Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Pac-12 Week 9 power rankings: Arizona's rise continues thanks to QB Khalil Tate

Another week, another shakeup in the Pac-12, which at this point isn't the least bit surprising. As Oregon State showed against Stanford, there aren't too many teams that are immune to a potential upset. Here are the latest Pac-12 power rankings:

1. Washington (7-1, 4-1 Pac-12); Beat UCLA, 44-23: Coming off its first loss of the season, Washington showed it’s not ready to leave the College Football Playoff conversation. To beat UCLA, the Huskies essentially decided they didn’t need to pass the ball (they had just 12 attempts).

2. Arizona (6-2, 4-1); Beat Washington State, 58-37: Since quarterback Khalil Tate emerged earlier this month, Arizona is 4-0 and has averaged 48.75 points per game. Tate’s 840 rushing yards are the most by any player in an October in the past decade, and he’s one of just seven players in that span with four 70-plus-yard runs in a season.

3. USC (7-2, 5-1); Beat Arizona State, 48-17: USC followed its worst performance of the season with its best, which has to be frustrating for fans who undoubtedly will wonder why the team can’t play at the level it did against Arizona State on a consistent basis.

4. Stanford (6-2, 5-1); Beat Oregon State, 15-14: Bryce Love's value was magnified as the Cardinal struggled without its Heisman candidate against one of the worst teams in the country. Still, his absence isn’t a good excuse for how close this game was.

5. Washington State (7-2, 4-2); Lost to Arizona, 58-37: When the Cougars lose, they make sure it is done in spectacular fashion. QB Luke Falk probably would have broken the Pac-12 career record for passing yards Saturday night, but was replaced by Tyler Hilinski, who threw for 509 yards with four costly interceptions.

6. Arizona State (4-4, 3-2); Lost to USC, 48-17: Arizona State’s brief rise over the previous two weeks was thanks to two stout defensive efforts. Against USC, the Sun Devils were gutted for 341 yards rushing.

7. UCLA (4-4, 2-3); Lost to Washington, 44-23: The Bruins have been hit hard by injuries and took another blow when QB Josh Rosen exited in the third quarter against Washington. Even before he went out, it was clear they weren’t going to be able to keep pace with the Huskies.

8. Oregon (5-4, 2-4); Beat Utah, 41-20: Just as it seemed like the season was getting away from the Ducks, they turned in one of their best overall performances. Royce Freeman and Tony Brooks-James both rushed for over 100 yards as the Ducks moved to within one win of bowl eligibility.

9. Colorado (5-4, 2-4); Beat Cal 44-28: After struggling the last several weeks, the Buffs finally looked like the team they expected to be coming into the year. QB Steven Montez had his best game of the season (20-of-26, 347 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT) a week after getting benched at halftime.

10. California (4-5, 1-5); Lost to Colorado 44-28: The Bears looked like a surefire bowl team when the sun rose Saturday morning, but now they have work to do. With Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA remaining, they still need two more wins.

11. Utah (4-4, 1-4); Lost to Oregon, 41-20: Utah was a two-point conversion away from taking control of the Pac-12 South three weeks ago at USC and now sits alone at the bottom of the standings. Units on both sides of the ball share the blame in the loss to the Ducks.

12. Oregon State (1-7, 0-5); Lost to Stanford, 15-14: Interim coach Cory Hall has done a fantastic job making the Beavers competitive in his two games in charge, but the Beavers are still winless against FBS opponents.

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