SPOILER ALERT: Washington is atop this week’s power rankings. That UW is number one is probably shocking news to many of you, but I couldn’t let the suspense trigger a regional epidemic of transient losses of consciousness due to the stressful suspense of it all. As great as the Huskies are and as much as we all want to talk about them, there are some other teams in the conference. And they deserve to be ranked, too. As always, the rules of the Power Rankings probably are worth mentioning (as I am sure I will have to do many times over througout the course of the season). The fundamental premise here is to rank the teams based on a subjectively assessed index of how much momentum they have, how favorable their immediate future looks and what they have left to play for as the season progresses. It is not a ranking of the impressiveness of their wins, their spot in the standings or the fashion sense of their head coach. It’s all about what’s ahead as opposed to what has already transpired. With that, let’s kick this sucker off with everyone’s favorite feature: the Cool Chart. The Cool Chart The Power Rankings - Preseason 12. Oregon State The preseason loss of rising safety David Morris puts a damper on the start of the season for Beaver Nation. That said, there probably wasn’t much that was going to prevent Oregon State from occupying the cellar position in the preseason Power Rankings. For those of you not keeping up with Beaver updates, coach Jonathan Smith still has an undecided QB competition between senior Jake Luton and JC transfer Jack Colletto and he’s been indicating that several true freshmen, including star-of-camp Jesiah Irish, are in line for playing time. The rebuild is fully underway in Corvallis. But, hey, at least OSU fans can enjoy the return of Benny. Next up: @ #5 Ohio State 11. Arizona State Arizona State is one of those teams (not unlike Arizona State last year) that could start jitterbugging up and down the Power Rankings chart. They open up low due to the series of unknowns that come with a new coaching staff PLUS having questions in the rushing attack PLUS significant concerns on the defensive side of the ball. But ASU does have some nice weapons in the passing attack including the league’s best receiver in N’Keal Harry. They also have a battle-tested QB to hang their forks on. If it turns out that we’ve overhyped the disaster that was the hire of Herm Edwards (yes, we have), ASU could see an uptick in their rankings soon. Next up: vs UTSA 10. Colorado The Buffaloes have a lot of “show me” to accomplish if they want to work their way up the Power Rankings. They’ll get the chance to do a bit of that when they open up in Week 1 with a road trip to rival Colorado State and their beautiful new stadium. By all accounts, Colorado has had a nice, trouble-free fall camp. Transfer RB Travon McMillan has shined and looks to be in line to lead the Buffalo rushing attack. In addition, QB Steven Montez is getting glowing reviews for his leadership while the talk of camp has been 6’7” redshirt freshman DE Terrance Lang. We’ll see if all this good mojo persists once the bullets start flying. Next up: @ Colorado State (Friday) 9. California Cal right now looks to be a fringe-level bowl team. Optimists will point to the fact that the Bears have several returning starters on both sides of the ball and that Year 2 in coaching regime overhauls tends to bring the biggest bumps in overall output. But the pessimists also get a say in the matter. Those guys are concerned that QB Ross Bowers really hasn’t separated himself thus far in camp (transfer Brandon McIlwain is still in the mix of what has been called an open competition) and that there are still so many unknowns in the playmaker categories on both sides of the ball. I’m keeping my eyes on the QB situation, the emergence of receiving threats to complement Kawani Noa and Vic Wharton (keep an eye on freshman slot receiver Nikko Remigio who, by all accounts, is tearing up camp), and the d-line depth. Cal will need positive developments in all of those areas in order to make a push up the poll. Next up: vs North Carolina 8. Washington State If you are looking for a team who might be getting the Cal (“ranked too high”) treatment from me this pre-season, it might be the Cougs. On the heels of incoming JC defensive lineman Pono Lolohea leaving the program without ever having played a down, you might be wondering who exactly is left around the program to play on that d-line. It’s a fair question. Still, WSU has a