Pre-Season Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings

Put all responsibilities aside and apologize to your loved ones because college basketball season is here. It will consume the next five months of your life but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Fall is the best time of the year. Not because of the leaves changing color. Not because of the cooler temperatures. And it isn’t because you can buy $12 pumpkin spiced deodorant. Fall is the best time of year because it means college basketball is back. It’s been a tumultuous off-season, but it’s time to put that behind us and focus on hoops. What better way to kick off this joyous occasion, than with the first Pac-12 power rankings of the season? Here it goes.

1. Arizona Wildcats

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 30 – 4 overall; 16-2 Pac-12 (t-1st)

Arizona is coming off its third, 30-win season in the last four years, as well as both regular season and Pac-12 tournament titles.  And yes, for all you self-hating Wildcat fans out there, Arizona did share the Pac-12 regular season title with Oregon last year.

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Losing The Finnisher and Kadeem Allen will certainly hurt, but the third overall ranked recruiting class will soothe the pain.  Die hard Wildcat fans have said this every season since 2010, but this year it might actually be true: this could be Sean Miller’s best team at Arizona.

The 2017-2018 Arizona squad will likely be led by Allonzo Trier and DeAndre Ayton. It’s difficult to think of a better guard/forward combo in college basketball and the only one that even comes close is Trevon Duval and Marvin Bagley III at Duke. But given a choice between the two tandems, I’ll take our Wildcats.

After watching him for the first time in the Red Blue game, Ayton seems to be as good as advertised. The size of Kaleb Tarczewski with the athleticism of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson? Seems like it could work. This picture of him standing next to Dwight Howard makes me irrationally happy.

Add to those two, another potential NBA player in Rawle Alkins, as well as two senior starters in Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Dusan Ristic, and you’ve got a recipe for success. Alkins will miss the first few weeks of the season with a broken foot, but should be back in plenty of time for conference play.

No other team in the conference has the Wildcats’ talent or potential. Yes, they’ll lose a few conference games, but I expect Arizona will win the regular season championship by multiple games. *knocks on every wood surface within a 5 mile radius*

2. USC Trojans

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 24-9 overall; 10-8 Pac-12 (t-5th)

Any LA residents reading this will be shocked to learn there is a second men’s college basketball team in town. It’s true! USC basketball has had some exciting years, but there’s no denying that they live in UCLA’s shadow.

But maybe not this year. USC is returning almost all of last year’s team and will add Charles O’Bannon and Derryck Thornton to the mix. Arizona dodged a 6’11”, NBA-ready bullet when Marvin Bagley III chose Duke over USC. Otherwise, the Trojans might have had a serious claim to the top spot in these power rankings.

Returners Bennie Boatwright and Chimezie Metu will likely lead this Trojan team. Metu can single-handedly change games with his shot blocking ability. If I were a betting man my money would be on him to win defensive player of the year. That said, I can’t wait to see Ayton posterize him.

Because of the unbalanced Pac-12 schedule, Arizona will play USC only once this year. That game is at McKale on February 10th. Beer will be served. The Zona Zoo will be loud. It’s shaping up to be the marquee game of the Pac-12 regular season and we can’t wait.

3. Oregon Ducks

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 29-5 overall; 16-2 Pac-12 (t-1st)

The Ducks probably lost more talent than any other team in the Pac-12. Maybe more than any team in the country. Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell, and Tyler Dorsey are all on NBA rosters. Chris Boucher signed a two-way contract with the Warriors. While Oregon fans are undoubtedly proud, this turnover means the Ducks return only one starter from last year.

Freshman Troy Brown will be very good for the Ducks and Wildcats fans should hope he is only in Eugene for one year. Knowing Dana Altman, there will also be some transfers on the team that no one has heard of, but somehow are sneaky good. Where does he find these guys? I’m genuinely curious. Is there a Craigslist for talented transfers that only Altman knows about? Does his Ouija board exclusively spit out the name of 5th year seniors? Can he “see” hustle like you and I see the color blue?

Arizona plays Oregon twice this year. The game at Eugene on February 24th could be difficult for the Wildcats. Not because Oregon is a better team, but because that court is so distractingly ugly.

4. UCLA Bruins

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 29-4 overall; 15-3 Pac-12 (3rd)

Season one of the Ball Family Circus has ended in Westwood. Season two doesn’t seem like it will be quite so entertaining. LiAngelo Ball enters UCLA with not nearly the same fanfare that his older brother Lonzo garnered. But maybe that will be good for the Bruins. Maybe they’ll play some defense.

Overall, UCLA’s recruiting class is ranked 5th in the country and headlined by Jaylen Hands. I haven’t seen Hands play a minute of real basketball, but I’ve already got a bone to pick with him. In UCLA’s version of the Red Blue dunk contest, Hands used Steve Alford as a prop and dunked over him. Dude, it’s been done. The between-the-legs-over-the-coach dunk was claimed by Rawle last year. Get your own dunk.

That’s not my only petty grievance about UCLA. Their pre-season showcase was held at Venice beach. Some might argue it’s a fun idea that takes advantage of UCLA’s unique location. But my cynicism knows they only did that because they didn’t want to be embarrassed by a half full Pauley Pavilion. I see you, UCLA.

Oh, and Alford can’t coach.

5. Stanford Cardinal

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 14-17 overall; 6-12 Pac-12 (9th)

Michael Porter Jr. wasn’t the only post-Romar defection from Washington. Guard Daejon Davis also left in search of greener pastures and wound up in Palo Alto. He’ll join Reid Travis on a Stanford team that is likely to do much better than last year’s 9th place finish. Probably not good enough to make the Big Dance, however.

