As March draws closer and closer, Pac-12 teams are either improving their games or borderline blowing their seasons. Here are our Pac-12 men’s basketball power rankings.
Arizona
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Arizona loses down the stretch in California thanks in part to late game execution. Arizona just has to avoid all California teams in the Anaheim part of March Madness and the championship is practically wrapped up.
Oregon
The Ducks have re-entered the AP Top 25 in what is becoming a conference tradition of short stints of being ranked. The loser of the Oregon-Arizona game will likely fall out of the top 25 for obvious reasons — there can only be one.
Utah
The Utes face off with Cal on Wednesday in a game that should clear up the muddled Pac-12 Conference. They have been receiving some top-25 votes, so a win could sneak them back into the poll just to fall out again.
Washington
The best team in the conference to never break into the top 25 keeps its streak alive as the Huskies are still on the outside looking in. While other Pac-12 teams have been up and down all season, Washington prides itself on being the glass half-full team.
USC
The Trojans finally made it into the top 25 last week just to blow two straight games and fall back out. Beating Arizona in quadruple overtime and rivaling UCLA must have taken a lot out of them. At the moment, though, they are still the unexpected kings of California.
Colorado
Josh Scott has quietly been averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds for an underrated Buffaloes squad. Arizona could be on upset alert next month when the team travels to Boulder, Colorado, due in part to Colorado’s 3-point shooting and high altitude.
Cal
The Golden Bears are the latest beneficiary of Arizona’s questionable late-game execution with an upset on Saturday over the Wildcats. Cal freshman and former Arizona recruiting target Ivan Rabb may have had a quiet game, but Cal got the victory. You win this round, Rabb.
Stanford
The Cardinal was unable to uphold this season’s trend of Arizona losing to California teams at the last second. Stanford did beat the Sun Devils at the last second, though, so congrats to the nerd nation.
Oregon State
The Beavers take on the Sun Devils Thursday night in what should be an easy victory for them. They should use this as a tuneup game for their match against Arizona on Saturday.
UCLA
Bryce Alford leads the entire conference in shots attempted while being fourth on his own team in shots made. — that kind of job security is what we all strive for. The fact that the program with the most titles in college basketball history is falling victim to nepotism makes it even more interesting.
ASU
In this week’s top 25 poll, Grand Canyon University received one more vote than the Sun Devils. Maybe we should exile the Sun Devils and have the premier institution of higher education in Maricopa County take their spot.
Washington State
All the Cougars have to do to avoid the Pac-12 cellar is win more than ASU. There is still time for them to earn that 11th spot, so not all is lost. Maybe the Golden State Warriors will allow Klay Thompson to come back for one game.
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