few things going for it that I think buoy this ranking. The defensive back seven looks like it will be taking a step forward this year. In addition, Gardner Minshew looks like he has locked down the starting QB job and, by all reports, would seem to have some upside over current expectations. If he and incoming freshman RB Max Borghi can add to the core already in Pullman, the Cougs might be able to put a few more points on the board than what I thought was realistic just a few weeks ago. Next up: @ Wyoming 7. UCLA Chip Kelly is up to his old tricks by playing “keep away” with the local LA media. Thus, I don’t think anybody knows what is really going on down in Westwood. Is Devon Modster entrenched at QB? I don’t know. Has Joshua Kelley jumped ahead of Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olufunrunmi as UCLA’s top back? No clue. Is Jaelan Phillips looking like a breakthrough? Your guess is as good as mine. And then there is this nonsense: Devin Asiasi, Soso Jamabo, Osa Odighizuwa, Mo Osling, Moses Robinson-Carr and Boss Tagaloa won't play for #UCLA this week vs #Cincy for a violation of athletic dept. policy.<doc-sep>Washington's Jake Browning will lead the Huskies into the 2018 season. Could Washington win their second Pac-12 title in three years? Is USC the best team in the Pac-12 South, or could a sleeper team overtake the Trojans for the Pac-12 South Division crown? Should you view Stanford and Oregon as the Pac-12 Darkhorses? 247Sports' Pac-12 sites have teamed up for a weekly Power Ranking. The voters are: Jason Scheer of Wildcat Authority, Chris Karpman of Sun Devil Source, Adam Munsterteiger of Buff Stampede, Matt Prehm of Duck Territory, Angie Machado of Beaver Blitz, R.J. Abeytia of The Bootleg, Tracy Pierson of Bruin Report Online, Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com, Dan Sorenson of Ute Zone, and Brian Stultz of CougFan. We'll release our power rankings each Monday throughout the college football season. These rankings are not based on the standings at the date of release, but instead, are rankings based on who we believe is the league's best team regardless of standing and all the way down to the team we believe is playing the worst football regardless of standing. The team with the lowest amount of points is the league's highest-rated team. The team with the most points is the league's lowest-rated team in our power rankings. Today's rankings serve as our preseason power rankings. Just like in the Pac-12 media poll, our voters have selected the Washington Huskies as the league's top team entering the regular season. The Huskies received eight of the 10 votes cast for first place in this week's power rankings. From there, the rankings take a different path than how the Pac-12 media poll went. For example, four different teams were voted to finish second in the Pac-12 Here are this week's 247Sports Pac-12 Power Rankings:<doc-sep>Welcome to Yahoo Sports’ 2018 conference previews. With the official start of the 2018 season just days away, we’re doing things a little differently this year. We’re power ranking the teams in each FBS conference. Like our preseason top 25, these rankings will undoubtedly be wrong. Previously: Group of Five conferences, ACC [Yahoo College Fantasy Football is here! Sign up now for free] 12. Oregon State (2017 finish: 1-11, 6th North) Following six seasons coaching under Chris Petersen, Jonathan Smith has a massive rebuild ahead of him at his alma mater. Oregon State has just seven wins combined over the past three seasons. There aren’t many reasons to be optimistic about many more in 2018. After going 1-11 last fall, the Beavers are changing offenses from the spread run under Gary Andersen, who abruptly quit midseason, to a pro-style attack that Smith helped engineer in recent years at Washington. Jake Luton is back from injury to begin the season as OSU’s starting QB for a second year, but the offense’s top performer, RB Ryan Nall, left for the NFL. Eight starters return on defense, but that might not be great news. OSU was No. 120 nationally in total defense in 2017. Smith might be best served getting plenty of young guys experience as the Beavers take their lumps against a rough schedule. 