Rank Pac-12 teams

[UOducksTK1]

Here's my rankings:

#1 Arizona - No doubt, as of now they are the best team in the Pac-12. I don't think they are a national top 10 team, but still my choice for winning the Pac-12.
#2 Arizona State - I think ASU is loaded this year. Felix and Carson are ballers, and are going to dominate. Add in Gordon who just transferred and is starting to hit his stride, and their two bigs are getting 7.9 and 8.6rpg. I think they have the potential to even win the Pac-12.
#3 Cal - Yes, I know they just lost (got murdered) to Wisconsin, but it happens. Crabbe and Cobbs are an amazing duo, and I don't see them losing very much at home this year. Cal has back to back tough games coming up, will give us a better feel for whether they are the 2nd best team or the 7th best team.
#4 Oregon - I was debating between Oregon and Colorado for this spot, but the fact is I think Colorado's a little overrated.
#5 Colorado - Win over Baylor was special, but Roberson is their key to winning, and unfortunately he fouls out in the close games. Dinwiddie is good, but they just don't quite have the firepower to make it to the top. They'd need another Pac-12 tournament championship run to sneak into the tournament.
#6 Stanford - As long as they have Powell, they will finish around .500 in the Pac-12.
#7 Oregon State - Proved they can hang with the big boys, it's just a matter of Collier and Burton being consistent, and Starks being on fire. I think next year will be their year. But this year, they could still make some noise.
#8 Washington - CJ Watson, then nothing. Gaddy was a huge bust. Talented enough to be in the middle of the Pac, but they need a coach.
#9 UCLA - Lots of talented youth, but also no depth and too much youth.
#10 Washington State - A win over Gonzaga would be nice, but Wazzu doesn't have enough firepower. Motum will put up nice numbers, that's about it.
#11 USC - I actually liked USC coming into the season and thought they had some nice spread out talent. But they are 3-3, and have a good chance of going 3-6. They will dig themselves a hole that will be too deep by the time they get to Pac-12 play. Downside of scheduling so many tough teams.
#12 Utah - Enjoy your .714 winning percentage, because you will drop 2 of your next 3 games and then struggle to win more than 3 games in the Pac-12.

[Greenblood]

FWIW, here is a snapshot of the current AP (based on all votes), Coaches (based on all votes) and RPI (based on strength of schedule and how a team does against it) rankings for Pac-12 conference teams:

AP: 8. Arizona; 29. Oregon; 33. Colorado

Coaches: 8. Arizona; 28. Colorado; 29. Oregon

RPI: 5. Colorado; 22. Arizona; 29. Oregon; 31. Cal; 36. UW; 78. ASU; 89. USC. Only top 100 shown at the Rivals site.

So, given that the Ducks are currently 29th in the AP, Coaches and RPI, there can be absolutely no question that they are the 29th best team in the country .

[oregontrack]

i have to see asu do something before ranking them that high. their best win is against a very mediocre arkansas team, and they got pantsed in their only game against a team with a pulse.

arizona, oregon, colorado, and cal look like the top tier. after that, meh.

[UOducksTK1]

i have to see asu do something before ranking them that high. their best win is against a very mediocre arkansas team, and they got pantsed in their only game against a team with a pulse.

arizona, oregon, colorado, and cal look like the top tier. after that, meh.

lol u could say the same about Cal, although I bet you were impressed with their 3 point win over Drake.

[oregontrack]

we've seen what a lot of these kids from cal can do, though. they're not an unknown quantity. we've never seen asu win. starting 6-1 against a bunch of nobodies doesn't really tell us asu has turned it around yet.

plus, cal has the best coach in the pac-12.

[UOducksTK1]

Yeah, but outside of Cobbs and Crabbe they are thin. It was evident in the murder Cal laid down. Not really a frontcourt either. ASU has comparable guard play and they actually have some talented bigs. We will see, but I think ASU surprises people this year.

[northbeachsf]

Here is my predicted finish, but I am too lazy to give justification.
#1 Arizona
#2 Cal
#3 Arizona State
#4 Colorado
#5 Stanford
#6 Oregon
#7 UCLA
#8 Washington
#9 Oregon State
#10 Washington State
#11 USC
#12 Utah

[buckmarkduck]

Arizona, Oregon, CU, Cal, ASU, UW, OS, UCLA, WSU, SC, UU.

If UO cuts down on TO and starts shooting the 3 just a little better, we will be a hard team to beat. I have to think the team will gel just in time for the Pac 12 play to begin, and out D will be much better when guys are comfortable together on the court.

To place us below 4 right now is a joke IMO, because UNLV would push for the Pac 12 title and we beat them on their floor. We also won't see a team with the size/mass and physicality of Cinci the rest of the year in the pac 12, who would also be a top team in our confrence.

[northbeachsf]

While I would love to agree, I think Oregon still has some things they need to work out if they expect to compete with the top 5 in this league. Here are my concerns:
1) Oregon had huge turnover in the roster, so most of the players do not have PAC-12 experience together.
2) Typically teams with experienced backcourts tend to have success in the Pac-12. We start 2 freshman in those spots.
3) The above two facts have resulted in Oregon recording 105 assists to 138 turnovers in the first 8 games, 6 of those games against significantly inferior opponents, which is a huge concern.
4) Perimeter shooting is awful so far this year and our 3-point field goal percentage is below 0.300. If Oregon cant improve perimeter shooting, teams will just sit back and play zone making it extremely difficult to score.
5) Depth is an issue after the top 6 players. Artis, Dotson, Woods, Singler, Kazemi, and Emory are all PAC-12 ready. Hopefully we can get an 8 man rotation going if Carter continues to improve and Loyd can stay under control. There is not much PAC-12 ready depth after that.

Dana is an outstanding coach, so I thin we have a huge advantage there.

[oregontrack]

every school in this conference has a laundry list of concerns just like that, only longer. at this point, it would be far more accurate to say the majority of the pac-12 has a lot to work on if they want to compete with us. it's okay to say we've looked good so far. we have. far ahead of schedule for a coach altman team, too.

given woods' wild inconsistencies, i'd say carter is our best big man after kazemi. he's more than earned a place in the rotation.

[UOducksTK1]

Arizona (3) 0-0 12-0
Arizona St. 0-0 11-2
Oregon 0-0 10-2
Colorado 0-0 10-2
UCLA 0-0 10-3
Oregon St. 0-0 9-3
Stanford 0-0 9-4
Washington St. 0-0 9-4
California 0-0 8-4
Utah 0-0 8-4
Washington 0-0 8-5
USC 0-0 5-8

Pre-Conference play standings.

[bellsduck]

I think people are writing off UCLA too fast. I still think they end up 2nd in league.

[buckmarkduck]

Andy Katz rankes the Pac 12 as UA, UCLA, UO, CU and furd with ASU at 7th.

[UOducksTK1]

I think people are writing off UCLA too fast. I still think they end up 2nd in league.

I actually agree. I'd definitely slid them up a bit after my initial predictions. I don't know about 2nd, but 4th or so.

[UOducksTK1]

Not terrible for me, but not too far off. If you Move UCLA to ASU's spot, ASU to OSU's spot, and OSU to UCLA's spot, lol I'd almost be spot on.

ASU didn't really pan out quite as well as I was hoping, and UCLA was better than I thought they'd be.