1
Oregon— The Ducks are playing tremendous basketball since January and are third in the country in RPI with the nation’s toughest schedule. Let’s see if Oregon falls victim to its own hype or can push its way into the top 10.
2
Arizona— Gabe York went 7-21 while Allonzo Trier fouled out after scoring only seven points and Arizona still beat the Washington Huskies. The Trojans come to town this week, and California schools have not been friendly to the Wildcats. However, Arizona has to keep its head up and perform. There is no way around it.
3
USC— The Trojans visit Arizona on Valentine’s Day for a lovely battle in McKale Center. They get to feast on ASU two days before, so they should have fresh legs when they face off against the Wildcats.
4
Washington— While their performance against Arizona was entertaining, all those dunks were for naught. Luckily, dunks are only worth two points, or Arizona might have lost by 15.
5
Oregon State— The Beavers might have saved their season against Utah in a bizarre ending last Thursday. This team still lost to ASU a month ago, so that might be seen as an unforgivable blemish to the pollsters.
6
Colorado— Although they were swept this past weekend on their trip to Oregon, nobody will notice because the Broncos won the Super Bowl. Any good the Buffaloes do now is a bonus, so they have little to worry about.
7
Utah — The Utes decided it would be best to foul a shooter from half court against Oregon State and surprisingly, it was a bad decision. Anybody surprised by Utah’s incompetency needs to look no further than how the Utes almost blew it against Duke.
8
California— Cuonzo Martin and the nation’s fifth-ranked recruiting class have one month to solidify their spot in the tourney. They are only one game better through 23 games than last season, which makes absolutely no sense.
9
UCLA— In the Bruins’ last four games, they have lost every game where Bryce Alford takes more than 10 shots and won the game where he only took five. The only UCLA game in 2016 where he scored over 20 points and the Bruins won came against your Arizona Wildcats, so that’s wonderful.
10
Stanford— With a loss last week at the hands of rival Cal, the campaign for Christian McCaffrey to join the basketball team picked up some steam. He does not even have to be effective, but he would still sell tickets, so why not give it a shot Stanford?
11
ASU— Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils got a statement win last week against the Cougars to avoid the bottom spot. The Sun Devils improved from 12-12 to 13-11 this season through 24 games, so Hurley has to be considered a godsend in Tempe.
12
Washington State— The Cougars would have overtaken ASU had they beaten them in the toilet bowl last week but were unable to do it. Now their spot in the cellar might be solidified.