11. Arizona State (7-6, 2nd South) Truthfully, it’s tough to know what to expect at Arizona State. Ray Anderson pushed out Todd Graham and hired Herm Edwards as the “CEO” and “central leader” of ASU football that is “similar to an NFL approach using a general manager structure.” Innovative? Insane? Both? We’ll begin to find out soon. What we do know is that ASU has two really exciting players on offense: QB Manny Wilkins and WR N’Keal Harry. Wilkins threw for nearly 3,300 yards while Harry, one of the best receivers in the Pac-12, caught 82 balls. Kyle Williams and his 66 catches are back as well. The Sun Devils should have a really solid offensive line, too. But there’s a lot of lost production at running back. Story continues The defense, with new coordinator Danny Gonzales (he ran a 3-3-5 at San Diego State), returns just four starters, three of which are in the secondary. It’s natural to be skeptical about how Edwards’ first season will look, and we’re skeptical it will be improvement over the last year of Todd Graham. 10. UCLA (6-7, 4th South) Like with Edwards at ASU, Chip Kelly’s return to college football at UCLA seems like a total wild card. It’s illogical to think Kelly will come back to the conference and just run the same stuff he did at Oregon. The fact that he brought in an immobile quarterback like Michigan transfer Wilton Speight shows he will adapt to his personnel much like he did (or tried to) with QBs like Nick Foles and Sam Bradford in the NFL. The Bruins certainly have talent on offense, though the quarterback competition still seems pretty up in the air as we inch closer to the season-opener. If the offensive line can come together in some fashion, Kelly should be able to put some points on the board by getting the ball to running backs Bolu Olorunfunmi and Soso Jamabo, wideout Theo Howard and tight end Caleb Wilson. The defense was just miserable in 2017, especially against the run. Seven starters return, so there has to be some improvement, right? After four seasons in the NFL, Chip Kelly is back in college at UCLA. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 9. Colorado (5-7, 6th South) Colorado finally broke through with 10 wins and a Pac-12 South title in 2016, but took a considerable step back in 2017 with just two conference wins and no bowl game. The Buffs have a decent shot to get back to a bowl in 2018. Steven Montez, entering his second year as CU’s starting QB, is one of the best at extending plays in the conference. He needs to be more consistent and more accurate if the Buffs are going to be a surprise contender in the South, especially now that Phillip Lindsay and his 3,770 career rushing yards have moved on. His top three receivers are gone, too. While there’s some uncertainty at receiver, Virginia Tech transfer Travon McMillian should shoulder the load from Lindsay at running back. On defense, the loss of coordinator Jim Leavitt was an adjustment. Expect the Buffs to be better on that side of the ball in 2018 with the return of six starters. [Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports College Podcast: Apple Podcasts • Stitcher • Google Play] 8. Washington State (9-4, 3rd North) It took three years of losing, but Mike Leach got the WSU program turned around to the tune of a 26-13 (19-8 Pac-12) record since 2015. To keep that going in 2018, he’ll have his work cut out for him. Leach’s calling card is always the pass offense, and the tragic death of Tyler Hilinski meant the Cougs had an opening at quarterback. That’s where East Carolina transfer Gardner Minshew comes in. He hasn’t officially been named the starter, but it seems foolish to think there will be too much of a drop off in the passing game, even with the prolific Luke Falk now in the NFL. The other side of the ball is a little more concerning. DC Alex Grinch was a great hire for Leach, but now he’s on the staff at Ohio State. Ex-Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys is about as good of a replacement WSU fans could have hoped for. Claeys won’t have Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Hercules Mata’afa, but does inherit six starters, plus the return of LB Peyton Pelluer from injury. The Cougs will likely take somewhat of a step back, but not a big one. 7. California (5-7, 5th North) Even though it won only five games, Cal was much better than most expected in Justin Wilcox’s first season. The Golden Bears, against a difficult schedule, started 3-0, kept things really close with USC, dominated Washington State (then ranked No.<doc-sep>But this is conference that spawned #Pac12AfterDark, and there will be some delightful surprises lurking. Will Mario Cristobal and Oregon build off Willie Taggart’s strong season in Eugene? How much better will California be? What sort of numbers will Arizona’s Khalil Tate put up over a full season? And just what is Chip Kelly going to do in his return to the college game? And then there’s Arizona State’s Herm Edwards experiment, which could unfold in an untold number of ways, nearly all of them interesting.<doc-sep>
