This week's polls have been released. Here's how the Pac-12 fared, from the top of the polls to its bottom, and what it means.
(AP/Coaches)
5/5. Stanford
The Cardinal moved up a spot this week thanks to Oklahoma's win over Florida State. The team is close to where they finished in the polls last season (4th) and figure to keep moving up if they continue to win. Andrew Luck is almost universally considered the best quarterback in the country and the team itself will likely stay in the news as his Heisman campaign continues. Although they beat Arizona on the road last week, not all is well Palo Alto with word coming out Monday that starting linebacker Shayne Skov will be lost for the season due to injury. That's a big blow on defense to say the least and it will be interesting to see how quickly David Shaw can bring talented true freshman James Vaughters along to replace him.10/13. Oregon
Interestingly, the Ducks are ahead of the Seminoles despite getting blown out by the number two team in the country (LSU) while FSU narrowly lost to the top-ranked team. Either way, the team got a blowout win against an opponent just there to cash the check and move on. Oregon will hit the road this week to play Arizona and then come home for Cal, a team that has given the Ducks trouble in the past.23/NR. USC
The Trojans move into the AP Poll once again (they're ineligible for the Coaches Poll) thanks to their 3-0 record and a beating of Syracuse last week. There's not a lot of separation between the teams 17th and lower so USC could move up with a win over South division co-favorite Arizona State this week. The offense is pretty good with Matt Barkley and Robert Woods but it still remains to be seen if the Trojans have the defense to be a top 20 team.Others receiving votes: Arizona State (9 AP/16 coaches), Cal (3/21), Washington (3 Coaches)
