Pac-12 Basketball Preview: Arizona the Team to Beat

Conference play begins this week, and the Wildcats and UCLA are the only Pac-12 teams ranked

Cal and USC kick off Pac-12 play on Wednesdy with the other 10 teams getting underway on Thursday.

The nonconference games didn't tell us much other than Arizona looks like a potential Final Four team despite its significant personnel losses, Washington might be better than we expected, and Cal will have trouble winning a game.

Each team will play 20 conference games, which means it will play nine Pac-12 teams twice and two other teams only once.

Here's a quick look at all 12 teams heading into Pac-12 action, listed in their predicted order of finish:

1. Arizona (6-0)

Best player(s): Azuolas Tubelis (19.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg); Oumar Ballo (19.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg); Kerr Kriisa (15.3 ppg, 7.5 apg, 51.4% on 3-pointers)

Best win: Creighton

Worst loss: None

AP rank: 4th

Preseason media poll projected finish: Second

Pac-12 teams Arizona plays only once: Stanford, Colorado

Comment: Despite losing both of their all-conference players from last year (Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko), the Wildcats lead the nation in scoring (97.5 ppg) and field-goal percentage (60.3%).

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2. UCLA (5-2)

Best player(s): Jaime Jaquez (16.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg); Tyger Campbell (14.0 ppg, 4.9 apg)

Best win: Long Beach State

Worst loss: Illinois

AP rank: 21st

Preseason media poll projected finish: First

Pac-12 teams UCLA plays only once: Cal, Oregon State

Comment: Just two returning starters from last year, but freshmen Amari Bailey (10.3 ppg) and Adem Bona (8.7 ppg) are starters who will help.

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3. Oregon (3-4)

Best player(s): Will Richardson (13.7 ppg, 4.9 apg); N’Faly Dante (13.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg); Kel’el Ware (11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg)

Best win: Villanova

Worst loss: UC Irvine

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Third

Pac-12 teams Oregon plays only once: Washington, USC

Comment: 7-foot freshman Kel’el Ware could be something special, but Ducks’ early success will depend on when N’Faly Dante gets out of concussion protocol. 

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4. Arizona State (6-1)

Best player(s): DJ Horne (13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg); Marcus Bagley (12.5 ppg, 4.0)

Best win: Michigan

Worst loss: Texas Southern

AP rank: Received votes

Preseason media poll projected finish: Seventh

Pac-12 teams Arizona State plays only once: Utah, Cal

Comment: Bagley has played just two games because of a suspension, but the Sun Devils beat Michigan by 25 without him.  The addition of transfers Devan Cambridge and Desmond Cambridge Jr. could make the Sun Devils a title contender.

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5. USC (4-3)

Best player(s): Drew Peterson (15.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 6.6 apg); Boogie Ellis (18.0, 45.9% on 3-pointers)

Best win: BYU

Worst loss: Florida Gulf Coast

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Fourth

Pac-12 teams USC plays only once: Stanford, Oregon

Comment: Drew Peterson can do a lot of things and he’ll have to do them all well for the Trojans to contend.

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6. Washington (6-1)

Best player(s): Keion Brooks Jr. (16.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg); Keyon Menifield (10.4 ppg, 43.5% on 3-pointers)

Best win: Saint Mary’s

Worst loss: California Baptist

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Ninth

Pac-12 teams Washington plays only once: Utah, Oregon

Comment: Two newcomers – Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks and freshman Keyon Menifield – have the Huskies off to a strong start..

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7. Colorado (4-3)

Best player(s): KJ Simpson (17.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg); Tristan da Silva (12.1 ppg)

Best win: Tennessee

Worst loss: Grambling State

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Sixth

Pac-12 teams Colorado plays only once: Arizona, Washington State

Comment: Weird nonconference results: Buffs lost to Grambing State then beat Tennessee two days later. They lost to Massachusetts and beat Texas A&M the next day. Nine players have started games already.

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8. Stanford (3-4)

Best player(s): Spencer Jones (10.7 ppg); Harrison Ingram (10.4 ppg); Michael Jones (10.3 ppg)

Best win: Florida State

Worst loss: Mississippi

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Fifth

Pac-12 teams Stanford plays only once: Washington State, Arizona

Comment: A rare transfer to Stanford (Michael Jones, from Davison) will help, but will it be enough for Jerod Haase to keep his job?

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9. Washington State (3-2)

Best player(s): Mouhamed Gueye (12.2, 7.0 repg)

Best win: Texas State

Worst loss: Prairie View A&M

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: Eighth

Pac-12 teams Washington State plays only once: Oregon State, Stanford

Comment: TJ Bamba is off to a strong start, but the Cougars will relay on two transfers – Jabe Mullins (from Saint Mary’s) and Justin Powell (from Tennessee) – to make them a factor this season.

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10. Utah (5-2)

Best player(s): Branden Carlsen (13.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg)

Best win: Georgia Tech

Worst loss: Sam Houston State

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: 10th

Pac-12 teams Utah plays only once: Washington, Arizona State

Comment: Soft nonconference schedule doesn’t tell us much about Utah, although we know they went 4-16 in the Pac-12 last season with no noticeable improvement this season.

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11. Oregon State (3-4)

Best player(s): Jordan Pope (15.9 ppg)

Best win: Tulsa (although a three-point loss to Duke was the best result)

Worst loss: Portland State (twice)

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: 12th

Pac-12 teams Oregon State plays only once: Washington State, UCLA

Comment: The Beavers already have as many wins as they had all of last season, and it looks like their best player is a freshman (Jordan Pope).

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12. Cal (0-7)

Best player(s): Devin Askew (16.7 ppg)

Best win: None

Worst loss: Southern

AP rank: Not ranked

Preseason media poll projected finish: 11th

Pac-12 teams Cal plays only once: UCLA, Arizona State

Comment: The 0-7 start is the worst in Cal history, and the nonconference schedule was fairly soft.

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Cover photo of Pelle Larsson by David Cruz, USA TODAY Sports