Pac-10 Power Rankings

USC (10-2, 7-2 Pac-10):

Champions of the Pac-10 once more, the Trojans are again playing like the best team in the country. It's really a shame that they dropped that game to Stanford [HTML_REMOVED] otherwise the Trojans would be pretty much everybody's consensus pick to win the national title. Be afraid, Illinois.

Arizona State (10-2, 7-2 Pac-10): The Sun Devils might have deserved a BCS game, but they'll have to settle for the Holiday Bowl. Dennis Erickson turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for these guys.

Oregon State (8-4, 6-3 Pac-10):

Not a lot of people mention the Beavers as one of the Pac-10's elite teams, but only USC has won more games than OSU over the past two seasons.

Oregon (8-4, 5-4 Pac-10):

What happens when a key injury meets up with terrible coaching? A four-game losing streak. You can still hear the choking all the way up here. They probably should be ranked lower, but they get a break for losing quarterback Dennis Dixon.

Arizona (5-7, 4-5 Pac-10):

If these guys could have gotten things rolling just a little bit sooner, Mike Stoops would be breathing a lot easier right now. It makes you wonder how much longer the Wildcats are going to underachieve.

UCLA (6-6, 5-4 Pac-10):

The rest of the Pac-10 should pray that they hire Rick Neuheisel.

Washington State (5-7, 3-6 Pac-10): Rumor has it that the Cougars are going after Mike Price. This is one of the few instances where firing a nice, classy old man and hiring a raging alcoholic with a penchant for strip-club booze binges actually makes sense.

Stanford (4-8, 3-6 Pac-10):

One of the only teams in NCAA history to win four games and overachieve at the same time. Jim Harbaugh seems to know what he's doing.

California (6-6, 3-6 Pac-10):

The Golden Bears made sure that Oregon didn't have the biggest collapse in the Pac-10. It doesn't really seem fair that these guys are going to a bowl game.

Washington (2-7, 4-9 Pac-10):

They had the offense of a national contender, but the defense of a pee-wee league cellar-dweller. And that's why they're dwelling in the cellar of the Pac-10. Tyrone Willingham better find some answers on defense, or next year's postseason press conference will be a tad different than yesterday's meeting.