Pac-12 Basketball power rankings: Ducks enter 2020 as clear favorites

#8 – Utah

This is a hard team to nail down. Maybe the hardest in the league.

The Utes started the season off with a satisfying victory over regional rival Nevada and a headline-grabbing 143-49 win over Mississippi Valley State, followed by a win over Minnesota that signaled good things ahead for Larry Krystkowiak’s team.

Then they lost by 22 to Coastal Carolina and again in a close game against Tulane.

A few weeks later, they were back on top of the world after beating BYU and Kentucky.

Cue the Top 25 talk.

But fresh in the wake of the Kentucky upset, before the polls had a chance to drop, the Utes were pulverized by San Diego State, losing 80-52 in neutral territory. The loss couldn’t have come at a worse time for Utah, after they had just begun dipping their toes in the warm waters of the national spotlight.

All of these results taken in whole beg one massive question.

Will the real Utah please stand up?

Get ready to hear this about the next few teams, but these guys are good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. Timmy Allen is having a breakout season, scoring 21 points per game after averaging nine fewer in his second-fiddle role behind Sedrick Barefield last year. He is a legitimate difference-maker in the game and will surely carry the Utes to a few conference wins this year.

The Utes have size aplenty, with two seven-footers and six more players listed at 6’5″ or taller, but they don’t rebound as well as would be expected of a team with so much length. They’ve also been a bit careless, rating slightly below average in the turnover department.

Those problems likely stem from the same issue: the team is one of the youngest in the nation. Even if they don’t make the tournament this year, the Utes are set up to contend in this league for years to come if they can hold on to all of their talent.

#7 – Oregon State

Full disclosure: I grew up in Corvallis as a lifelong Beaver fan. But prejudices aside, this is a good club that is going to catch some unsuspecting teams by surprise.

And that’s really a shame, because the recipe for success in my hometown hasn’t really changed much from last year to now.

Step 1: Feed Tres Tinkle.

Step 2: Repeat.

That’s pretty much Play 1 in the Beavers’ playbook, with the star senior averaging over 20 points per game with a usage rate bordering on 30 percent. He isn’t the only capable player on the roster, though.

Ethan Thompson and Kylor Kelley have been exactly what they need to be in support of Tinkle, with Thompson scoring 16 points per game and dishing out nearly five assists nightly and Kelley averaging roughly 12 points and four blocks per game.

When the Beavers have had success, it has been when those three players get support from guys like Alfred Hollins and Zach Reichle, the other two members of coach Wayne Tinkle’s starting lineup. If they can get consistent production from those two, the Beavers could add another fairy tale season to bookend the Tinkles’ time together in Corvallis.

Unfortunately for Oregon State, there are a lot of teams reaching their potential this season in the Pac-12. The top half of the league could easily put a stranglehold on any available at-large bids for the conference. It doesn’t help that the Beavers have just one good win over Iowa State, which was essentially canceled out by a dismal performance against a poor Texas A&M team.