There are just three weeks left in the college basketball regular season as teams try to finalize their resumes, and Drew VonScio gives his Pac-12 basketball power rankings.
Matchup of the Week: Washington State vs Arizona (Feb. 22 – 11 p.m.)
Sneaky Good Matchup of the Week: Utah vs Colorado (Feb. 24 – 9 p.m.)
All games listed are EST.
Seed projections are based on the latest bracketology reports as of Feb. 21.
1. Arizona Wildcats
Last Week’s Ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 20-5 (11-3)
Last Week: W vs Arizona State (105-60)
Next Week: vs Washington State (Feb. 22 – 11 p.m.), vs Washington (Feb. 24 – 2 p.m.)
Quality Wins: at Duke, Wisconsin, Alabama, at Oregon, Michigan State, Utah (x2), Colorado (x2)
Bad Losses: at Oregon State
Seed Projection: 1 – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), 1 – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), 1 – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Arizona put on an offensive display that looked like an NBA performance as six players scored 10+ points, and Jaden Bradley scored a career-high 21 points against Arizona State. Oumar Ballo continued his pace of picking up another double-double as he pulled in 11 of Arizona’s 46 rebounds. The Wildcats continue to be the best of the best on both ends of the floor in the Pac-12. Arizona is on the verge of locking up a one seed in the NCAA Tournament as long as the Wildcats don’t suffer some bad losses the rest of the way or in the Pac-12 tournament.
2. Washington State
Last Week’s Ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 20-6 (11-4)
Last Week: W vs Cal (84-65), W vs Stanford (72-59)
Next Week: at Arizona (Feb. 22 – 11 p.m.), at Arizona State (Feb. 24 – 8 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Arizona, Utah, Boise State, at Oregon, Colorado
Bad Losses: at Cal
Seed Projection: 11 – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), 9 – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), 7 – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Washington State continued its surprising season with another pair of wins this past week. Myles Rice and Isaac Jones continue to lead the offense as they scored 46 points in the win over Cal and 29 against Stanford. Jaylen Wells and Andrej Jakimovski add supplemental scoring to create a well-rounded offense. The Cougars have a chance to control their own destiny the rest of the way after the Arizona game. Washington State has been one of the biggest surprises this year in the college basketball world, and the Cinderella story will keep unfolding.
3. Oregon Ducks
Last Week’s Ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 17-8 (9-5)
Last Week: W at Oregon State (60-58)
Next Week: at Stanford (Feb. 22 – 11 p.m.), at Cal (Feb. 24 – 7 p.m.)
Quality Wins: at Washington State
Bad Losses: Santa Clara
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), First Four Out – Jerry Palm (CBS)
The Ducks survived a little bit of a scare this week as the game against Oregon State came down to the wire. N’Faly Dante led Oregon with 22 points, but the Ducks were punished by their inability to make three pointers. Shooting 2-19 from behind the arc is a recipe for disaster, and Oregon managed to squeak by after playing with fire. The Ducks are going to have their fate sealed based on how the end of the regular season goes with arguably the toughest schedule of all Pac-12 teams. Oregon has to find a way to get points from the bench as the season winds down.
4. Colorado Buffaloes
Last Week’s Ranking: 4 (-)
Record: 17-9 (8-7)
Last Week: L at UCLA (64-60), W at USC (92-89 2OT)
Next Week: vs Utah (Feb. 24 – 9 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Washington State, Oregon, Richmond, Miami (Fla)
Bad Losses: at Arizona State, at Cal
Seed Projection: Last Four In – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), Next Four Out – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), Last Four In – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Colorado faced UCLA at about the worst time possible and despite Cody Williams scoring 18 points, the Buffaloes did not get enough supplemental scoring to get the job done. Turning the ball over 14 times isn’t going to cut it at this point in the season, and that number only got worse in the win over USC. While it was a high-scoring game, coughing up the basketball 21 times is simply inexcusable even with going to double overtime. For a team that started the season as strongly as Colorado, it now has a hill to climb to be back in tournament consideration.
5. Utah Utes
Last Week’s Ranking: 6 (+1)
Record: 16-10 (7-8)
Last Week: L at USC (68-64), W at UCLA (70-69)
Next Week: at Colorado (Feb. 24 – 9 p.m.)
Quality Wins: at Saint Mary’s, BYU, Washington State, Colorado, Wake Forest, Oregon
Bad Losses: Arizona State (x2)
Seed Projection: 10 – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Revew), First Four Out – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), Last Four In – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Utah’s collapse went from bad to worse with a loss to USC on the road this past week. The Utes could have won despite having 13 turnovers, but they were just 19% from three-point range. Not that you can get away with losing any game at this point in the season, but this loss for Utah is about as low as it gets. It took a buzzer-beater layup for the Utes to get back in the win column against UCLA even with Deivon Smith picking up a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists. Much like Oregon, Utah now finds itself scrambling to bolster the resume the rest of the season.
6. UCLA Bruins
Last Week’s Ranking: 7 (+1)
Record: 14-12 (9-6)
Last Week: W vs Colorado (64-60), L vs Utah (70-69)
Next Week: vs USC (Feb. 24 – 10 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Oregon, at Stanford, Colorado
Bad Losses: CSU Northridge, Stanford, Cal
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Sebastian Mack led the way with 19 points for the Bruins in the win over Colorado, but he didn’t get a chance to replicate it against Utah after being ejected. UCLA has been one of the hottest teams in college basketball lately and was on track to pick up another win against Utah but came up one rebound short. This turnaround late in the season is a credit to Mick Cronin and his coaching ability for the Bruins. UCLA could have benefitted from a better three-point performance against Utah, but the Utes will have it fixed before the matchup with USC.
