We have a new No. 1 in the Pac-12 Power Rankings.

And in two weeks, we’ll have a battle between No. 1 and No. 2. That game will carry Pac-12 title implications as well as larger College Football Playoff ones. Right now, both Oregon and Washington are rolling, and they’re on a collision course set for Seattle.

Week 5 provided other storylines as well. It’s once again time to update the Power Rankings, so let’s dive in.

12. Stanford Cardinal (1-4, 0-3 Pac-12)

Last week: 12

The Cardinal wanted to keep the football away from Oregon’s offense and it worked for a quarter. The issue was that Stanford kicked field goals on its two six-plus-minute drives and held only a 6-0 lead in the second quarter. Field goals don’t work against the Ducks. Stanford needed touchdowns. But Stanford is having a tough time this season trying to generate big plays. In three Pac-12 games thus far, it has an 11% explosive play rate. With how poorly the defense is performing on the whole, that won’t get it done.

11. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-4, 0-2 Pac-12)

Last week: 10

Arizona State’s drive chart is something. It’s either points or disaster. ASU ran 13 drives. Four of them ended with scores, three of them ended on downs, two of them ended on turnovers, and three of them ended in three-and-outs. One of those field goal possessions featured a fourth-and-goal score from the 1 that was taken off the board because ASU had 12 men on the field. A four-point swing in a three-point loss. This is chaotic stuff from ASU as the losing streak reaches four. Also worth mentioning: It’s obviously not amounting to wins but I think the way Kenny Dillingham has Arizona State fighting is admirable. That’ll mean something going forward. Taking over play-calling was also the right move.

10. Cal Golden Bears (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 11

Cal was outgained in the game, outgained on a per-play basis, and outgained on first downs. The Bears faced 10 third-and-longs (9 or more yards) and only converted one of them.  Jaydn Ott was promising, but Cal getting turned away at the 1-yard-line with a chance to ice the game left a bad lasting impression. The Bears got a crucial Arizona State turnover in the fourth that led to a touchdown in a three-point win.

9. Colorado Buffaloes (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12)

Last week: 9

I think Colorado’s comeback bid late in the game said more about USC than it did the Buffaloes. Sorry. Colorado still gave up 48 points, 498 yards of offense, and nearly 8 a play. In the two first halves they’ve played against Pac-12 teams, the Buffs have been outscored 69-14 and outgained 711-267. The pass game during that time has completed 26 of its 40 attempts for just 165 yards (4.1 a play). Teams have figured this group out.

8. Arizona Wildcats (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 8

The Wildcats went up against the No. 7 team in the country without their starting quarterback or their starting tailback and didn’t really flinch. It held UW to a season-low in points, yards, and yards per play. It also sacked Penix twice in one game, which has been otherwise unheard of since he arrived in Seattle.

7. UCLA Bruins (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 7

UCLA was on a bye this weekend, so this section will be taking the week off as well.

6. Utah Utes (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 5

This offense is not good. That’s putting it nicely because I respect the Utah program that much. And I’m starting to wonder if Cameron Rising is enough to fix it. Utah averaged 3.1 yards per play and, minus a garbage-time touchdown throw, averaged 2.7 yards a play on first downs. The defense finally cracked under the pressure of having to carry a truly anemic offense. The offense is down to 128th nationally in yards per play. Utah is so injured. I get it. Missing the top two tailbacks, missing the top playmaker in the pass game, missing the top quarterback; no one is going to look great with that kind of injury report. But this is a mess right now and the Utes have two weeks to try and figure out how to clean it up.

5. Oregon State Beavers (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 6

Apologies to the Beavers. I didn’t think they would present the Utah offense with more challenges than UCLA did. I was so, so, so wrong. They nearly shut the Utes out. They swarmed everything and completely dominated Utah’s offensive line. DJ Uiagalelei played mostly clean, though he had a bad pick in the second half. The Beavers controlled this game way more than the 14-point margin would indicate.

4. USC Trojans (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12)

Last week: 3

Lincoln Riley is unserious about championship football. He can claim otherwise, and get offended by the claim, but his actions are speaking louder than words right now. How much more does he need to see from Alex Grinch’s defense to reach the conclusion everyone else is already at — that he cannot win a national title with this defense? USC nearly blew a 27-point second-half lead to Colorado — Colorado! — because it can’t tackle and can’t play with a lead. USC gave up 219 sack-adjusted rushing yards to an offense that ran for 223 yards total in its first four games. It felt like the Cotton Bowl back in January. There’s a clear upper tier in the Pac-12. USC ain’t in it right now.

3. Washington State Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12)

Last week: 4

Washington State was on a bye this weekend, so this section will be taking the week off as well.

2. Washington Huskies (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12)

Last week: 1

I’m not concerned about the Huskies after a 31-24 win over Arizona. Maybe I’m in the minority there. The Wildcats are much improved, and their only other loss on the season was because they turned the football over 64 times in an overtime game. Their quarterback in this one didn’t make a ton of mistakes, and their defense took away the thing that lets Washington boat race teams. Without the vertical passing game, UW still put up 474 yards of offense. Plus, Dillon Johnson found his legs in the ground game. We’ll see if UW gets healthy coming out of the bye week. It needs all hands on deck against the Ducks, who have looked just a tad more impressive over the last two weeks.

1. Oregon Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12)

Last week: 2

Oregon doesn’t play with its food. I appreciate that. After USC struggled to put Colorado away, Lincoln Riley claimed that’s just life in college football. Well, Oregon must be living a different existence. The Ducks put their foot on Stanford’s throat and kept it there. After giving up 97 yards on the first two defensive drives of the game (at 3.5 per play, mind you), Stanford got just 125 yards over its final seven possessions. Three three-and-outs followed by three turnovers on downs. On the other side, Oregon responded to back-to-back offensive three-and-outs to open the game with touchdowns on six of its next seven drives. The Cardinal did not stop Oregon after those first two drives. Oregon’s only other drive of consequence that ended without points did so because of a missed field goal. Oregon-Washington in two weeks is going to be everything.