Pac-12 power rankings, top 3

1. Stanford (1, last week): Saturday game against USC doesn’t look quite as daunting as it did three weeks ago.

2. Washington (2): Huskies have looked great, but still have to prove it against a team with some talent.

3. Utah (3): How about this: Utes are playing at San Jose State this week, a rare trip for a Pac-12 team to make.

4. Colorado (4): Anyone else think the Buffaloes might make some noise this weekend in Ann Arbor? No? OK.

5. Oregon (5): Traveling to Nebraska this week to face old foe Mike Riley.

6. Arizona State (6): Maybe Kalen Ballage will score another eight touchdowns on Friday night at Texas-San Antonio.

7. UCLA (8): Bruins badly need a strong showing at BYU this week to prove the season is headed in the right direction.

8. USC (11): Vibes in L.A. aren’t happy right now, but Trojans could reverse that in a big way by taking down Stanford.

9. California (7): Valiant comeback attempt at San Diego State, but Bears’ defense looks as bad as ever.

10. Oregon State (10): Say this for the Beavers: Through two weeks, they have not looked like the worst team in the Pac-12. Then again, they’ve only played once.

11. Arizona (9): A meager, 10-point win over Grambling — Grambling! — likely does not make the Huskies fear their Pac-12 opener in Tucson on Sept 24.

12. Washington State (12): There’s good news, at least: Idaho visits Pullman on Saturday.

WSU coach Mike Leach has a reputation for speaking his mind in a way that most of his peers will not. Often times, that’s a good thing. However, his comments this week after his team’s 31-28 loss at Boise State seemed to miss the mark. Let’s examine.

1. “We have the atmosphere of a JC softball game. I mean, that’s what we are — a JC softball team. ... It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s like the team that wins is the one that has the most fun. Crap like that. All that stuff that’s contaminated America where they give every kid a trophy, and they don’t keep score in Little League anymore.”

A JC softball team? Since when do JC softball teams have a reputation for being soft? (And, yes, I’m biased because I grew up in Longview, home of the mighty Lower Columbia College Red Devils.) And has he watched a Little League baseball game recently? There are folks who take winning and losing more serious in that sport than some professionals.

2. “It all starts with coaching. We have this assumption that they know stuff, but as coaches we have to be smart enough and disciplined enough to get that out of our heads. They don’t know anything. We wouldn’t be reteaching the same stuff we did last year if we could trust any level of retention.”

Tacking the phrase “it all starts with coaching” in front of a criticism of his players’ ability to retain knowledge is like apologizing to someone by saying: “I’m sorry if you were offended.” It has some accountability-like symptoms, but doesn’t actually rise to the level of accountability.

3. “We run out of bounds more than any team in the country. We’re the easiest team in the country to tackle.”

To be fair, he said this Monday, so he might not have started watching film of this week’s opponent, the Idaho Vandals. If he had, he would know this statement isn’t true.

This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Pac-12 power rankings, top 3."