanford last Friday night.

The Huskies controlled the game in the first half doing a good job in limiting Stanford running back Bryce Love.

Love ran wild in the second half as the Cardinal controlled the time of possession in the second half outscoring the Huskies 20-8 after halftime.

Quarterback Jake Browning had an average game to his standard as he finished 17-of-23 passing for 190 yards. Running back Myles Gaskin had a strong game rushing for 120 yards and three touchdowns.

The second half was a struggle for Washington’s offense as they went punt, punt, fumble, punt, touchdown and turnover on downs.

Washington have lost control of their own destiny and will need to win out beginning Saturday (8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN) when they host Utah.

5. Arizona Wildcats (LW: 5)

Arizona is coming off a blowout 49-28 win over Oregon State as the Beavers had no answer in stopping quarterback Khalil Tate.

Tate rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns while only throwing seven passes, completing five for 68 yards.

The Wildcats finished the game with 602 yards of total offense with 534 yards coming on the ground.

In total, Arizona had three 100-yard rushers with Tate leading the way followed by J.J. Taylor (129 yards) and Nick Wilson (101 yards, 1 TD).

Arizona improved its record to 7-3 and 5-2 in Pac-12 play in what most thought was a make-or-break year for head coach Rich Rodriguez.

The Wildcats will begin their season-ending two-game road trip Saturday (5 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network) at Oregon.

T6: Arizona State Sun Devils (LW: 6)

What a frustrating result for the Sun Devils last weekend against UCLA.

Arizona State dominated the Bruins on the ground in the first half rushing the ball for 203 yards in the first half and was leading 21-20 at halftime.

Quarterback Manny Wilkins had a great game finishing with 325 total yards, two total touchdowns and one interception, including this touchdown run in the second quarter.

Compared to the first half when the Sun Devils rushed it 39 times and threw it 13 times, ASU abandoned the running game in the second half rushing the ball 22 times for 91 yards while throwing it 24 times for 237 yards.

The defense struggled to stop UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who threw for 381 yards for one touchdowns while also scoring on a 1-yard run.

Arizona State will look to become bowl eligible with victory Saturday (1 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network) in Corvallis against Oregon State.

T6. UCLA Bruins (LW: T10)

Big jump for UCLA in this week’s Power Rankings after their 44-37 victory over Arizona State.

The Bruins got a big game from quarterback Josh Rosen (381 passing yards, 2 total TDs) as well as a productive running game (192 yards).

Rosen played well in his first game back from suffering a concussion two weeks prior against Washington.

The Bruins needed to this win game to prevent the scenario of having to win out to make a bowl game with USC and Cal the final two games to close out the regular season.

UCLA, who are heavy underdogs against USC Saturday (6 p.m. MT on ABC), will have to play a near-perfect game to stop the Trojans with the Bruins having one of the worst defenses in the conference.

8. California Golden Bears (LW: 8)

The Golden Bears stay at No. 8 after they were on a bye last week.

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California is preparing for the “Big Game” in Palo Alto against No. 22 Stanford as the Golden Bears look to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Cardinal.

Cal just needs to win one of their final two games to be bowl eligible under first-year head coach Justin Wilcox.

Kickoff of Cal-Stanford is at 6 p.m. MT Saturday on FOX.

9. Utah Utes (LW: 7)

Utah had a nightmarish afternoon last Saturday against Washington State as the Utes turned it over seven times leading to 30 Wazzu points. Utah lost the game 33-25.

The Utes finished with 29 more yards of offense and seven more first downs than Washington State, but the turnovers proved to be too costly.

Quarterback Tyler Huntley completed 21-of-39 passes for 305 yards, one touchdown, one fumble and three interceptions while also being the team’s leading rusher with 51 yards on 20 carries.

The Utes are still looking for their sixth win as they’ll travel to Seattle to face No. 19 Washington Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN in hopes of becoming bowl eligible.

10. Oregon Ducks (LW: 9)

Like Cal, Oregon was on a bye last week in preparation for their game against Arizona Saturday (5 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Network).

The Ducks are hoping that the extra week of preparation will lead to an improved passing game and defense as they have the tall task of stopping Khalil Tate.

Oregon, like a bunch of teams in the Pac-12, need one more win to become bowl eligible as the Ducks finish the season with Arizona and Oregon State.

11. Colorado Buffaloes (LW: T10)

Colorado is coming off a 38-24 loss versus No. 11 USC as the Buffaloes couldn’t overcome a 20-0 halftime deficit.

Quarterback Steven Montez threw for 376 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while running back Phillip Lindsay had one of his worst games this season rushing for just 68 yards and one touchdown.

The Buffs defense allowed 522 yards of offense to USC as they couldn’t figure out many solutions to stop the Trojans attack.

With the loss, Colorado drops to 5-6 and 2-6 in conference play and will need to defeat Utah next Saturday to become bowl eligible.

12. Oregon State Beavers (LW: 12)

It was another tough game for Oregon State as Arizona gashed the defense for 534 rushing yards as Wildcats cruised to a 49-28 victory.

Oregon State trailed 28-0 at halftime with the closest deficit coming in the third quarter when OSU trailed 35-14.

Quarterback Darell Garretson had a solid game throwing for 209 yards, four touchdowns and one interceptions while running back Ryan Nall finished with 135 total yards and one receiving touchdown.

Next: ASU Football: Sun Devils squander early lead, fall to UCLA

Oregon State will look to play spoiler the final two weeks of the season against Arizona State this week (1 p.m. MT Sat. on Pac-12 Network) and Oregon next week as both teams sit with five wins.