The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country β a collection of schools now scattered across five conferences: the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Mountain West.
The rankings will be published weekly on the Hotline throughout the regular season.
1. Oregon (12-0/9-0 Big Ten)
Last week: 1
Result: beat Washington 49-21
Next up: vs. Penn State (Big Ten championship)
Comment: Oregon is an early 3.5-point favorite over the Nittany Lions, which feels a tad low. Penn State should hold up reasonably well at the line of scrimmage but doesn't possess the playmakers needed to both contain and carve up the Ducks. Our call: Oregon 30, Penn State 20. (That said, the Ducks are in a win-win position.)
2. Arizona State (10-2/7-2 Big 12)
Last week: 2
Result: won at Arizona 49-7
Next up: vs. Iowa State (Big 12 championship)
Comment: Kenny Dillingham's competition for national Coach of the Year honors starts with Indiana's Curt Cignetti and includes Syracuse's Fran Brown, SMU's Rhett Lashlee, Army's Jeff Monken, Oregon's Dan Lanning, Colorado's Deion Sanders and BYU's Kalani Sitake.
3. Boise State (11-1/7-0 Mountain West)
Last week: 3
Result: beat Oregon State 34-18
Next up: vs. UNLV (Mountain West championship)
Comment: Ashton Jeanty needs 341 yards to break Barry Sanders' hallowed single-season rushing record, which does not include 222 yards gained in Oklahoma State's bowl game. Jeanty's yardage total will include the Mountain West championship and Boise State's bowl or playoff run. So he has multiple games to gain 341.
4. Colorado (9-3/7-2 Big 12)
Last week: 5
Result: beat Oklahoma State 52-0
Next up: bowl game
Comment: Nobody is more disappointed the Buffaloes got squeezed out of the Big 12 title game than ABC β and that includes the CU players and coaches. (We're joking, mostly.) Look for the conference championship ratings to be 75% of what they would have been with the firm of Sanders, Sanders and Hunter involved.
5. BYU (10-2/7-2 Big 12)
Last week: 4
Result: beat Houston 30-18
Next up: bowl game
Comment: The Cougars possess the strongest rΓ©sumΓ© in the Big 12 (thanks to their road win over SMU) and would have been well-positioned to fend off Boise State for the fourth opening-round bye in the CFP. That task will be markedly more difficult for Arizona State or Iowa State. Then again, if UNLV beats the Broncos, the Big 12's problem is solved.
6. UNLV (10-2/6-1 Mountain West)
Last week: 6
Result: beat Nevada 38-14
Next up: at Boise State (Mountain West championship)
Comment: The Hotline watched the Rebels and Broncos on a weekly basis down the stretch, and there's no doubt which team has operated more efficiently and consistently. Don't be surprised if UNLV, a 5.5-point underdog, wins outright.
7. Washington (6-6/4-5)
Last week: 7
Result: lost at Oregon 49-21
Next up: bowl game
Comment: The Huskies played both participants in the Big Ten championship (on the road) and lost by a combined 57 points. They are a long, long way from being equipped to compete for the conference title. That said, roster holes can be patched quickly by coaches who make shrewd decisions with the transfer portal.
8. USC (6-6/4-5 Big Ten)
Last week: 8
Result: lost to Notre Dame 49-35
Next up: bowl game
Comment: At least the Trojans didn't blow another fourth-quarter lead.
9. UCLA (5-7/3-6 Big Ten)
Last week: 9
Result: beat Fresno State 20-13
Next up: season complete
Comment: The Bruins showed enough in the final month to convince the Hotline that a coaching change won't be necessary at this time next year. But it's far from certain that DeShaun Foster β or any mere mortal β can transform UCLA into a consistent contender in the Big Ten.
10. Utah (5-7/2-7)
Last week: 14
Result: won at UCF 28-14
Next up: season complete
Comment: Kyle Whittingham is facing a soft deadline for his retirement decision. The transfer portal opens Dec. 9, and if he doesn't plan to return for 2025, coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley should oversee what will be a heavy shopping season.
11. Cal (6-6/2-6 ACC)
Last week: 11
Result: lost at SMU 38-6
Next up: bowl game
Comment: The Bears had a narrow path to victory in Dallas before quarterback Fernando Mendoza was ruled out with an illness. At that point, their chances to upset SMU dipped well below zero.
12. Washington State (8-4)
Last week: 10
Result: lost to Wyoming 15-14
Next up: bowl game
Comment: Three losses in 15 days to double-digit underdogs is a red alert for coach Jake Dickert and his coaching staff. The issues were mostly on defense against New Mexico and Oregon State, but the offense cratered Saturday afternoon in a way we could not have foreseen.
13. Colorado State (8-4/6-1)
Last week: 15
Result: beat Utah State 42-37
Next up: bowl game
Comment: Jay Norvell's year-by-year win totals in Fort Collins, in chronological order: 3-5-8. Add his multi-season success at Nevada to the calculation, and he might emerge as a Power Four coaching candidate this winter, depending on the number and location of the vacancies.
14. Oregon State (5-7)
Last week: 13
Result: lost at Boise State 34-18
Next up: season complete
Comment: Trent Bray has 12 months to prove he's the right coach to lead the program into the rebuilt Pac-12. If the regression continues and the Beavers muster just three or four wins next season, the university could have a decision to make. (We don't view that scenario as likely, but it's certainly within the range of reasonable outcomes.)
15. Arizona (4-8/2-7 Big 12)
Last week: 12
Result: lost to Arizona State 49-7
Next up: season complete
Comment: The Hotline isn't prepared to state definitively that Arizona must be bowl-eligible next season for Brent Brennan to save his job, because the details matter. But that feels like an accurate framing for the challenge ahead.
