PAC-12 Basketball power rankings: Colorado climbs to top, UCLA rises

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 26: Tyler Bey #1 of the Colorado Buffaloes is mobbed by teammates as he is announced as the tournament MVP after the team's 71-67 victory over the Clemson Tigers to win the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 26, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JANUARY 30: Isaiah Stewart #33 of the Washington Huskies (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

#12 – Washington

Lately, Washington losing looks like the only sure thing in league play.

A 6-game losing streak will put you in the cellar of the PAC-12 by any means of measurement, and a loss to your in-state rival topping it off hurts all the more. The Huskies are in a tier of their own right now, and not in a good way. Was the loss of Quade Green really that important, or is there something else going on?
The Huskies should not be this miserable, even without Green — they still have a good amount of pieces that contributed to a 10-2 start and were expected to be achieving much more. That early-season win over Baylor feels more and more like it was eons ago.

To be fair, their last two losses before Wazzu weren’t the worst. A week playing Arizona and Arizona State isn’t easy, and losing by 4 and 3 against two upper-tier teams doesn’t scream “bottomfeeder”. Hameir Wright and Nahziah Carter have been picking it up lately, and there’s a chance that things will turn around soon.
Losing streaks don’t last forever, but this one feels like it should end every week and it has yet to.

#11 – Washington State

The Cougs seem to adopt a whole different team personality at home this season — for such a young team, it’s been where all their best wins have been so far. They play with an immense amount of confidence and swagger in Pullman.
Now, that win over UW. A double-digit win over the Huskies is something that the Cougs have sought after for years, and CJ Elleby dropping 34 while doing it is pretty gutsy. Wazzu still is one of the worst teams in the conference by almost any measure, but exacerbating the Huskies’ pain helps with that a bit.
In a foot-in-the-door year for first-year coach Kyle Smith, the results haven’t been all that bad. There’s some good wins along the way and potential already being built on, which is more than can be said for past years under Kent. Beating the Huskies is always a plus. People in Pullman love that.

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