Pac12 Power Rankings After Week 1

Week 1 of college football is in the books and wow was it an interesting week for future Pac12 schools. In all transparency this week's rankings will be pretty reactionary based on what we saw in week 1. The teams I had in my top 3 heading into the season (BSU, OSU and WSU) did not look great in week 1 leaving room for some teams to jump ahead of them. 


  1. Texas State (#7 last week) 

Texas State had the most impressive win of week 1 for any Pac12 school. They destroyed Eastern Michigan by a score of 52-27. While the offense looked unstoppable, definitely some room for improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Texas State has a huge rivalry game against rival UTSA this week but with a win over UTSA Texas should be on its way to at least an 8+ win season. 


  1. Boise State (#1 last week) 

Boise State only drops one spot after a tough defeat against USF. While Boise State certainly didn't look great I am willing to give them another week to figure it out. A cross country game in the Florida heat on Thursday to open the season is definitely a unique challenge. I still think Boise State is the favorite to win the Mountain West this year. Another bad performance this week against EWU and I will have to reevaluate how good Boise State actually is this year. 


  1. SDSU (#6 last week) 

SDSU jumps up 3 spots after taking care of FCS opponent Stony Brook 42-0 at home. SDSU looked dominant and while it was against an FCS it's not always a guarantee that an FBS team comes out and takes care of business like that against an FCS team. SDSU has a great chance this week coming to Pullman to show that they are a serious threat in the MWC this season. 


  1. WSU (#4 last week) 

WSU drops a spot and comes in at number 4 this week after beating FCS opponent Idaho 13-10. This was definitely not WSU’s best showing but a win is a win and Idaho projects to be a pretty good FCS team this year. WSU has a great chance to calm fans' nerves next week when SDSU comes to town for homecoming. It will be interesting to see if the run game looks better after rushing for just 4 yards last week. 


  1. Colorado State (#5 last week) 

Colorado State put up a pretty good fight against UW in Seattle but they just weren't able to close out the game very well and ended up losing 38-21. Colorado State has a chance to get back on track this week with a game against Northern Colorado. I came into the season thinking Colorado State was a dark horse to win the MWC and I still think that is a possibility after week 1. 


  1. Oregon State (#2 last week) 

I came into the season thinking Oregon State was going to be much improved after a disappointing season last year but they did not look improved at all unfortunately. Cal might actually be a good team so I don't want to judge too much after week 1 but it is vital for Oregon State to win against Fresno State next week if they want to compete for a bowl game this year. 


  1. Utah State (#8 last week) 

I had debated putting Utah State higher on this list after an impressive first game in the Bronco Mendenhall era but that will have to wait at least another week for the Aggies. Utah State has an extremely tough draw next week with an away game at Texas A&M. If Utah State can stay competitive in that one, that would be further confirmation that they are moving in the right direction. 


  1. Fresno State (#4 last week) 

Fresno State has actually played 2 games as they played Kansas in week 0 this year. At 1-1 it is probably a little bit harsh to have Fresno State at number 8 on this list. Fresno State will have a great chance to climb out of the number 8 spot with a win over Oregon State this week. Fresno State looked really good in a 42-14 win over Georgia Southern last week so it will be interesting to see if they have really turned the corner this week. 


My biggest takeaway from week 1 is that these rankings will probably continue to be pretty volatile as the year goes on. After 1 week of football there is no team that is clearly head and shoulders better than everyone else on this list. 


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