7. Stanford
Last Week’s Ranking: 5 (-2)
Record: 12-13 (7-8)
Last Week: L at Washington (85-65), L at Washington State (72-59)
Next Week: vs. Oregon (Feb. 22 – 11 p.m.), vs Oregon State (Feb. 24 – 5 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Arizona, Utah
Bad Losses: Michigan, Northern Iowa, at USC, at Cal, UCLA
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Stanford was humbled this week with a pair of losses in the state of Washington. Against the Huskies, it was Maxime Raynaud and Brandon Angel who led the way with 19 points each (Raynaud pulled in 16 rebounds). The three-point shooting was a little low against Washington, but the bigger red flag was 17 turnovers. Against Washington State, the turnovers were reduced but pulling in just 21 rebounds isn’t going to cut it. The Cardinal find themselves in a position to still fight for the first-round bye and finish in the top four.
8. Washington Huskies
Last Week’s Ranking: 8 (-)
Record: 14-12 (6-9)
Last Week: W vs Stanford (85-65), L vs Cal (82-80)
Next Week: at Arizona State (Feb. 22 – 9 p.m.), at Arizona (Feb. 24 – 2 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Utah, Gonzaga
Bad Losses: at UCLA, Cal
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Washington split a pair of games this past week starting with the win over Stanford as Koren Johnson posted 30 points from the bench with Keion Brooks Jr added 20. The Huskies looked a lot like what we saw in the early part of the season against the Cardinal. Brooks Jr dropped 26 points in the loss over Cal, but the problem for Washington was at the free throw line… just 9-16 for the Huskies. Everyone knows free throws matter and are so important, but they cost Washington in this one. A chance at the NIT is still on the table though for the Huskies.
9. Arizona State Sun Devils
Last Week’s Ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 13-13 (7-8)
Last Week: W vs Oregon State (79-61), L at Arizona (105-60)
Next Week: vs Washington (Feb. 22 – 9 p.m.), vs Washington State (Feb. 24 – 8 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Utah (x2), Colorado, San Francisco
Bad Losses: at San Diego, UCLA, at Oregon State, Stanford, Cal
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Arizona State finished this last week as expected with a win over Oregon State and suffering a loss against Arizona. The Sun Devils had four players score 14+ points in the win and held on despite turning the ball over 15 times. It was big for Arizona State to get 28 points off the bench as well. It was a bit of a train wreck against Arizona as the Sun Devils shot just 25% from behind the arc and 55% from the foul line. Even if the offense shot better, it may not have mattered as the defense just could not get a stop as the Wildcats offense poured down in Tucson.
10. Cal Golden Bears
Last Week’s Ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 11-15 (7-8)
Last Week: L at Washington State (84-65), W at Washington (82-80)
Next Week: vs Oregon State (Feb. 22 – 10 p.m.), vs Oregon (Feb. 24 – 7 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Colorado
Bad Losses: Montana State, UTEP, Tulane, at USC
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Even with the loss against Washington State, Jaylon Tyson led the way with 18 points for the Golden Bears. Even with three players scoring double digits, there wasn’t much scoring depth behind the trio. The Cougars offense was no match for Cal’s defense in the loss. Against Washington, Tyson stepped up his game with 28 points as the Golden Bears found their rhythm on offense despite some of those same questions arising for Cal. The Golden Bears continue to exceed expectations this season.
11. USC Trojans
Last Week’s Ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 10-16 (4-11)
Last Week: W vs Utah (68-64), L vs Colorado (92-89 2OT)
Next Week: at UCLA (Feb. 24 – 10 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Seton Hall, Kansas State, Utah
Bad Losses: UC Irvine, Long Beach State, at Oregon State, UCLA
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
USC pulled off its biggest win of the season with the upset at home against Utah as Isaiah Collier had his best performance since coming back from injury; he posted 15 points. Even with the win, it was still concerning to see the Trojans only shoot 20% from deep and just 61% from the foul line. Against Colorado, USC looked a lot like how we expected them to at the beginning of the season by scoring 89 points and having the duo Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier drop 55 points. Collier looks to be back in his groove, and that could be the saving grace for Trojans fans.
12. Oregon State Beavers
Last Week’s Ranking: 12 (-)
Record: 11-15 (3-12)
Last Week: L at Arizona State (79-61), L vs Oregon (60-58)
Next Week: at Cal (Feb. 22 – 10 p.m.), at Stanford (Feb. 24 – 5 p.m.)
Quality Wins: Arizona
Bad Losses: UCLA, Stanford
Seed Projection: NA – Mat Mlodzinski (CBB Review), NA – Joe Lunardi (ESPN), NA – Jerry Palm (CBS)
Tyler Bilodeau and Jordan Pope led the Beavers offense in the loss against Arizona State, and the main problems were three-point shooting and turnovers. Oregon State did a poor job of taking care of the ball, and it paid the price. In the in-state battle against Oregon, the Beavers had four players score double digits. The problem? Only one other player was able to get on the board. Oregon State’s defense held its own, but the offense couldn’t get the job done. If it’s not one problem then it’s another for the Beavers, and that has been the story of their season.