As USC prepares for huge game vs Gonzaga, Pac-12 basketball is struggling
The Arizona Wildcats are delivering the goods in Pac-12 basketball this season. The UCLA Bruins look like a team which will be very good by the end of the season, but they still did lose twice in the Maui Invitational to Marquette and Gonzaga. The Utah Utes look like an improved team, but their win over Saint Mary’s might not be a huge resume booster given the Gaels’ prolonged early-season struggles.
It has been a very rough beginning for Pac-12 basketball in the conference’s final season. The league was supposed to be better and tougher in the upper tier. Arizona and UCLA can reasonably say that they are in position to do really well. Everyone else has a lot to prove as December arrives.
USC is about to face Gonzaga in Las Vegas. If Gonzaga could clearly outplay UCLA, USC is in real trouble versus the Zags unless it can dramatically elevate its level of performance. Isaiah Collier has not played like a star in recent games. He needs to be the best player on that court in Vegas on Saturday night.
It’s not just a USC thing, however. Other Pac-12 programs with high expectations are struggling out of the gate. Oregon picked up losses to Santa Clara and Alabama this past weekend. Colorado has lost to Florida State and Colorado State. Oregon and Colorado were both projected to make the NCAA Tournament, and yet they both look like NIT teams right now. USC looks more like a bubble team than a strong upper-tier Pac-12 team.
None of this discussion has even begun to include other Pac-12 teams riding the struggle bus. Arizona State has lost to Mississippi State and BYU while barely beating UMass-Lowell. Stanford lost three games in The Bahamas last week and has four losses on the young season. Cal is losing games left and right. Washington has lost multiple games. Oregon State looks terrible. Washington State has been unremarkable.
The Pac-12 is underperforming. USC, Colorado and Oregon all need to make some statements before too long. The Trojans get their big chance on Saturday against Gonzaga.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.
