Pac-12 basketball Power Rankings
From Pullman -- USC authoritatively rose from the conference cellar, knocking off Cal and taking Stanford to overtime. Find out what other teams made moves this week in our Power Rankings, after the jump.
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- No. 1 Arizona (20-0, 7-0; last week: No. 1) The Wildcats are the No. 1 team in the country. By default, they are also the No. 1 team in the Pac-12. If A=B and B=C then A=C. You are now ready for the LSAT.
- UCLA (16-4, 6-2; last week: No. 3) A Bay Area sweep was nice for the Bruins, but UCLA is only this high because the rest of the conference has been generally disappointing. Oregon and Colorado were expected to provide the Pac-12 depth at the top of the conference and that hasn't happened, and Cal is faltering while ASU has proven to be a tissue-paper tiger.
- Washington (13-8, 5-3: last week: No. 5) The Huskies responded to a disappointing Bay Area trip by sweeping the Oregon schools at home and have yet to lose a Pac-12 game in Hec Ed. While it would take a miracle (or a Pac-12 tournament championship) to get Washington into the NCAA tournament, the Huskies are playing as well relative to their talent as anyone, especially at home.
- Cal (14-6, 5-2; last week: No. 2) It's tough to put Cal behind Washington after seeing what the Bears did to the Huskies in Berkeley just two weeks ago. Still, Cal drops because of a sweep to the Los Angeles school including a bad loss to USC. Still, I expect Cal, UCLA and Arizona to be the Pac-12's NCAA tournament teams this season.
- Stanford (13-6, 4-3: last week: No. 4) Stanford is one of the most balanced teams in the conference with talent in both the front court and the backcourt. Depth is an issue but if there is any team outside of the Arizona, UCLA or Cal that could build an NCAA tournament-worthy resume it is the Cardinal.
- Arizona State (15-5, 4-3; last week: No. 9) The Sun Devils proved they're still deadly with a big win over Colorado. Still, there's the sense that ASU is doing less with more. ASU's starters could play big minutes for just about any Pac-12, but the Sun Devils are still stuck in the middle.
- Oregon State (11-8, 3-4; last week: No. 8) The Beavers have always had talent and this past week they finally played like it. A second-half rally by Washington cost OSU a road sweep but it was apparent in both games that Craig Robinson's team will give some good teams headaches this season.
- Utah (14-6, 3-5; last week: No. 6) Utah's roster won't give anybody nightmares, but the thought of playing the Utes on the road might. Utah trails only Arizona in attendance and is averaging close to 10,000 rowdy fans per contest.
- Colorado (15-6, 4-4; last week: No. 7) Spencer Dinwiddie should win Pac-12 Player of the Year after seeing what his absence has done to the Buffaloes. Colorado just isn't the same team with Dinwiddie out, and barely resemble the Top-25 team we saw beat Kansas earlier this season.
- USC (10-10, 1-6; last week: No. 12) Winless heading into last week the Trojans put together a split that any team other than Arizona would be satisfied with. USC beat Cal, which was 5-0 in conference entering the game, and took Stanford to overtime. A trip to the Oregon schools will show whether or not the team has truly turned over a new leaf.
- Oregon (14-5, 2-5; last week: No. 10) A win over a team that only made 10 field goals won't earn you many points but at least the Ducks ended their five-game losing streak. Oregon still has the talent to compete with anybody in the conference, but time is running short for the team to make any real noise.
- Washington State (8-12, 1-7: last week: No. 11) The Cougars weren't even close in a pair of winnable home games. The return of DaVonte Lacy can't some soon enough, but even that may not be enough to get the offense where it needs to be.
