Pac-12 Basketball power rankings: Ducks, Trojans land at the top

10) Washington State Cougars 12-9 (3-5)

After their wins over Oregon and Oregon State, the Washington State Cougars were threatening to enter the top half of these power rankings. However, their winless weekend on the road against the mountain schools has shown their return to earth. Zero momentum was carried over from their weekend in Oregon, and it showed after losing to Colorado and Utah by an average of 16 points.

Kyle Smith has shown glimpses of being a good hire, but his first year in Pullman has been unsurprisingly mediocre at best. Despite being in the bottom four of the Pac-12, the Cougars have a star in CJ Elleby, and that alone is worth tuning in to a game.

9) California Golden Bears 9-10 (3-3)

What if I told you the California Golden Bears have already matched their 2018-19 Pac-12 win total with 12 games remaining in the season? Well, believe it, because it has happened. By sweeping the Washington schools and surprising Stanford at home, the Golden Bears have climbed slowly out of the Pac-12’s last-place spot. Matt Bradley has run with his increased role on the team and currently sits in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in points per game.

Without a truly dangerous second option scorer, Head Coach Mark Fox has instead relied on slowing the game down to reduce the total score. Cal may not be a contender in the conference, but their ability to slow the game down opens the game up to all sorts of craziness.