The Pac-12 had a light slate of games in Week 6 and still managed to produce some tremendous football. Arizona-USC was wildly entertaining. Washington State-UCLA was a tremendous defensive slugfest. Oregon State-Cal somehow produced more points than a triple-overtime game between the Trojans and Wildcats.

There are clear and obvious tiers to the league this season. Two teams are at the very top all by themselves. The more we see of USC, the more I’m convinced they’re moving away from that top tier rather than toward it, and that makes for a second level that we’ll call the “chaos-inducing problem children.” That group runs four-deep and includes a collection of teams who look really flawed yet really dangerous.

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

Stanford was on a bye last week, so this section is taking the week off as well.

11. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-5, 0-3 Pac-12)

Last week: 11

Arizona State lost its fifth consecutive game on Saturday, a 27-24 defeat to Colorado that came at the bitter end. Since the shutout loss to Fresno State, changes from Kenny Dillingham have taken hold. ASU has lost back-to-back games by just a field goal. They had a chance late against Cal after a goal line stand, and they had tied the game against CU with a touchdown throw from Trenton Bourguet with less than a minute to play. I like the fight here. Dillingham’s team has adopted his mindset, a clear sign what he’s preaching is taking hold.

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

Last week: 10

Cal turned to a new quarterback against Oregon State and… scored 40 points? On the Beavers?? Forty??? It’s just the third time since the start of 2020 that a team has put 40 on the Oregon State defense. The other two teams to do so were Oregon and Utah. Cal??? We’ll see if Fernando Mendoza — who completed 21 of his 32 passes for 207 yards and two scores — might be cooking with something here or if this was simply a case of the Beavs getting caught feeling themselves a bit after the Week 5 win.

9. Colorado Buffaloes (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12)

Last week: 9

Shedeur Sanders flashing his watch to the student section for a 1-5 team he just beat with a last-minute field goal is so painfully and unapologetically Colorado that I can’t help but respect it. Still, Colorado was outgained 392-295 while Sanders was pummeled again. The slow starts are still a thing — Colorado had 74 yards of offense in the first half before an 81-yard drive on its final possession before the break — and until CU can figure out a way to consistently keep Sanders in a clean pocket, this offense will be painfully boom-or-bust.

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

Last week: 6

Utah was on a bye last week, so this section is taking the week off as well.

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

Last week: 8

I actually really like this Arizona team. Arizona has three losses right now. Two of them are in overtime. Two of them are against top-10 teams. Two of the three are on the road. And none of them were by more than seven points. The defense is improved. The offense has two quarterbacks capable of running it effectively. A fun thought experiment: If Arizona was in, say, the Big Ten West, how many games would it win the division by? If Arizona was in the Big 12 already, I think a third or fourth-place finish would be completely within reach.

6. Oregon State Beavers (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 5

What a strange result in Berkeley. A week after giving up just seven points in a resounding beatdown of Utah, Oregon State gave up 40 to a Cal team on its third quarterback. And this wasn’t like the 32 points against Washington, when Cal got a bunch of garbage-time production to make things look decent on the scoreboard.  It was 35-32 Beavers going into the fourth quarter. I’m entirely unsure what to make of that defensive performance. DJ Uiagalelei throwing five touchdown passes on 25 attempts is another bizarro occurrence. Good and bad here.

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

Last week: 3

The Cougars ran into an unyielding buzzsaw in Pasadena. They went into the game averaging north of 500 yards of offense and more than 7 yards per play. In a 25-17 loss to UCLA, they averaged 3.7 yards a play. I think this particular result was a message sent to the rest of the league that UCLA’s defense is a legitimate force to be taken seriously. I still think Washington State is exceptional on offense, and the defense kept Wazzu in this one.

4. USC Trojans (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12)

Last week: 4

This isn’t recency bias talking. Caleb Williams is orchestrating one of the best individual careers in college football history. He’s unbelievable. He’s a dynamo with the football in his hands. And he’s being wasted. USC looks like a mess everywhere else on the field. Maybe I’m being too harsh and USC finds a way to turn around the defense mid-year, fix the interior of the offensive line, and rip through the best teams in the conference because it has the best player on its sideline. But I see two losses coming over the back half of the season.

3. UCLA Bruins (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12)

Last week: 7

I’m being real reactive with this. Just want to get that out there right away because there might be some sticker shock to seeing a 6-0, top-10 team sitting behind a team that already has a conference loss. UCLA has the best defense in college football. Don’t believe me? The Bruins are giving up only 3.7 yards per play through five games — the best mark in the country. They have the second-best run defense in the country (1.9 yards per carry) and sit in the top 10 for scoring defense, passer rating, sacks, tackles for loss, and takeaways. A 25-17 win over Washington State featured a tough-to-watch offense, but if Dante Moore figures it out, this team can make a run at one of the two title game spots because of its defense.

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

Last week: 2

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

Last week: 1

Washington and Oregon were on byes this weekend, but they remain in a tier of their own atop the league. Truly terrifying teams with elite quarterbacks, elite coaches, and legitimate CFP dreams. Their showdown in Week 7 has the potential to be one of the most influential games on the college football calendar this season. I cannot wait.