Pac-12 Power Rankings: Arizona and UCLA remain conference powerhouses
The Pac-12 basketball season got underway last week, with every conference team playing two league games before a few more non-conference matchups to finish out the month.
Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats remain the top team in the conference, despite suffering a loss to upstart Utah to begin conference play. Behind Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo, Arizona’s frontcourt is going to be nearly impossible to stop this season as they look to once again earn a No. 1 overall seed in March.
UCLA is on a nice winning streak after losing two straight in Portland, and Arizona State is sitting pretty with a 9-1 record and wins over Michigan and SMU.
Oregon is getting healthy, securing a win over Washington State and comfortably defeating a solid Nevada squad. If they can find some consistency early in 2023 they could easily contend for a top-5 spot in the conference and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Here is a look at the Pac-12 power rankings just over one month into the 2022-23 season:
California Golden Bears (0-11) Last Week: 12
Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 260
Next: @ Santa Clara (12/18)
Cal remains one of the few D-1 programs without a win this season, dropping the Pac-12 opener to USC and getting ran out of the gym by Butler, losing 82-58.
A chance for a win against Eastern Washington slipped away, and Mark Fox’s job security at this point depends on the interest of the Cal boosters to make a change.
Oregon State Beavers (4-6) Last Week: 11
Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 221
Next: vs. SeattleU (12/15)
The Beavs ended a four-game losing streak with a Pac-12 victory over Washington, and they came within one point of moving to 2-0 in league play but ultimately fell 63-62 to the USC Trojans.
Tinkle’s team looks like they will be more competitive in conference play this year than last year, but they are still going to finish near or at the bottom of the standings barring a very surprising turnaround.
Stanford Cardinal (3-6) Last Week: 7
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 67
Next: vs. Green Bay (12/16)
Stanford’s only Power-5 victory came against a very bad Florida State squad, and they opened conference play with losses against UCLA and on the road against Arizona State.
The Cardinal have plenty of talent, but they haven’t looked like a team ready to make a jump into the middle of the Pac-12 standings just yet.
Washington State Cougars (4-5) Last Week: 10
Syndication: The Register Guard
KenPom: 61
Next: vs. Baylor Bears (12/18)
WSU’s four victories have all come against unimpressive mid-major programs, while they are 0-2 in league play and suffered losses to Prairie View and Boise State.
Kyle Smith is a good coach, but this team has failed to make much noise in the Pac-12 and so far 2022-23 doesn’t look like it will be much different.
Washington Huskies (7-3) Last Week: 8
Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 95
Next: vs. Cal Poly (12/13)
The Huskies started the year with a sparkly 6-1 record, but a conference loss to a bad Oregon State team stands out like a sore thumb.
Mike Hopkins has a lot of work to do with this team, particularly on offense, if they want to push into the middle of the Pac-12 and potentially put themselves in the at-large conversation.
Colorado Buffaloes (5-5) Last Week: 6
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 52
Next: vs. North Alabama (12/15)
The Buffs remain a confusing team this season, starting Pac-12 play 0-2 with losses to Washington and Arizona – but rebounding by stomping all over in-state rival Colorado State in their most recent contest.
Tad Boyle’s team will need to demonstrate more consistency in conference play if they want to earn an at-large bid, even with multiple elite resume building wins already in the bag.
USC Trojans (7-3) Last Week: 5
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 70
Next: vs. Long Beach State (12/14)
The Trojans 7-3 record looks pretty good, but they narrowly snuck past Oregon State (63-62) and Vermont (59-57) which hurts them in the KenPom rankings.
This team’s offense is all over the place so far, and Andy Enfield and co will need to find some consistency if they want to challenge for a top-5 spot in the Pac-12 and an at-large bid come March.
Oregon Ducks (5-5) Last Week: 4
(Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
KenPom: 37
Next: vs. UC-Riverside (12/14)
Health remains an issue for Dana Altman and the Ducks, but nice wins over Washington State and Nevada certainly have this team moving in the right direction, even after the loss to UCLA.
The Ducks will try to get right with games against Riverside and Portland coming up this week before getting back into conference play.
Utah Utes (8-2) Last Week: 9
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 39
Next: vs. UTSA (12/13)
It’s been quite a week for Craig Smith and the Utah Utes, who blasted Arizona to open conference play and secured a win over Washington State as well.
The Utes are shooting over 40% from three as a team, and Branden Carlson’s dominance (14 points, 7.2 rebounds) should keep this team in legit NCAA Tournament conversation throughout the year.
Arizona State Sun Devils (9-1) Last Week: 3
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 42
Next: vs. Creighton (12/12)
Arizona State’s seven game winning streak includes wins over Michigan, Colorado, Stanford, and SMU – and they remain a one point loss to Texas Southern away from being one of the few undefeated teams remaining in college hoops.
Bobby Hurley’s squad has a huge challenge in front of them against Creighton on Monday. A win there vaults this team into legitimate Top 25 conversation.
UCLA Bruins (8-2) Last Week: 2
Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 8
Next: @ Maryland (12/14)
Mick Cronin’s squad rebounded well from back-to-back losses in Portland’s Phil Knight Invitational, winning five in a row including over Oregon and Stanford, with big wins over Pepperdine and Bellarmine in the mix as well.
The Bruins have Maryland and Kentucky, two ranked programs, coming up this week which will give us a much better look at where this team stands among the game’s premier programs heading into 2023.
Arizona Wildcats (8-1) Last Week: 1
Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
KenPom: 12
Next: vs. Texas A&M-CC (12/13)
Arizona suffered a loss to Utah to open Pac-12 play, but other than that this team has been absolutely fantastic all season long. A 14 point victory over No. 14 Indiana has this team moving comfortably into the top ten ahead of a big game against Tennessee on 12/17.
A win in that contest puts Arizona potentially into the top five as they look for another No. 1 overall seed in March.
