4. Arizona State Sun Devils - 10-6 (4-1)
Easily the biggest Pac-12 Basketball surprise so far in league play, the Sun Devils are one of two teams to have a four-game win streak. They defeated Utah and Colorado at home in impressive fashion, with all of the starters taking their turn in starring roles.
A recent 15-point road loss at Washington halted some of the momentum for now but the Sun Devils have a good shot at being 6-1 in league play by the end of the week. They take on the struggling Los Angeles schools of UCLA and USC in what could end up being defensive slugfests.
3. Utah Utes - 12-5 (3-3)
The Utes were 1-0 in the non-con in true road games but to start Pac-12 play, they’re 0-3. They lost to not only both Arizona schools but they recently lost at Stanford, 79-73. And that’s despite guard Deivon Smith going for a triple-double (16 pts, 10 rebs, 11 asts) in the loss while starter Rollie Worster was out with an injury.
He should be back for this week’s slate of games, both of which are at home. Utah has Oregon and Oregon State and ideally needs to go 2-0 to avoid starting to slide closer to the bubble. Considering how tough the end stretch looks to be, the Utes could be in danger of falling out of the conference title race.