Pac-10 Power Rankings

It looks like the Pac-10 will get four teams into the tournament for sure. After that, you have USC and Stanford that both have a chance to get in. I think USC will emerge as the better team, but the season is still young.

It will be interesting to see how the top four will play out. I think the California win over UW was a fluke, but we'll see if Cal is for real at the end of January, when they play USC and UCLA on the road.

I truly believe that UW is as good as ASU and UCLA; the UCLA game will tell us a lot about the Dawgs and where they stand in the national scene.

Tournament Teams

1. Arizona State (15-3, 4-2)—After a win over UCLA on the road, this team is looking really good. James Harden is willing to distribute the ball when things aren't working out for him. Until teams can start shutting down the high-octane offense of the Sun Devils, ASU will stay atop in the Pac-10.

2. UCLA (14-3, 4-1)—A setback against ASU, but there isn't too much to worry about. I really like the Bruins' post defense. It seems like teams have had trouble having their post players be effective against UCLA. It will be interesting to see whether Brockman and Amaning will play a factor against them.

3. California (15-3, 4-1)—It's hard to distinguish the Bears from UCLA and ASU, but their one strength lies in their 3-point shooting. Mike Montgomery has got this team playing winning basketball. Like his past Stanford teams, the Bears find ways to finish games, as evident by the UW game last week.

4. Washington (13-4, 4-1)—UW has made a statement by their two blowouts on the road against Oregon and Oregon St. Right now this team is playing with extreme confidence. Their biggest strength is their offensive rebounding, a trademark of past Romar teams. The Dawgs should be ranked within in the top 25 if they can sweep against USC and UCLA at home this upcoming week.

Bubble Teams

5. USC (12-5, 3-2)—This team definitely has the talent to play with the teams that sit atop of the conference, however they seem to lack the same chemistry the teams above them contain. If USC can split their road games then they'll have a good shot at getting in the tournament. However, after a loss against OSU, you got to wonder if they have the ability to do that.

6. Stanford (12-3, 2-3)—After going undefeated in the non-conference portion of their schedule, the smoke has been cleared and it is evident that Stanford still has a lot of work to do. They just had a solid win over California, but getting swept on the road against UW and WSU is not going to help your chances. Like USC, if Stanford is able to pull out at least half of their games on the road, they'll be in the consideration for the Tournament come March.

Struggling

7. Arizona (11-7, 2-4)—With Budinger and Jordan Hill, you'd expect this team to be playing a lot better than at least Stanford, but it's clear that this team also lacks the chemistry needed to compete at the top of this conference. Arizona will have to pull of a handful of upsets along with a winning road record to get themselves back on track. I feel that this team will be the one that surprises everyone during the Conference tournament.


8. Washington State (11-6, 3-2)—The Cougars looked terrible against UW. However, Tony Bennett has this team playing trademark Cougar basketball. The Cougars are still able to slow down the game and make teams work hard offensively to put the ball in the basket. However, this team lacks the offensive tools needed to win games consistently. Don't be surprised if the Cougars pull off some upsets in this conference season. If Rochiestie is able to play a factor on the offensive end, then the Cougars will be able to compete.

It sucks to be in Oregon

9. Oregon (6-12, 0-5)—It stinks to be a Duck fan. Tajuan Porter is the only legit player on both ends of the court. This will be a long year for the Ducks. They are just getting handled by everyone else in the conference. They lack the grit and toughness they've had in past years.


10. Oregon St. (6-10, 1-5)—They are not as bad as their record suggests, but still not even close to being a competitive team yet. Craig Robinson has turned this team around, it's just a matter of being able to stay in games against Pac-10 opponents. Robinson needs to have his team stay in games for 40 minutes, to avoid disasters like the last UW game.