TERRY MOSHER
My Pac-12 Poll for football:
- Washington State.
- Washington
- Oregon
- Utah
- Stanford
- USC
- Colorado
- Arizona State
- UCLA
- California
- Arizona
- Oregon State
GARDNER MINSHEW II
Winners of games this week are pretty well established. The only two match-ups that can’t clearly be determined are Utah at UCLA and Washington State at Stanford. This matchup for the Cougars is important because a win will establish them as the favorites to win the North Division and possibly the overall Pac-12 Championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl game. Utah is coming on strong, but we won’t know how strong until this game with UCLA, which is tougher than its 2-2 conference record and 2-5 overall. It’s a young squad that may be finally figuring out Chip Kelly and his offensive scheme. Why do you ask do I have Washington above Oregon in my poll when Oregon beat the Huskies? Well, I think the Huskies should have won the game except for that missed field goal as time expired. Oregon is good, don’t get me wrong, but so are the Huskies. The Cougars are first because I’m a big believer in Gardner Minshew II. He’s the best QB in the Pac-12 and maybe in the country. He fits perfectly the Air Raid offense of Mike Leach and he’s cool as a cucumber. Plus, don’t forget he’s got that mustache. Don’t get too haughty, though, about Minshew and the Cougars, and the Pac-12 overall. The conference is not very tough in the bigger picture. Among the top five power conferences – SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 and Pac-12 – the Pac-12 ranks last.