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ESPN Releases Pac-12 Power Rankings: Cal Is No. 1, Stanford Is No. 4

Cal continues to hold on at the top of the Pac-12 while Stanford continues to chase.

By Ronald Clark
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ESPN's Eamonn Brennan produced a Pac-12 Power Rankings today and declared it the most difficult conference to rank, mainly because so many teams can be muddled together in mediocrity.

But the Bay Area was represented well with the California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal ranked no. 1 and no. 4, respectively, in the rankings.

Cal kept its no. 1 spot even after losing by two points to Washington State (ranked no. 9 in the rankings). ESPN gave two reasons for Cal keeping its spot: 1) The Cougars are a different team at home so that loss isn't as bad as it looks and 2) the Bears are so far ahead of the rest of the league, one loss won't change that.

The Cardinal lost to both the Huskies and the Cougars this week and neither game was close. But both of those teams are good at home. Nevertheless, it shows that Stanford may not be top-tier material in the conference.