PAC-12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Andy Patton | Sep 24, 2020

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 15: A Pac-12 basketball logo is displayed on the court before a semifinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Washington Huskies at T-Mobile Arena on March 15, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 27: Stanford Cardinal fans pose for a photo (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

517. . . . Cardinal . 5. team

On the back of freshman phenom Tyrell Terry, the Cardinal climbed into the top-25 briefly in January, before dropping seven of their next eight contests and finishing a drab 9-9 in conference play.

Terry is off to greener pastures in the NBA, but he’ll be instantly replaced by Ziare Williams – a top 5 recruit in the class of 2020 and a massive get on the recruiting trail for coach Jerod Haase and the rest of the Stanford coaching staff.

Williams will instantly be a PAC-12 player of the year contender – but he’ll be competing alongside Oscar da Silva, a rising senior big man who averaged 15.7 and 6.4 last year for the Cardinal.

Defensively, this team has incredible length and instincts, and they won’t make it easy on opponents all year long.

With Williams, da Silva, guard Daejon Davis, and another incoming freshman, Max Murrell, this team has the makings of a very solid PAC-12 powerhouse. Their biggest area of concern is overall depth, as they will need rotation pieces like Spencer Jones and Bryce Wills to step up if they want to find themselves among the top 5 in the PAC-12 conference, and with a berth in the NCAA tournament.

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