Pac-12 Power rankings: A muddle in the middle
By Shaun Gordon
Call it balanced or call it mediocre, Pac-12 Basketball is certainly competitive, and nine teams still have a shot at the regular-season title.
Four games.
Three weeks.
Entering the final stretch of the regular season, nine Pac-12 teams sit within four games of first place.
Things are even more crowded between second and ninth. Only two games separate those eight spots.
It’s a wide open race, and there’s only three weeks left to see some separation.
This year’s Pac-12 has a lot of good teams, but none that have separated themselves enough to look like Final Four contenders.
With the muddled mess in the standings, let’s take a look at where each team stands, based on both the standings and recent performance.
12. California
The Golden Bears (8-18, 2-11 PAC-12) looked like they might be turning a corner. In back to back games, they took down Oregon State for their second win of the season, then nearly knocked off Colorado.
Then they went and lost to Utah by 34.
Cal isn’t going to climb any higher than that eleventh spot in the standings, and they’re tied at the bottom right now. If they lose to Washington State next week, they’ll be all alone in the PAC-12 cellar.
They lost to the Cougars by 25 the first time the two teams squared off, so a lonely place in the bottom isn’t that far-fetched.
This Week:
Sunday: vs. Stanford (5:00pm PT)