College Basketball 2010-11: The Pac-10 Is Not Back Yet

Just a few short years ago, Pac-10 basketball was on the top of the college basketball world

Gone are the individual star players that immediately went into the NBA and made an instant impact.

UCLA was regularly getting to the Final Four.

Arizona was almost always in the Top 10.

Stanford, year-in and year-out, was as tough as any team in the nation.

Now all three of those teams are attempting to get back on track. Aside from Washington, the rest of the programs haven't stepped into the conference limelight.

The following is an early season update of what is happening and how things look in the Pac-10:

Oregon State (4-5)

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WESTWOOD, CA - MARCH 05: Omari Johnson #24 of the Oregon State Beavers shoots the jump shot against James Keefe #13 of the UCLA Bruins in the first half during their NCAA basketball game at Pauley Pavilion on March 5, 2009 in Westwood, California. The Br

Remaining non-conference games: George Washington and Illinois-Chicago

Craig Robinson’s Beavers are struggling.

Losing five games early is not the end of the world, but when you lose to Seattle, Texas Southern (at home), Utah Valley (at home), Colorado and Montana, you might be concerned about where the season is headed.

Oregon State is regularly being out-rebounded (No. 302 out of 336 in rebound margin), it allows opponents to shoot a high-percentage from the field (.444) and it is turning the ball over 16 times per game.

Senior forward Omari Johnson is pacing the Beavers by scoring 12.4 points and seven rebounds per game.

Projected Pac-10 record: 3-15

Arizona State (4-4)

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NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: Trent Lockett #24 of the Arizona State Sun Devils dunks the ball against the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on November 25, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Remaining non-conference games: Nevada, Long Beach State and North Carolina A&T

Herb Sendek’s Sun Devils are still trying to find their way in the early season.

After an opening-night loss on the road to New Mexico, Arizona State won three games against marginal opponents.

It followed that up with a three-game losing streak against solid opponents: St. John’s, Baylor and Richmond.

Sophomore guard Trent Lockett is doing a little bit of everything, scoring 15.6 points, grabbing 6.9 rebounds and handing out 3.1 assists per game.

One of the places in which ASU as a team desperately needs to shore things up is at the foul line. As a team, the Sun Devils are only shooting 58.8 percent on their free throws. Many Pac-10 games will be won and lost at the line.

With a very deliberate pace to their game, the Sun Devils aren’t going to simply outscore a whole lot of people. Fortunately, they will most likely continue holding their opponents to a minimal amount of points.

Projected Pac-10 record: 8-10

UCLA (5-4)

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LAWRENCE, KS - DECEMBER 02: Tyler Honeycutt #23 of the UCLA Bruins in action during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on December 2, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Remaining non-conference games: BYU, Montana State, and Cal-Irvine

Ben Howland’s Bruins are still trying to figure things out.

Coming off of the school’s worst season in over 60 years, UCLA is trying to recapture some of that Westwood mystique.

Two of their loses have been to Top 10 ranked teams in Villanova and Kansas. The one that is puzzling is losing at home to a middle-of-the-road Montana team.

The Bruins have four players averaging double figures. Tyler Honeycutt has stepped up his game (15points per game/eight rebounds per game).

The Bruins still need to find that killer instinct that will put them back at the top of the conference race.

Projected Pac-10 record: 9-9

Cal (5-4)

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WESTWOOD, CA - MARCH 8: Harper Kamp #43 of the California Golden Bears shoots over Kevin Love #42 of the UCLA Bruins on March 8, 2008 at Pauley Pavillion in Westwood, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Remaining non-conference games: Cal Poly, Kansas, and Hartford

Mike Montgomery’s Bears have the least amount of returning starters of any team in the conference.

Instead of being a perimeter-based team like they have been the past few years, the Bears are looking to take the ball inside and make things happen there.

Even though Cal has lost four games, they were against tough opponents: Notre Dame, Boston College, San Diego State and Southern Mississippi are currently a combined 35-4.

Junior forward Harper Kamp, after a year of not playing because of injury, is leading the Bears charge by scoring 13.6 points and grabbing 5.6 rebounds (second on the team). 

Whether or not the Bears take care of the ball (currently averaging 15 turnovers per game) will determine where Cal ends up at the end of the season.

Projected Pac-10 record: 8-10

USC (6-4)

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MINNEAPOLIS - MARCH 22: Nikola Vucevic #5 of the USC Trojans fights for position under the basket against Delvon Roe #10 of the Michigan State Spartans during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Hubert H. Humphrey M

Remaining non-conference games: Kansas, Tennessee and Lehigh

Kevin O’Neill’s Trojans have been all over the road.

