Almost literally every Week 9 Pac-12 game was an upset. Let’s rank them

You know the people who say the bookmakers in Las Vegas are always right? Maybe don’t show them the scores from Week 9 in the Pac-12.

Besides Utah on Friday against UCLA, every Vegas-favored Pac-12 team lost to another Pac-12 team. It was an inexplicable Saturday, with varying degrees of confusing results.

Here they are, ranked by how truly inexplicable they are.

This is what Arizona State was under Todd Graham and is under Herm Edwards, at least in his first season: talented, but a bit inconsistent.

Despite blowing a 17-point lead and falling behind, the Sun Devils pulled it out. The result was a little surprising, but ASU has N’Keal Harry:

USC continues to underachieve. Its first home loss in three years under Clay Helton is another reason to take a really close look at the state of the program. But USC was without its starting quarterback for this game. Jack Sears hadn’t thrown a pass in a college game before Saturday.

Washington has not been elite this season, which is a disappointment when you enter the season as an entire conference’s best hope to make the Playoff and the most talent you’ve had under Chris Petersen. This loss was a disaster, but not exactly out of nowhere given recent trends about the Huskies, and the fact that Myles Gaskin didn’t play. What it did was continue to show that Washington’s got problems on offense outside of Gaskin.

Heading into Week 10, Washington is 104th in red zone efficiency, and 116th in touchdown percentage inside the red zone. They were 2-2 in the loss against Cal, but the key number there is the two total red zone attempts.

QB Jake Browning was benched at one point, and his replacement ended up throwing a touchdown .... to the Bears. It was Cal’s only touchdown of the day:

Cal’s defense is really good, but is it “beat Washington without scoring an offensive touchdown” good? That’s not what a 12-point spread would have led you to believe.

It is Week 9, and the Washington State Cougars remain the last legitimate hope for a Pac-12 Playoff berth.

That is the truth, and it’s bonkers in its own right for a team projected to go 7-5. The fact that it isn’t the wildest thing about Week 9 in the Pac-12 should tell you something.

Remember when Oregon beat Washington and the Ducks were suddenly really interesting. This final score is pretty ridiculous, and statistically the most surprising score of the week.

Arizona being nearly 30 points better than this Oregon team is not something anyone would have seen coming two weeks ago, but Zona went up 16-0 early, and Oregon never had a chance to get into a running groove. Justin Herbert was under constant pressure, and the Ducks lost in Tucson for the second time in a row. (They also lost there when they were 2007 title contenders, and they lost at Arizona State in 2017.)

Khalil Tate still hasn’t hit his stride with a troublesome ankle, but the Wildcats did get a mammoth contribution from J.J. Taylor, to the tune of 30 carries, 212 yards, and two touchdowns. That Arizona found a truckload of offense with Tate still not looking like Tate is good news for Kevin Sumlin, if only for now. It’s the first time his Wildcats have scored more than 35 points against an FBS team.

The Beavers haven’t been good this season, but their offense hasn’t been horrible from an efficiency standpoint. The Beavers have a top-50 offense per S&P+, and Jonathan Smith’s offensive acumen is showing minimal results. OSU had lost five straight, including by six touchdowns coming out of their bye week against Cal seven days earlier.

Oregon State came into this game as a 26-point underdog. They trailed by 28 in the second half, then came back to tie the game (showcasing their almost nation-leading fourth down conversion ability), then missed the extra point that would’ve put them ahead. Then they won in overtime anyway, sending the Buffs to their second loss in the last decade after leading by 28 in the second half.

As far as Colorado is concerned, that cute 5-0 start against bad teams has evaporated, and CU is 5-3.

Just another week in the Conference of Champions.