Welcome to a new feature on the Hotline — an assessment of the eight teams in the rebuilt Pac-12 as if they were competing in the conference this season. We’ll even recognize one lucky team as the regular-season champion. The power rankings will be published each Sunday throughout the regular season. (Here are last week’s rankings.)

Washington State lost the Apple Cup in decisive fashion Saturday evening but found its starting quarterback in the process — a tradeoff that probably stands as a net positive for the Cougars and first-year coach Jimmy Rogers.

But one layer down, there is cause for concern. How in the world did Rogers and his braintrust fail to identify Zevi Eckhaus as their best option in the first place?

Eckhaus was one of the few bright spots for the Cougars in the 59-24 l

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