10-11-2015, 09:37 AM
I decided to take all subjectivity out and just go by record, plus add my thoughts on the resulting ranking:
1. Utah (5-0). Underwhelming performance against Kal, but quality victories at Oregon (considering margin of victory) and home against Michigan. Plus, the Kal game counts as a W. Who has three better W's in the Pac? No one. No. 1, and it's well-earned.
2. Kal (5-1). Arguably most impressive performance came on the road in Utah loss. Close wins at UW and at Texas have gained luster, yet it's not clear if UW or Texas will even be bowl teams. Would be in danger of being ranked too highly but...
3. Stanford (4-1). Only two wins have come against teams with winning records, and each of those teams has two losses. Not enough accomplished yet to state definitively they are better than Kal. (Though they are, of course.)
4. UCLA (4-1). Best result, blowout victory over Arizona, comes with an asterisk b/c Arizona's quarterback left the game in the second-quarter with an injury. Second-best result, narrow victory at home over two-loss BYU is not as impressive as Stanford's road win over two-loss USC. Other wins came against awful Virginia (no FBS wins this year) and UNLV (one FBS victory). Add in a loss by 15 points at home to a two-loss team, UCLA is definitely not deserving of a top-three ranking for the season, so far anyway...
1. Utah (5-0). Underwhelming performance against Kal, but quality victories at Oregon (considering margin of victory) and home against Michigan. Plus, the Kal game counts as a W. Who has three better W's in the Pac? No one. No. 1, and it's well-earned.
2. Kal (5-1). Arguably most impressive performance came on the road in Utah loss. Close wins at UW and at Texas have gained luster, yet it's not clear if UW or Texas will even be bowl teams. Would be in danger of being ranked too highly but...
3. Stanford (4-1). Only two wins have come against teams with winning records, and each of those teams has two losses. Not enough accomplished yet to state definitively they are better than Kal. (Though they are, of course.)
4. UCLA (4-1). Best result, blowout victory over Arizona, comes with an asterisk b/c Arizona's quarterback left the game in the second-quarter with an injury. Second-best result, narrow victory at home over two-loss BYU is not as impressive as Stanford's road win over two-loss USC. Other wins came against awful Virginia (no FBS wins this year) and UNLV (one FBS victory). Add in a loss by 15 points at home to a two-loss team, UCLA is definitely not deserving of a top-three ranking for the season, so far anyway...