Arizona is riding a 15 game regular season win streak against the Cardinal that stretches back to 2009. The two games this year should be wins 16 and 17 in a row. And they probably won’t be that close.

To make the games more interesting, try the following game. First, find a Stanford alum in your area with whom you can watch the game (they’ll probably be managing a non-profit organization or leading a “think tank”). Next, refer to the team as the “Cardinals” all night and refuse to be corrected. See how many times you can get away with this before the alum flips the table. Comment below with your best score.

6. Colorado Buffaloes

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 19-14 overall; 8-10 Pac-12 (7th)

We never have to watch Xavier Johnson play basketball again. That’s reason enough to be excited about the upcoming season. Seems a bit harsh, you say? Let me remind you of this quote from Johnson:

"“We have better players than them, I think… [the next game] will be a 20-point blowout.”"

Four weeks later the Wildcats would go on to win the next game against Colorado by 27 points. In a way, Johnson was right. It was a blowout.

This year’s Colorado team will be a solid middle of the pack presence in the Pac-12. Not in the same tier as Arizona and USC, but still a large step above the likes of Washington and Cal. There will likely be a steep learning curve for this young team as the Buffaloes are losing five key players from last year’s team.

7. Oregon State Beavers

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 5-27 overall; 1-17 Pac-12 (12th)

Wait, are you serious? They only won one conference game last year? I mean, I knew they were bad, but jeez. I thought the Tinkle era would be different in Corvallis.

To be fair, the Beavers played all of last year’s Pac-12 season without Tres Tinkle, arguably their best player. If he can stay healthy this year the Beavers should win many more conference games.

One glaring weakness of this OSU roster is the lack of international players making meaningful contributions. In years past the Beavers have relied upon the likes of Olaf Schaftennar (Netherlands) and Angus Brandt (Australia). This year’s international flair will be almost entirely provided by Tres Tinkle (French for “very Tinkle”).

8. Utah Utes

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 20-11 overall; 11-7 Pac-12 (4th)

The nation’s second favorite Coach K lost his best player Kyle Kuzma to the NBA. He may have a tough time replacing that talent. According to 247 Sports recruiting database, the Utes’ top ranked recruit is power forward Branden Carlson at No. 102. Only Cal (whose recruiting hopes left with Cuonzo Martin) and Washington State (this doesn’t require explanation) have worse recruiting classes.

However, grad transfer Justin Bibbins should provide some support to an already experienced roster. Bibbins twice earned all-conference honors while playing in the Big West for Long Beach State. How this guy slipped through Altman’s hands is a mystery. Has anyone checked recently to see if Dana’s okay?

9.  Tempe Normal School Normals

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 15-18 overall; 7-11 Pac-12 (8th)

Where do I begin? The Fightin’ Bobbies enter year three under Hurley hoping that this year will be the year they break through and secure a winning record. Lofty ambitions in Tempe.

Wildcats fans will remember Hurley’s antics (and ejection) in his first Pac-12 game and wonder when the result will match the bluster. Probably not this year.

Tempe loses its best two players from last year’s team in Torian Graham and Obinna Oleka. Senior point guard Tra Holder will have to carry this team if they hope to make it into the top half of the Pac-12 standings. Meanwhile there are rumblings that Tempe’s second best player, the Curtain of Distraction, may be looking to transfer after the season.

Really the best thing I can say about the 2017-2018 Tempe Normal School Normals is that they have a freshman guard named Remy Martin. Cheers, Remy.

A word of caution: watch out for the February 15th game in Tempe. For some reason the Wildcats seem to struggle against this team around Valentine’s Day.

10. Washington State Cougars

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 13-18 overall; 6-12 Pac-12 (9th)

First off, let me say that I love Ernie Kent. I respect his history of success and the way he coaches his players with the intent of making them better people.  I want Kent to do well at Washington State. That said, this will not be his year.

Kent’s recruiting class is pretty sparse. Although Bruce Pascoe points out that newcomer and North Dakota state transfer Drick Bernstine scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Wildcats last year. Again, has anyone heard from Altman lately? Because Bernstine sounds like he would have been right up his alley. Phil Knight, if you’re reading this (I know you are) can you call coach and make sure everything’s okay?

If Kent’s days at Wazzu are limited, Arizona would love to have him on staff, too. We can continue to collect ex-Pac-12 coaches until we have a complete set.

11. California Golden Bears

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 21-12 overall; 10-8 Pac-12 (t-5th)

Rugby was first played at Cal in 1882 and has been a big part of campus culture since Miles Hudson took over the team in 1938. Since then, Cal has become without a doubt the most dominant team in the history of college rugby. So dominant in fact that they have won 28 national titles in the last 37 years. There was even a stretch of 12 consecutive years that no other team managed to dethrone them as champions. This record of success is one of the most impressive displays ever seen in college athletics.

And that’s all I have to say about the 2017-2018 California Golden Bears Men’s Basketball team.

12. Washington Huskies

• 2016 – 2017 Record: 9-22 overall; 2-16 Pac-12 (11th)

Six months ago, Washington would have been much higher in this ranking. They had the top recruit in the nation and a solid core of returning players including David Crisp, Matisse Thybulle, and Noah Dickerson. But Lorenzo Romar’s seat simply became too hot. Recruiting can only get you so far. The Huskies’ loss is the Wildcats’ gain.

Must Read: More on Arizona Basketball

Fast forward to today, Romar is gone as well as top recruit Michael Porter Jr. who joins former Cal coach Cuonzo Martin at Mizzou. An indifferent student body means UW will struggle to win games even at home. It’s going to be tough sledding for new coach Mike Hopkins. But credit should be given to Hopkins for managing to convince many players to stick around and give him a chance. What he can do with that chance remains to be seen.