SI Pac-12 Men's Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona Inching Toward the Top Spot
Unbeaten Arizona is making inroads on No. 1 in our SI Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Power Rankings, but UCLA retains the top spot.
The Wildcats, 9-0 under first-year coach Tommy Lloyd, were No 4 in our preseason rankings — and closer to eighth than third.
Now, the five voters from our network of SI Pac-12 team sites, have Arizona firmly in second. The Cats even got one first-place vote this week.
USC remains unbeaten and in third place, for now safely ahead of Colorado and Washington State, who are tied for fourth place.
Cal, after wins over Idaho State (terrible team) and Santa Clara (solid squad), continues to reside in 11th. Among the bottom six teams in our rankings, the Bears (6-5) join only Stanford (5-3) as teams with winning overall records to this point.
Here are the current NCAA NET computer rankings, which give a huge nod to Arizona and have Cal slotted eighth among Pac-12 programs: 1. Arizona; 14. USC; 22. UCLA; 43. Washington State; 63. Utah; 120. Colorado; 123. Oregon; 128. Cal; 152. Stanford; 179. Arizona State; 222. Washington; 263. Oregon State.
SI PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS
1. UCLA (8-1, 2-0) . . . 59 points (4 first-place votes)
2. Arizona (9-0, 1-0) . . . 55 (1 first-place vote)
3. USC (10-0, 2-0) . . . 50
4 (Tie). Colorado (8-3, 1-1) . . . 41
4 (Tie). Washington State (7-3, 1-1) . . . 41
6. Utah (7-3, 1-1) . . . 38
7. Arizona State (4-6, 1-1) . . . 26
8. Oregon (5-5, 0-2) . . . 23
9. Stanford (5-3, 1-1) . . . 22
10. Washington (4-4, 1-1) . . . 20
11. Cal (6-5, 1-1) . . . 10
12. Oregon State (1-8, 0-2) . . . 5
DONNIE DRUIN, ALL SUN DEVILS
1. UCLA; 2. USC; 3. Arizona; 4. Washington State; 5. Utah; 6. Colorado; 7. Arizona State; 8. Oregon; 9. Washington; 10. Stanford; 11. Cal; 12. Oregon State
Comment: Don't look now, but the Sun Devils are on a two-game winning streak entering Tuesday. Ready for the banner to be hung yet? In all seriousness, the Sun Devils' early schedule that provided tough tests for them looks to pay off now that they have their feet settled in conference play. Ending the month of December will be crucial for their ability to get momentum going into the final months of the season.
JEFF FARAUDO, CAL SPORTS REPORT
1. UCLA; 2. Arizona; 3. USC; 4. Colorado; 5. Washington State; 6. Utah; 7. Arizona State; 8. Washington; 9. Stanford; 10. Oregon; 11. Cal; 12. Oregon State
Comment: Arizona is looking like a legitimate threat to win the Pac-12. But if the Wildcats are the league’s biggest surprise, Oregon continues to be the biggest disappointment. Right now, the Pac-12 is shaping up as a three-bid league to the NCAA tournament, which would be a bigger disappointment still.
DYLAN REUBENKING, DUCKS DIGEST
1. UCLA; 2. Arizona; 3. USC; 4. Utah; 5. Colorado; 6. Washington State; 7. Stanford; 8. Oregon; 9. Arizona State; 10. Washington; 11. Cal; 12. Oregon State
Comment: Arizona has a great case of being the top team in the Pac-12 in Tommy Lloyd's first year, and a three-game stretch against Tennessee, UCLA, and USC will prove what the Wildcats are really made of. You know who doesn't have a case of being the top team? Oregon in Dana Altman's 12th year. The Ducks already have five losses in their first 10 games after losing just seven in each of the past two seasons total. A buzzer-beating three to lose to Stanford just adds salt to the open wound for the Oregon Ducks, who need a turnaround badly.
SAM CONNON, ALL BRUINS
1. UCLA; 2. Arizona; 3. USC; 4. Colorado; 5. Utah; 6. Washington State; 7. Arizona State; 8. Washington; 9. Stanford; 10. Oregon; 11. Cal; 12. Oregon State
Comment: It won’t take much for Arizona to unseat the Bruins at the top, and that could be coming up depending on what happens in UCLA-UNC on Saturday. The Wildcats are handling business and look as good as they have in years with Tommy Lloyd not even 10 games into his tenure, so the Bruins are going to make a statement this week in order to hold them off a little longer. That late December matchup at Pauley Pavilion between the two heavyweights is going to be a great one.
DAN RALEY, HUSKY MAVEN
1. Arizona; 2. UCLA; 3. Washington State; 4. USC; 5. Colorado; 6. Oregon; 7. Utah; 8. Stanford; 9. Arizona State; 10. Washington; 11. Cal; 12. Oregon State
Comment: The Huskies will go three weeks without playing, missing three games against top 10 teams because of COVID. They might not recover from this intrusion on their season. They were on shaky ground when they were healthy.
Cover photo of Arizona's Benedict Mathurin on defense against Illinois by Ron Johnson, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