New recruits are on campus. Position battles have been settled, by and large. New coaches have acclimated themselves to their new surroundings. Football is almost here. In celebration, USA TODAY Sports will spend the remaining weeks until late August breaking down the power rankings in each conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Next up is the Pac-12 Conference. No league outside of the Atlantic Coast Conference seems to have such a clear-cut favorite. In Washington, the Pac-12 has a team more than capable of making a return trip to the College Football Playoff. 1. Washington The season opener against Auburn will be revealing test for a team pegged as the class of the Pac-12 and a strong threat to finish among the top four. What’s not to like? Washington has one of the nation’s elite coaches in Chris Petersen. One of the nation’s most experienced backfields in quarterback Jake Browning and running back Myles Gaskin. This should again be one of the top defensive units in the country. There’s talent, depth, experience and outstanding coaching. There’s a reason the Huskies will be tough to beat – not just in the Pac-12 but against any opponent in the FBS. POWER RANKINGS: American | ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 TEN BEST: Quarterbacks | Running back | Wide receivers | Tight ends 2. Stanford Stanford is nipping at the Huskies’ heels, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Cardinal take home another North championship. The offense is driven by the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite in running back Bryce Love. The defense lost some star power, including wildly underrated lineman Harrison Phillips, but it’s foolish to expect anything less than a top-level performance on that side of the ball. Some relative youth at quarterback is worrisome, but there’s no doubting the talent level K.J. Costello brings to the table. 3. Utah Here’s a sleeper pick to take home the South. There’s a line of thought that pegs Utah as the team to beat not in 2018 but a year down the road, when a young roster adds another year of experience. But the division is so unsettled that the Utes may have the best chance of reaching the conference title game. As always, Kyle Whittingham will have Utah ready to go come September. 4. Southern California The big issue for USC is at quarterback, where it’s only fair to expect a significant decline in production in the transition from Sam Darnold to true freshman J.T. Daniels. But the talent is there. The defense is an unquestioned strength. And there is speed and athleticism to burn at the offensive skill positions, so the Trojans could make another run at a New Year’s Six bowl if Daniels lives up to his massive expectations. 5. Oregon Oregon is a solid step behind Washington and Stanford yet still a realistic contender to net eight wins during the regular season and eventually squeeze into the back end of the Amway Coaches Poll. Much of the optimism stems from the play of junior quarterback Justin Herbert, who could be one of the nation’s best if he stays healthy. Another asset? The Ducks draw both Washington and Stanford at home. 6. Arizona It’s intriguing to consider the fit between new coach Kevin Sumlin and quarterback Khalil Tate, who stands just behind Love among the league’s Heisman contenders. Sumlin has used a wide-open offense before; that suggests the relationship will be a fruitful one. Yet there are still holes on this roster that Sumlin must address on the recruiting trail. In addition, question marks abound on a defense that must get out of the bottom third of the Pac-12. 7. Washington State Washington State shouldn’t be viewed as a valid contender in the North, though anything less than another bowl trip and seven or eight wins would be taken as a disappointment. The offense will roll, since Mike Leach’s offenses always do, and the Cougars’ stretch of home games in the second half could lead to a strong close to the regular season. But Oregon’s rise and California’s improvement makes wins harder to come by. 8. UCLA The first year of the Chip Kelly era brings tempered expectations. Given the personnel on the roster – and how the returning offensive contributors fit Kelly’s scheme – it’s idiotic to assume anything more than a bowl berth.