They have blown teams out. They’ve been blown out.

They’ve beaten a ranked team (Texas) and they’ve lost to teams (Rider, Bradley, Nebraska, and TCU) that had no business being in the ballgame.

Southern Cal under O’Neill will never be accused of being a finesse team. The Trojans play aggressive, physical basketball, and sometimes that has a negative impact on their own ability to get the ball in the hole.

Nikola Vucevic is averaging a double-double (16 points per game/11 rebounds per game), and freshman waterbug (5’7”) Maurice Jones is giving the Trojan lineup a definite spark (12.2 points per game/3.4 rebounds per game).

Projected Pac-10 record: 9-9

Washington (6-3)

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SYRACUSE, NY - MARCH 25: Isaiah Thomas #2 of the Washington Huskies reacts against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the east regional semifinal of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Carrier Dome on March 25, 2010 in Syracuse, New York.

Remaining non-conference games: San Francisco and Nevada.

Lorenzo Romar’s Huskies are once again the class of the conference.

They have been dominant in the early season. Don’t let their three loses fool you. They have lost to Kentucky, Michigan State and Texas A&M. Enough said.

Washington is the No. 3 scoring team in the nation (91.8 points per game). The Huskies are also No. 3 in both three-point field goals made (10.3 per game) and three-point field goal percentage (.454).

As a team, they have an exceptional 1.46 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Isaiah Thomas, a 5'9" junior guard, is picking up where he left things off last season. He's scoring 15.3 points, grabbing 3.6 boards and handing out 3.8 assists per game.

Barring something unforeseen happening, the Huskies will win both the regular season and conference tournament.

Projected Pac-10 record: 15-3

Oregon (7-3)

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 11: Joevan Catron #50 of the Oregon Ducks shoots against the Washington State Cougars during the Pacific Life Pac-10 Men's Basketball Tournament at the Staples Center on March 11, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry

Remaining non-conference games: Virginia and Idaho

First-year head coach Dana Altman’s Ducks are playing better than some expected.

While their early season schedule has not been the most demanding, Oregon has showed flashes of what could happen in the future.

The Ducks came from 22 back at home to almost beat the No. 8 Missouri Tigers.

Joevan Catron (17.6 points per game/6.6 rebounds per game) and E.J Singler (13.1 points per game/6.7 rebounds per game) provide a good one-two punch.

Look for the Ducks to play tough at home (goodbye, Mac Court) but they might struggle on the road.

Projected Pac-10 record: 7-11

Stanford (6-2)

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LOS ANGELES - MARCH 11: Jeremy Green #45 of the Stanford Cardinal goes up fro a shot against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Basketball Tournament at Staples Center on March 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Phot

Remaining non-conference games: Butler, Oklahoma State, and Yale

Johnny Dawkins’ Cardinal team is still rebuilding.

While they have a decent collection of wins so far, Stanford’s early season opponents have been a level below what they will be playing once Pac-10 play begins.

Jeremy Green has had a nice start to the season (16.3 points per game), but the Cardinal lack a strong inside game and they turn the ball over (16 turnovers per game) too much.

Projected Pac-10 record: 6-12

Arizona (8-2)

Remaining non-conference games: Northern Arizona, North Carolina State and Robert Morris

Sean Miller is doing a fantastic job of rebuilding the Arizona men’s basketball program.

While the Wildcats may still be a year away from being back into the Top 25 on a consistent basis, Arizona is still going to be a force to reckon with this season.

Derrick Williams (19.5 points per game/7.4 rebounds per game) is the best player in the Pac-10 (Washington State fans may beg to differ).

The Wildcats may have the deepest bench in the conference, able to go 10 deep without much drop off.

Other than struggling against BYU in Salt Lake City, the Wildcats have played good team-ball with balanced scoring.

Projected Pac-10 record: 13-5

Washington State (7-1)

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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - JULY 11: Klay Thompson of the USA shoots during the U19 Basketball World Championships Semi-Final match between Croatia and the United States of America at North Shore Events Centre on July 11, 2009 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Pho

Remaining non-conference games: Santa Clara and Mississippi State

Ken Bone’s Cougars have started off the season well, looking to insert themselves back into Pac-10 contention.

Klay Thompson is playing at an extremely high level (21 points per game/5 assists per game).

As a team, Washington State is one of the best shooting teams in the country (currently 50.5 percent, No. 7 in the nation).

The Cougars biggest challenge will be matching up against teams in the paint. They will need to play good team defense and have all five players crash the boards in order to not have their opponents neutralize their fantastic perimeter game.

Projected Pac-10 record: 12-6