Pac-12 Power Rankings, Week 10: Oregon and everybody else

Welcome to our Week 10 power rankings: We're serving Buffalo burgers with a nice side of Cougar fries. Duck is out of season and thus not on the menu.

1. Oregon Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 1)

Oregon finally got to play four quarters against USC, defeating the Trojans 62-51. It is important to remember that Oregon never trailed USC, even though Matt Barkley tore up the Ducks defense for 484 passing yards. Kenjon Barner is an animal, throwing down a gauntlet of 321 rushing yards and five touchdowns. This team deserves its shot at the BCS title, without a question.

2. Stanford Cardinal (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 2)

Stanford got to play Colorado, and did what every other team in the conference has been doing: beat them mercilessly. With games against Oregon, OSU and UCLA to finish out the season, the Cardinal have a puncher's chance at a BCS game.

3. Oregon State Beavers (7-1, 5-1 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 3)

Despite ASU getting off to a good start, the Beavers played a consistent game and wore down the Sun Devil secondary. This team continues to buck the trend and prove all the preseason pundits wrong. The North is where all the heavyweights are in 2012, and Stanford, Oregon and OSU all play each other before the season is over. Could be some great Pac-12 games on the horizon.

4. UCLA Bruins (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 4)

Wow. After Arizona beat USC last week, I thought this game would be a good one. Instead, UCLA scores 66 and holds Matt Scott and AU to 10 total points. That is impressive no matter how you slice it. It's clear that the Bruins got a lot of confidence in their last-second win against ASU and it came through in full at home.

5. Washington Huskies (5-4, 3-3 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 6)

Beating Cal was a good boost for the Huskies - playing in Berkeley is never an easy task. They play Utah, Colorado and Wazzu to close out the year, and UW will be 8-4 when the season is over.

6. USC Trojans (6-3, 4-3 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 7)

A season of destiny has turned into a season of reality for USC. Lane Kiffin and the Trojans haven't been able to put it together consistently and they continue to fail to live up to the preseason hype.

7. Arizona Wildcats (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 5)

Last week, I said the following: "The calibre of their victories is evident and they have the right mindset to make a shocking push back into the Pac-12 South picture after an 0-3 start in conference play."

I'm here to say I was wrong, and I am glad. Arizona looked terrible against UCLA and while their schedule eases up quite a bit the next few weeks, their loss to the Bruins gives little reason to believe they can win out.

8. Utah Utes (4-5, 2-4 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 9)

Utah's getting back into the groove. A bowl berth is still possible, but they need to beat either UW or Arizona (and Colorado, of course).

9. Arizona State Sun Devils (5-4, 3-3 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 8)

The Sun Devils must hope that Will Sutton can come back to 100% really soon, or else they may lose all their remaining games. The secondary has been a nightmare and Taylor Kelly has no time to throw.

10. California Golden Bears (3-7, 2-5 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 10)

An unequivocally bad season for the Bears, who many thoughts would win at least 7 or 8 games with an experienced offensive unit.

11. Washington State Cougars (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 11)

It's not pretty up in Pullman, but you knew that already. Three relatively tough teams remain on the schedule and they may not win again.

12. Colorado Buffaloes (1-8, 1-5 Pac-12 conference play, last week: 12)

The Colorado/Utah "rivalry game" will sure be something! Can't wait!