Our Pac-12 power rankings

1. Stanford (1 last week): Sure, the Cardinal beat UCLA. But its more impressive achievement was covering the spread on a last-second, fumble-return touchdown.

2. Washington (2): Huskies haven’t even kind of played a game under Chris Petersen as big as Friday’s showdown against Stanford.

3. Utah (3): Troy Williams throwing a game-winning touchdown pass against USC would have sounded great to UW fans a couple of years ago.

4. Colorado (7): Had to love Mike MacIntyre’s unrestrained jubilation after Buffs beat Oregon last week.

5. Arizona State (8): Take the over. Always.

6. UCLA (5): Josh Rosen said, after Bruins’ loss to Stanford, that UCLA will see the Cardinal again. Utah will have something to say about that.

7. California (4): Take the over. Always.

8. Oregon (6): Ducks were 2-2 last year, too — and 3-3 — before returning to their winning ways. Don’t know if a similar turnaround is possible this year.

9. Arizona (10): Wildcats have problems defensively, but speedy quarterback Brandon Dawkins is going to be a problem for opponents.

10. Washington State (11): Cougars had to be thrilled to see this weekend’s opponent, Oregon, lose.

11. USC (9): Trojans have lost six of their past seven games against power-conference teams.

12. Oregon State (12): Valiant comeback vs. Boise State, but ugly first half shows how far Beavers still have to go.

Friday’s game between Washington and Stanford is the first matchup between top-10 teams at Husky Stadium since September 1997. So let’s take a stab at ranking the Huskies’ three biggest home victories since then.

1. Oct. 7, 2000 — No. 13 Washington 33, No. 23 Oregon State 30: This game not only wound up deciding the Pac-10 champion, but it turned out to be the Beavers’ only loss of the season. It was an outstanding college football game, played at night before a sellout crowd, and it wasn’t decided until OSU kicker Ryan Cesca missed a 46-yard attempted field goal in the final seconds. Beavers quarterback Jonathan Smith, now UW’s offensive coordinator, threw for 314 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson in the fourth quarter. The Huskies, led by quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, finished with 504 yards of total offense.

2. Sept. 19, 2009 — Washington 16, No. 3 USC 13: The Huskies, under first-year coach Steve Sarkisian, had snapped a 15-game losing streak the week before, and the Trojans, coached by Pete Carroll, were one of the country’s elite programs. With starting quarterback Matt Barkley injured, USC started backup Aaron Corp and struggled to move the ball against the Huskies defense. After quarterback Jake Locker drove the offense to USC’s 5-yard line, Erik Folk made the game-winning, 22-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to secure one of the biggest upsets in UW history.

3. Sept. 9, 2000 — No. 15 Washington 34, No. 4 Miami 29: One week after a lackluster victory over Idaho, the Huskies hosted a Hurricanes team that would not lose again that season. UW led 20-3 at halftime, Rich Alexis scored on a 50-yard touchdown run and the Huskies handed Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey one of two losses in his collegiate career.

This story was originally published September 28, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Our Pac-12 power rankings."