Pac-12 Basketball power rankings: Ducks, Trojans land at the top
By Connor Hope
8) UCLA Bruins 10-10 (3-4)
I get it, UCLA is almost as bad as the bottom three, but, at some point, teams need to be rewarded for not being complete disasters. Right now, UCLA is playing well enough to avoid that designation. Has Mick Cronin come in with the immediate impact many people expected? No, he has not.
However, he still has a couple more years to show progress, and bring in players who will buy into his culture and coaching style. Tyger Campbell and Shareef O’Neal have not delivered on their hype, and O’Neal has already announced his decision to transfer. With just five players shooting over 40% from the floor, and a defense that doesn’t seem entirely Mick Cronin-Esque, Bruins fans will just have to be patient as the process of change continues.
7) Utah Utes 12-7 (3-4)
The Utah Utes are one of two teams that are truly in the middle of the Pac-12 pecking order. Utah can beat anybody on a good day or lose to anyone on a bad day, and that makes their games such a beauty to watch. In the Pac-12, however, their games have gone more or less according to plan, with losses against Arizona, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona State and wins over Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
The team is the youngest in the Pac-12, with the top seven players in their rotation being freshman or sophomores. This may not be the year that the Utes are a tournament team, but if Rylan Jones, Timmy Allen, Both Gach, and Riley Battin all return, Utah will be a team to watch moving forward.