Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona State stays on top as UCLA falls
By Brian Rauf
Arizona State is the only undefeated team remaining as the rest of the Pac-12 Basketball pecking order is muddled. Which teams are the best in the conference?
Raise your hand if you had Arizona State has the last undefeated team in the conference. If you live outside of Tempe and are raising your hand, you’re a liar.
The Sun Devils have emerged as the clear best team in the Pac-12, but that has just as much to do with the struggles of other contenders as it does with how well ASU has played (and they’ve looked really good). UCLA fell flat on their face in the Las Vegas Invitational and Oregon was upset at home by Texas Southern, adding to the conference’s non-conference failures.
At this point, I see three clear tiers in the conference.
The bottom tier consists of the six worst teams in the conference, none of whom entered the season with any kind of expectations and none have accomplished anything of note to this point in the season. Things can obviously change, but they’re projected to finish in the bottom half of the conference – the order of which is undetermined, however.
Then there’s the second tier that consists of teams we thought we be good but have struggled. This consists of UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona. All five had NCAA Tournament aspirations and expectations but have dealt with really puzzling losses. Are any of them actually good?
Then there’s the Sun Devils, who are by themselves in tier one because of their win over Mississippi State and undefeated record. In reality, there’s no one else who could be at the top of these power rankings.
How do the rest of the ranking shake out at the end of November?