Week No. 2 of Pac-12 play wrapped up over the weekend. UCLA’s 3-1 conference record is good enough for first place in the Pac-12.
Here are my conference power rankings so far (5-9 were very hard to rank)…..
1. #11 Arizona State (13-2, 1-2)
The Sun Devils avoided an 0-3 start in conference play, beating Utah Sunday. Booby Hurley has this group in great position to really do something in March.
2. #17 Arizona (12-4, 2-1)
After losing three straight in the Bahamas at the beginning of the season, Arizona rattled off nine straight wins before losing to Colorado on Saturday. The Wildcats are still the favorites to win the Pac-12 but they have been a disappointment so far.
3. UCLA (12-4, 3-1)
The Bruins blew a big lead at Stanford last Thursday, to suffer their first conference loss. UCLA sits a top the Pac-12 with a 3-1 conference record.
4. Washington (12-4, 2-1)
The Huskies are by far the biggest surprise in the conference. Washington had a comeback win at Washington State on Saturday, to improve to 12-4 on the season. Keep in mind a season ago, the Huskies finished 9-22. Mike Hopkins continues to be impressive.
5. USC (11-6, 2-2)
To say the Trojans have had a disappointing season is an understatement. The Trojans were 1.7 seconds away from sweeping the Bay Area schools but Stanford’s freshman guard Daejon Davis hit a half-court buzzer beater to beat USC last night. Despite the rough start, the Trojans have plenty of talent to turn the season around.
6. Colorado (10-6, 2-2)
The Buffs’ upset Arizona State and Arizona over the weekend. Colorado’s two huge wins over the weekend might have saved their season. We will know if these wins were a fluke when they travel to LA this week.
7. Utah (10-5, 2-2)
After sweeping the Oregon Schools on the road, Utah missed a golden opportunity to pick up a key win against the Arizona Schools. The Utes fought hard but were unable to get a big win. Utah is on the road this week to take on UCLA and USC.
8. Oregon (11-5, 1-2)
The Ducks lost so much talent from last year’s Final Four team and it’s showing. Oregon is coming off a 76-64 loss at Oregon State. Dana Altman has his work cut out for him for sure. But don’t bet against him.
9. Oregon State (10-5, 2-1)
The Beavers went 5-27 last season. Oregon State has already doubled their win total from a season ago and just knocked off their rivals, the Oregon Ducks. Let’s see how they do at the Arizona schools this week.
10. Stanford (8-8, 2-1)
The Cardinal seemed to be turning things around after a rough non conference start. Stanford had two comeback home wins over UCLA and USC over the weekend, including Daejon Davis’ buzzer beating half-court game winner last night over USC. The Cardinal had a tough non conference schedule but losses to Eastern Washington, Portland State, Long Beach State, and California are hard to ignore.
11. Washington State (8-7, 0-3)
The Cougars are the only team in the Pac-12 that hasn’t won a conference game. After starting the season 6-0, WSU is 2-7 since.
12. California (7-9, 1-2)
The Golden Bears have lost eight games by 10 or more points this season. Over the weekend, California lost to USC and UCLA by a combined 41 points.
