SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings: Utes are Preseason No. 1, Cal Checks in at No. 9

Seven panelists are unanimous behind Utes, but have Bears all over the map.

Our seven panelists agree one thing: Utah is deserving of the No. 1 position in our 2022 preseason SI Pac-12 Football Power Rankings.

The Utes were a unanimous pick for the top spot among voters from the SI.com circuit of Pac-12 publishers: Cal Sports Report, Ducks Digest, All Bruins, All Trojans. Husky Maven, All Cardinal and All Utes.

There was far less consensus about Cal, which finished No. 9 in our initial season ratings.

The Bears got seventh-place votes from Sam Connon of All Bruins and Dan Raley of Husky Maven. They were slotted No. 8 by Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report and Ben Sherman of All Trojans.

Cal checked in at No. 9 with Cole Bagley of All Utes. No one tabbed the Bears No. 10, but Kevin Borba of All Cardinal and Max Torres of Ducks Digest dropped them all the way to No. 11.

2022 PRESEASON SI PAC-12 FOOTBALL POWER RANKINGS

1. Utah (7) . . . 84 votes

2. Oregon . . . 75

3. USC . . . 70

4. UCLA . . . 63

5. Oregon State . . . 54

6. Washington . . . 49

7. Washington State . . . 37

8. Stanford . . . 34

9. Cal . . . 30

10. Arizona State . . . 24

11. Arizona . . . 18

12. Colorado . . . 8

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JAKE CURTIS, CAL SPORTS REPORT

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. UCLA; 4. USC; 5. Oregon State; 6. Washington; 7. Washington State; 8. Cal; 9. Arizona; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado

Comment: I’m not buying into the USC hype until I see how all these new pieces fit together. Utah is by far the best team in the conference, but that says more about the Pac-12 than the Utes. Arizona will be bad again, but in this conference a marginal improvement can move a team up the ladder in a hurry. ASU? You can see the program falling apart from hundreds of miles away. Stanford has the best pro-prospect quarterback in the Pac-12 – and it won’t mean much.

MAX TORRES, DUCKS DIGEST

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. UCLA; 4. USC; 5. Oregon State; 6. Stanford; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona State; 9. Washington; 10. Arizona; 11. Cal; 12. Colorado

Comment: Utah should be the top dog in the Pac-12 until someone proves otherwise. I think Oregon can surprise some people this week and keep their game against Georgia competitive.

KEVIN BORBA, ALL CARDINAL

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. USC; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Oregon State; 7. Stanford; 8. Washington State; 9. Arizona State; 10. Arizona; 11. Cal; 12. Colorado.

Comment: I expect these rankings to change a lot, especially when you consider the top two teams can lose Week 1. When it comes to Stanford, if they can improve in the trenches and stay healthy they have a chance to shock people.

SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS

1. Utah; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. UCLA; 5. Washington; 6. Oregon State; 7. Cal; 8. Washington State; 9. Stanford; 10. Arizona; 11. Arizona State; 12. Colorado

Comment: Until proven otherwise, Utah is far and away the team to beat out West this season. USC, Oregon and UCLA are in line to contend for the other spot in the conference title game, but each will have to overcome serious question marks to do so – for the Bruins, it will be about replacing elite offensive linemen and pass-catchers while improving the defense, while the Trojans and Ducks have to hit big on their new head coaches right away. Washington, Oregon State, Cal and Washington State could prove to be a decent middle of the pack, but the bottom tier is very, very weak in 2022.

BEN SHERMAN, ALL TROJANS

1. Utah; 2. USC; 3. Oregon; 4. Oregon State; 5. UCLA; 6. Stanford; 7. Washington; 8. Cal; 9. Washington State; 10. Arizona State; 11. Arizona; 12. Colorado

Comment: If Alex Grinch can get USC's defense turned around the Trojans could find themselves atop the Pac-12 once the dust settles. Mark your calendars now for USC at Utah on Oct. 15.

COLE BAGLEY, ALL UTES

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. USC; 4. UCLA; 5. Oregon State; 6. Washington; 7. Washington State; 8. Arizona State; 9. Cal; 10. Stanford; 11. Arizona; 12. Colorado

Comment: The reigning Pac-12 Champs have set the standard and are easily the team to beat in 2022. After returning the vast majority of their starters from a year ago, the Utes could be in for a very special season.

DAN RALEY, HUSKY MAVEN

1. Utah; 2. Oregon; 3. USC; 4. Washington; 5. UCLA; 6. Oregon State; 7. Cal; 8. Washington State; 9. Stanford; 10. Arizona State; 11. Colorado; 12. Arizona

Comment: Washington was vastly overrated last season. This time, with a better coaching staff, the Huskies appear underrated. 

Cover photo of Utah quarterback Cameron Rising by Joshua A. Bickel, Columbus Dispatch

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo